"innovation is more than just the generation of novel ideas or the dissemination of knowledge, it is about making a change or doing something in a new way."

This distinction is crucial. Novel ideas by themselves have no impact on society. It is their implementation that separates invention from innovation.

In other words, good ideas are not enough. In my day job as Fairfax's resident mad professor we have a battle cry of "Demo or Die!" which I feel sums up the sentiment accurately. If we can't demonstrate implementation, then the idea doesn't have legs.

published in the SMH September 24, 2011: http://www.smh.com.au/it-pro/innovation/blogs/smoke--mirrors/australia-a-nati...

A new survey from Human Resources vendor NorthgateArinso claims that Australians are actually getting better at saying "no" to work. According to the survey results; 

- Fewer workers make work-related calls from home this year (24%) than last year (36%)

- Fewer workers check emails at home this year (38%) versus last year (46%)

- Fewer workers feel that work is intruding on their personal life this year (39%) versus last (52%)

- Fewer companies are providing employees with laptops this year 24% versus last (35%)

I'm quite surprised by these results, except for the last figure because more organisations are encouraging staff to use their own laptops for work. NorthgateArinso's ANZ managing director David Page thinks the shift could partly be to cultural change within organisations, as they realise that "online fatigue" can actually make workers less productive rather than more. This might be the case with some enlightened bosses, but I expect they're in a minority.

Firms are holding training sessions to teach employees the basics of what's known as visual note taking. Others, like vacation-rental company HomeAway Inc. and retailer Zappos, are hiring graphic recorders, consultants who sketch what is discussed at meetings and conferences, cartoon-style, to keep employees engaged.

Doodling proponents say it can help generate ideas, fuel collaboration and simplify communication. It can be especially helpful among global colleagues who don't share a common first language. Putting pen to paper also is seen as an antidote to the pervasiveness of digital culture, getting workers to look up from their devices. And studies show it can help workers retain more information.

LinkedIn is pretty good at finding relevant content ... which is how I came across this article from the Wall Street Journal on sketching. I have seen and posted a few images of Facebook HQ where there are blackboards and whiteboards everywhere. Seems like the trend is being encouraged elsewhere, helping concentration, collaboration and idea generation. Not only that, companies are employing graphic facilitators (also referred to as sketch artists, or graphic recorders) to annotate conferences and meetings so people don't "zone out". The UX/CX world employs this kind of technique when "envisioning" but I wonder if it will take off as a mainstream trend here in Australia for company meetings. Hope so.

via Managing Distraction: How and Why to Ignore Your Inbox - Forbes
http://www.forbes.com/sites/dell/2012/04/19/managing-distraction-how-and-why-...

Tools of Engagement

Engagement involves a broad range of disciplines and tactics. A comprehensive study of what motivates people in business conducted in 2002 by the International Society of Performance Improvement for the Incentive Research Foundation identified the following key factors:

• Leadership – the ability of the organization to articulate a vision to its constituents.
• Communication – the ability of the organization to convey its vision to its constituents.
• Capability – the ability of an organization’s constituents to do what is asked of them.
• Buy-in – the willingness of an organization’s constituents to do what is asked of them.
• Support – the degree to which people feel recognized by the organization.
• Emotion – the state of mind people have related to their work or relationship with the organization.
• Measurement and feedback – the degree to which constituents receive feedback for their contribution and to which the organization analyzes results and adjusts accordingly^[13].

Businesses use a wide array of tactics to address the above issues, including:

• Leadership training and coaching
• Print, direct mail, and electronic communications, media, meetings, and promotional products
• Training and professional development
• Recognition, reward, and incentive programs
• Statistical process controls.

The expertise, products, and services related to these various practices comprise the emerging field of Enterprise Engagement. Bottom line: Much more research is needed to better understand how these various elements affect customer and employee engagement, and financial results.

It strikes me as so unusual that Enterprise Engagement has sprung from marketing, but considering the past role marketing agencies have played in organisations it makes sense. Read the complete entry for great references to pivotal articles and a comprehensive summary of the topic: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enterprise_Engagement.>

The great team at Behance have delivered another thoughtful piece inviting us to consider, or perhaps even audit how we work.

Petrhaps categorise the reading of this article into Planning: http://the99percent.com/tips/7151/The-5-Types-of-Work-That-Fill-Your-Day