JS 80: Understanding Innovation with Jeff DeGraff Author of ‘Making Stone Soup: How to Jumpstart Innovation Teams’

Jason Hartman sits down and talks with Jeff DeGraff, professor for the University of Michigan's Ross Business school and an expert in innovation. He has a new book coming out called, “Making Stone Soup: How to Jumpstart Innovation Teams” and has helped grow world leading corporations such as American Airlines, General Electric, and Coca Cola by using his Competing Values Framework system.

 

Key Takeaways:

1:30 – There are a lot of challenges in innovation when it comes to a team setting, this is why Jeff wrote his newest book - Making Stone Soup.

4:30 – Innovation is created through conflicting ideas and through that, the development of new hybrid-ideas.

7:10 – Forget the 80/20 rule. Innovation uses the 20/80 rule.

11:40 – Patents are more incremental now than ever before. Is this because 'everything has already been invented'?

14:50 – Millennials have a radically different social view and this is why you're seeing a slight shift in the market and less patenting. A different type of innovation is being created.

18:40 – There are four things that make innovation happen. You need a high quality target, surround yourself with experts, take multiple shots or tries on your goal; fail often, fail fast, and learn; and the final step is to learn from your experiences.

25:00 – Never fix what doesn't work. Work on what does work.

26:40 – Before you start something, you have to stop something you're currently doing because we don't have the capability to do everything. Everything costs something.

28:00 – Remember as you're creating something, you will have to go through different versions. No one is perfect. Do version 1, get feedback, then work on version 2, and so forth.

Mentioned In This Episode:

 

http://jeffdegraff.com/

 

Jeff DeGraff's boosk - Innovation You, Four Steps to Becoming New and Improved, Leading Innovation,  and Making Stone Soup: How to Jumpstart Innovation Teams.

 

Good to Great by James C. Collins