Innovation ,creativity and invention - product innovation,Process Innovation, Business model innovation

1. Q1Innovation,creativity andinvention
Innovation:
Innovation is an act of application of new ideas to which creates some value for
the business organization, government, and society as well. Better and smarter
way of doing anything is innovation. It could be the introduction of:
 New technology.
 New productline or segment.
 A new method of production.
 An improvementin the existing product.
Innovation is closely tied to creativity i.e. putting creative ideas into action is an
innovation, whoseconsequences should be positive. Itis the process of doing
something better for the firsttime, which was not previously done by any entity.
Itcan also be termed as a change which can bring a new edge to the performance
and productivity of the company. Itis of two types i.e. evolutionary and
revolutionary.
Creativity:
Creativity is the characteristic of a person to generate new ideas, alternatives,
solutions, and possibilities in a unique and different way.
Creativity is the ability to conceive something unpredictable, original and unique.
Itmust be expressive, exciting and imaginative. It is the mirror of how beautifully
a person can think in any given circumstance.
Itis not genetic but can be developed if someonekeeps on learning and
comprehending things with a rareand exclusive perception. Creativity is a
brainstorming and mind-blogging activity in which a person has to think beyond
his imagination for bringing something worthwhile. Itis an activity of unveiling
something which was previously hidden.
Invention:

2. The term ‘invention’, is defined as the act of creating, designing or discovering a
device, method, process, thathas not existed before. In finer terms, it is a novel
scientific idea conceived through research and experimentation that turns into a
tangible object. Itcan be a new process of producing a product or may be an
improvement upon a productor a new product.
Inventions can be patented, as it provides security to the inventor, for intellectual
property rights, and also identifies it as an actual invention. Further, different
countries have different rules for obtaining the patent and the process is also
costly. To be patented, the invention must be novel, have value and non-obvious
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QProduct Innovation
When people think of innovation, often, they’rethinking of productinnovation.
Productinnovation can come in three different forms. 1) The development of a
new product, such as the Fitbit or Amazon’s Kindle. 2) An improvement of the
performanceof the existing product, such as an increasein the digital camera
resolution of the iPhone7. 3) A new feature to an existing product, such as power
windows to a car.
Drivers of productinnovation might be technological advancements, changes in
customer requirements, or outdated productdesign. Productinnovation is
generally visible to the customer and should resultin a greater demand for a
product.
Process Innovation
Process innovation is probably the least sexy form of innovation. Process is the
combination of facilities, skills, and technologies used to produce, deliver, and
supporta productor provide a service. Within these broad categories, there are
countless ways process can improve.
Process innovation can include changes in the equipment and technology used in
manufacturing (including the softwareused in productdesign and development),
improvement in the tools, techniques, and softwaresolutions used to help in
supply chain and delivery system, changes in the tools used to sell and maintain
your good, as well as methods used for accounting and customer service.

3. While productinnovation is often visible to your customers, a change in process is
typically only seen and valued internally. Speaking generally, changes in process
reduce costs of production moreoften than they drivean increase in revenue. Of
the three types of innovation, process is typically the lowest-risk.
Business modle innovation
Business model innovation does not necessarily imply changes in the productor
even in the production process, butin the way as it is broughtto the market
Whereas both productand process innovation can be incremental and moderate,
business model innovation is almost always radical, risky, and transformative.
When talking about business model innovation, without a doubt, names like
AirBnB, Uber, or Spotify will come up. These are perfect examples of fast-moving
companies that wereable to disruptage-old markets (hotel taxi, music) by
tweaking or inverting their industry’s traditionalbusiness model.
Because of these powerhouses, many mightassumeonly startups arecapable of
massivebusiness modelinnovation. Startups havea big advantage due to their
ability to iterate and adapt their model as they are in the process of creating an
initial business model design; however, there are severallarge, well-established
organizations that haveleaned into their advantages of a larger customer base
and greater resources to challenge their existing business model and “disrupt”
themselves.
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Q Incremental innovationand Disruptive innovation
Incrementalinnovation
Incrementalinnovation is a series of small improvements or upgrades made to a
company's existing products, services, processes or methods.

