Innovating through Tough Times
by: Eric Starkloff
What do Hewlett-Packard, FedEx, and CNN have in common? 
Believe it or not, these companies were founded during difficult economic times (1939, 1973, and 1980, respectively). What about product innovations like nylon and the iPod? You guessed it. They were also developed and released in weak economies (1935 and 2001). It turns out that these examples aren’t anomalies. Adversity can help spur innovation.
I have been researching this phenomenon to understand what lessons it may hold for us facing the challenges of the current global recession. It is clear that innovation is the lifeblood of high-tech companies. And when I refer to innovation, I don’t just mean lightning-bolt ideas that only happen in a research lab. I mean the ideas that all of us—test engineers, design engineers, and researchers alike—apply to improving the processes and products that we work on every day. In these tough economic times, innovation is important not just to keep your companies competitive but to keep you competitive as well.
But how do you innovate in a time when resources are scarce and the business world has collectively become risk averse? I use the term “lean innovation” to describe the type of innovation that is most effective with these constraints. I believe there are three key attributes of successful lean innovation: doing more with less, proving it, and leveraging networks.
Tweaking Today’s Business Environment
As the downturn headlines in the economy continues , how will it impact our industry? As we all see over the news, more and more people are still getting laid off by their e
mployers. Experts still don’t have any precise idea when will the worst part of the economic recession ends.
As an employee, being not part of the unlucky chosen few to say goodbye to my job -
doesn’t guarantee my employment stability. Everything are still in chaos, unless signs of economic progress started to show up.
So how we gonna tweak today’s business environment? How we can contribute in a little way just to survive these tough times? How we can survive for our own?
For those working people like me, we need to stay calm. We have to build a nest egg to cover basic needs. Remember that there is no time, for job-hopping.
Christmas Economics
My blog is distinctly missing a Christmas greeting and it’s not because I’m Scrooge in the flesh. Despite appearances, I am a Christmas fanatic. I studied in Catholic schools where every year, traditional tableaux reminded me of whose birthday it was we were celebrating. For some strange reason, I was never chosen to play Mary, Joseph or one of the three kings. The closest I could get to a role in a school tableau was as donkey alternate.
Read more here.
