Getting our hot buttons pressed can spark impulsive decision making. Not good.

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Each of us has hot buttons. I know mine. What sets you off? Are you sufficiently self-aware that you recognize the cues that can cause you to act impulsively rather than thoughtfully?

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When timing is tight, it can be tempting to pick and go. Don't do it.

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Most corporate project managers face aggressive new product commercialization timetables. This type of pressure can encourage project teams to prematurely define the final product execution before adequately exploring alternatives.

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Credit: Gary Larson

Stay of Execution:

Crowdfunding enables inventors to underwrite their development costs. Buyers beware.

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Crowdfunding has become a powerful means for entrepreneurs to realize their new product commercialization ambitions. Are crowdfunded innovations also a great source of open innovation product finds? Maybe...or maybe not.

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Whether it's the so-called generation gap, men being from Mars and women from Venus, or other cultural differences, we each face continual opportunities for miscommunication...as well as for shared understanding.

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Credit: Charles Schulz

Seek First to Understand: Cross-Cultural Edition

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In popular music, artists often construct hit songs by selecting a sampled guitar riff or rhythm to serve as their foundation. There is an art to building upon these external elements so that they retain their potency while the user creates something distinctive and powerful in its own right. So it is with external innovation.

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External Innovation: Not the Same Old Song

We reap what we sow.

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I've found a surprisingly large number of individuals who while otherwise careful to cultivate strong professional reputations, can offer strikingly unflattering glimpses of their character in correspondence and on social media. These can help shape others' perceptions of them. How savvy are you with your professional social communications?

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Is Your Reputation at Risk?

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Hockey legend Wayne Gretzky once famously said, "You miss 100% of the shots that you don't take." That is most certainly true. However, Mr. Gretzky doesn't advise us as to how many shots one should be able to take...and how many of these attempts it is okay to miss.

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Is it Truly OK to Fail?

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Intermediaries have long played a valued role in helping to catalyze pivotal relationships. With online marketplaces becoming increasingly common, are intermediaries still necessary? Do yours add sufficient value?

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Does Your "Matchmaker" Add (Enough) Value?

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I've learned pretty consistently over my years in external innovation that the first solutions uncovered during a search effort are often not the best ones or even the closest fits for my clients' needs. I've also learned that by continuing to ask incisive questions of these solution providers, I can often shorten the path to on-target solutions than simply by continuing to search out additional leads.

Want Better Answers? Ask More Questions!

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I've found that companies engaging in external innovation can range all over the map in terms of the experience and skills of their external relationship managers. The fact is, many companies don't train their external facing technical personnel as they do their customer service and or sales employees. As a result, and as one might expect, the external party's impressions of the customer resulting from these interactions can vary considerably.

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What's Your Company's External Relationship Management EQ?