4. The changes implemented through incremental innovation are usually focused on
improving an existing product's development efficiency, productivity
and competitive differentiation. Many enterprises use incremental innovation to
help maintain or improve a product's marketposition. Incrementalinnovation has
become a common tactic in the consumer technology industry, as companies
striveto regularly improvepersonaldevices with customer-friendly features.
The opposite of incremental innovation is radical or disruptiveinnovation. Radical
innovation is when a new product, service, process or strategy is introduced to a
market, but is designed to make a significant impact by completely replacing
existing technologies and methods. Radical innovation requires a significant
investment of time and resources, making incremental innovation less associated
with risk.
Although incremental innovation is morecommon, enterprises often utilize both
incremental and radical innovation strategies. For example, a radical innovation
can be introduced to the market, and if it is successfultheenterprise uses
incremental innovation to improve the productand keep it competitive over time.
Innovation has become a major factor in determining modern enterprises'
longevity and success. The trend has led many enterprises to put more focus on
both incremental and radical innovation strategy, and how they can benefit the
company's productdevelopment.
Example of IncrementalInnovation
1. Gillette
You might not think of Gillette as one of the great innovation leaders but in actual
fact, the brand is a great example of a company that has used incremental
innovation to stay ahead of the competition. Gillette razors started life with a
single blade but their producthas evolved, adding different features and more
blades as the company has soughtto better meet customer needs.

5. 2. Coca-Cola
Another great example of incremental innovation comes fromCoca-Cola. The
brand’s line extensions such as Cherry Coke, Coke with Lime and more recently
Coca-Cola Life have enabled a 130 year old brand to stay relevant, tap into
emerging trends and bring something new to its customers over the years.
Disruptiveinnovation
Disruptiveinnovation is the introduction of a productor serviceinto an
established industry that performs better and, generally, at a lower cost than
existing offerings, thereby displacing the market leaders in that particular market
spaceand transforming the industry.
As Christensen described it, disruption happens when a smaller company
successfully challenges "established incumbent businesses" by firstproviding
products or services that appeal to a niche part of the market; that niche could be
overlooked by customers or customers new to the market.
Although the new productor serviceisn't always better than the incumbent at
first, the smaller company continues to develop its offering and ends up selling
something with better functionality at a lower price that appeals to a large
number of customers. As such, the smaller company sees demand for its product
or serviceexpand beyond the initial niche customers to a large shareof
mainstreambuyers.
Example of disruptiveinnovation
Netflix is often cited as an example of a disruptiveinnovator. Launched in 1997 as
a mail-order movie rental company, Netflix firstfocused on a niche group of
consumers willing to wait for the mail to get the movie they wanted. The
company's customer basebroadened as it perfected its business modeland then
moved into a streaming service -- business moves that eventually broughtdown
industry giant Blockbuster

6. Q Stages of innovation
1. Idea Generation and Mobilization
New ideas are created during idea generation. Mobilization occurs when the idea
is moved to a different physicalor logical location, such as an outside firm or
another department.Inspiration for a new idea can originate froman
improvement of an existing idea, or something fromscratch. The Atlantic opens in
new windowexplains how Apple waited three years after MP3 players were
introduced to create the iPod, which was attractive, intuitive and offered capacity
for up to 1,000 songs. Conversely, theinvention of Scotch tape was a brand new
idea. Priceonomics opens in new windowtells the story of Richard Drew, a college
dropoutwho joined 3M, saw a need for a type of tape that wouldn’truin paint on
cars and overcamehurdles to complete his invention.
As a resultof Drew’s work ethic, 3Mprovides employees with time (15 percent of
their workday) to explore ideas outside of their work assignments. Other
organizations havefollowed this model, and robust organizations in general
provideemployees with the time and resources to innovate. According
to Innovation: Management, Policy & Practice, managers mustemphasize
innovation to the right extent — “overemphasizing need will cause some
employees to leave for more stable jobs,” while“not emphasizing it enough will
decrease urgency and idea generation across theboard.”
2. Advocacy and Screening
Not all ideas are worth implementing. Advocacy and screening help evaluate an
idea and measure its potential benefits and problems. Fromthere, a decision can
be made aboutan idea’s future.
One of the biggest advantages for the joint processes of advocacy and screening is
refinement. If the idea has potential, discussions and arguments help enhance it.
The study in Innovation: Management, Policy & Practice mentions how this stage
prepares an idea for upper management, which can call for a different approach.
Because idea generators don’t always havethe skills to advocate for their ideas,
managers working with the idea generator can facilitate, encourageand support
the person.

