Ready, Set, Done: How to Innovate When Faster is the New Fast

by Jim Carroll

The high velocity global economy of today drives rapid consumer, business, industrial and marketplace change. The fast paced world around us is relentless and unforgiving. It drives increased customer... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0973655429
• ISBN13: 9780973655421
• Release Date: October 2007
• Publisher: Oblio Press
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.4" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

Insightful and Very Quotable

In the first chapter Carroll write, "The rate of change today - whether with business models, product lifecycles, skills and knowledge, marketing methodologies or customer support concepts - is speeding up. We live in a world where being faster is better than being fast. That is why innovation is the most important word that you need to be thinking about. Innovation is all about adapting to the future - and if the future is coming at you faster, then you need to innovate faster. Innovation shouldn't be about trying to survive the future - it should be about thriving." The book is organized into 37 short chapters in six sections - Introduction, Velocity, Agility, Innovation, Activity, and Closing. Each chapter is easy to read in a short sitting, an advantage. But, I found that I lost the continuity easily. If the future is coming at us faster, how do you keep up? It's really very simple. You listen in. "The globe has become one massive idea generation machine, with new ideas being created instantly everywhere, on a continuous non-stop basis." "You do that by developing a culture that supports a highly tuned radar, radar that listens to the global infinite idea loop ... the future is being developed all around you, and your success comes from your ability to plug into it! How can you do this? By participating!" "Devote 15 - 20 minutes per day to catch up on the new ideas which are emerging." "That simple activity - learning to tune in - will provide you with insight and ideas, which are themselves the fuel for innovative thinking." In Chapter 7, Carroll asks the question, "Is your brand from the olden days?" He uses the recent history of Sony as a cautionary tale. Sony has gone from being perceived as a leader in innovation to one that is slow to act. He analysis the history and decides that there fell behind because: * "they failed to keep up with the rapid growth and demand for flat panel TV's and other hot new technologies - they failed with market agility * They decided that going to war with customers in order to prevent music piracy (by slipping destructive software onto the CD's) was more important than developing great technology that caught the next wave of consumer electronics, particularly MP3 players * They dropped the ball on the necessity for continuous operational excellence, as evidenced by a disastrous recall of laptop batteries" To assess your own brand, he suggests the following: * You are out of tune with your customers * Customers see a lack of innovation * Lousy, ineffective customer service * You don't know that your customers know more about your brand than you do * A lack of purpose or urgency * A lack of market and competitive intelligence Some quotable quotes: "Innovation is critical, yet you must approach creativity and innovation with an understanding that your every move will be analyzed and instantly subjected to a global up or down vote." "Success is not defined by how long a product will last in the ma