7. Companies looking to build a robustculture can establish a few best practices for
this step. First, employees should have plenty of avenues to receive advocacy and
feedback. Second, organizations mustunderstand the difficulties involved with
evaluating truly innovativeideas. Third, organizations need to build transparent
evaluation and screening protocols.
3. Experimentation
The experimentation stage tests an idea, such as with a prototypeor pilot test.
Researchers in Innovation: Management, Policy & Practice carefully note that
“Experimentation does not test an idea’s objective merits, but the suitability for a
particular organization at a particular time.” Some ideas “might be ahead of their
time or beyond the present capacity of the company … [they] may be set aside
into an idea bank or idea library for development at a later time.”
Experimentation can remain continuous or exist in spurts, as advocates and
screeners reevaluate an idea. Sometimes, experimentation leads to new ideas
due to information that is gathered on the results and the overall feasibility of the
original idea. Time is crucial in this process; individuals mustbe given adequate
time to run the experiments. As refinements and evaluations occur, they must be
given enough time to reflect on the experiments.
Many businesses experiment with new products and services, such as grocery
stores. Oneinnovation came in 2007, when Amazon tested its grocery delivery
servicein certain Seattle suburbs. After this successfulexperiment, Amazon Fresh
expanded to Los Angeles, San Diego and New York City; New Jersey opens in new
windowand the United Kingdom opens in new windowarethe latest locations
Amazon has targeted.
4. Commercialization
Commercialization aims to create market value for an idea by focusing on its
potential impact. This step makes the idea appealing to the audience, such as by
packaging an idea with other ideas, clarifying how and when the idea can be used,
and using data or prototypes fromexperiments to demonstratebenefits.
An important partof commercialization is establishing the specifications of any
given idea. “The promises and potentials of the earlier stages of innovation must
be discarded so that the actual benefits of the new innovation can be perceived

8. and communicated,” researchers wrotein Innovation: Management, Policy &
Practice. Oncean idea is refined, it can appropriately target and meet the needs
of the audience.
Commercialization is the stage of the innovation process when the focus shifts
fromdevelopment to persuasion. After the idea is clarified and a business plan is
created, it will be ready for diffusion and implementation.
5. Diffusion and Implementation
“Diffusion and implementation are two sides of the samecoin,” researchers
wrotein Innovation: Management, Policy & Practice. Diffusion is the
companywideacceptance of an innovativeidea, and implementation sets up
everything needed to develop and utilize or producethe innovation.
Diffusion happens at all levels of an organization. This process is often aided
by knowledge brokers, who areeffective at presenting an innovation by using
their awareness of “the specific content and application into which an idea,
productor servicecan be inserted.” As a result, knowledge brokers areable to
assistwith rapid implementation.
The use or application of the innovation should be demonstrated by the end of
this stage, along with acceptance of the innovation. For the innovation to
succeed, it will need the proper resources, a marketing plan for customers and an
open culture with strong advocacy. Also importantto diffusion and
implementation is the opportunity for futureideas; this final stage allows the
organization to determine the next set of needs for customers. Receiving
feedback, in addition to indicators for success metrics and other benchmarks,
enables the organization to stimulate the innovation process onceagain.
Q Drivers that leadtohinderance toinnovation
The wrong culture
The phrase"corporateculture" is thrown around a lot, but whatdoes it mean? It
might mean free sodas and snacks, casualFridays, or monthly team-building
exercises. Corporateculture can point to anything that makes your company feel
like morethan justa place where you work 40 or more hours a week.

9. While corporateculture can be a positive aspect of innovation for some
companies, it can also be a hindrance. For example, if your company's cultureis
more about politics and bureaucracy, it's probably going to stifle innovation. Of
the 200 professionals surveyed, 55 percentcited issues with organizational
culture and mindset as the number 1 reason innovation fails. Imaginatik's study
states that "respondents lamented how the invisible forces of conservatismand
complacency conspireto thwartwell-intended efforts to advancethe innovation
cause."
An employee or team might come up with an innovativeidea, but if the systems
aren't in place for them to act on that idea, or the company has a history of letting
the ball drop, they might not make the effort. Company culture can say a lot
about the potential for innovation. If innovation feels out of place to people, or
seems too difficult, it will be hard to makethat shift.
"Mostinnovation activities feel foreign at firstwithin a large corporation, because
they tend to cut laterally across normalworkplacehabits and practices,"
according to the study. Imaginatik acknowledges thatit can difficult be for a
company to instill a successfulinnovation program, butwith the right focus and
efforts, it's possible.
Lack of follow-through
One of the biggest threats to innovation within a company is a lack of follow-
through. Coming up with innovative ideas is sometimes the easy part. Seeing
them through is harder. In the study, 34 percentof respondents reported a lack of
follow-through as one of the biggest issues they encounter.
Respondents said that they feel innovation efforts are often "applied scattershot,"
and that "they fail to create synergies and scaled practices throughoutthe
innovation lifecycle." Or, employees feel the company had good ideas, but go
about applying the ideas in an "inconsistentor undisciplined manner." The
bottom line is that if it isn't easy for employees to use a new process or for them
to enact innovativeideas, they will fizzle out before they can gain any traction.
Companies that are successfulin driving innovation oftentimes have a team or
person dedicated to innovation. Whether it's hiring a CIO or vice presidentof
global innovation, Townsend says that this person is generally "separatefrom

10. your main line business unitthat has core incentives of pushing marketshareand
winning against competition."
Limitedfunding and resources
Innovation doesn'tjusthappen because people wantit. Your company needs to
apply funding and resources. Of theprofessionals polled, only 16 percent
reported "aggressiveinvestments" in a dedicated innovation staff and 13 percent
reported a similar level of investment behind innovation tools and technologies.
Twenty-seven to 53 percent, depending on the category, reported only
"moderate" investment behind innovation spending.
"Investmentwas needed in a better tool and somepeople. This was whereit
stopped. The business wants to continue the 'prototype'approach, with no
investment or staff," said one senior executive at a multi-billion dollar logistics
services and financial corporation.
"Regardless of who leads innovation, resourcing is a topic of central concern,"
Imaginatik states in the study. Given the low proportion of companies reporting
aggressiveinvestments in any major spending category, it appears that innovation
is being systematically under-funded in mostof today's companies."
Lack of time
Employees already feel pressureto get more done in less time, so adding
innovative ideas can quickly overwhelmworkers. And in a large company, where
everyonehas a specific job to do, the communication might not exist to figure out
how to work across departments to make innovation successfulwithin a 40-hour
week.
Twenty-seven percentof respondents listed a lack of time and focus as a major
hindranceto innovation. And, unfortunately, instigating major changes on a large
scale takes just that: time and focus. When it comes to investing time in
innovation, don't skimp justbecause you aren't sure how it will make the
company money, Imaginatik says.
On the bright side, according to the study, leaders are aware of the need to invest
time if they want to see their company become more innovative. For executives,
there needs to be a general acceptance that innovation won't result in instant

11. gratification. Rather, changes and progress willbe seen over time, and it might
take years, not months.
Low adoption rate
The Imaginatik study unveiled another common trend at companies: low
adoption rates. People come up with new ideas, figureout how to enact them but
find that they fizzle out quickly as employees struggle to integrate the changes
into their day-to-day processes.Thestudy points to a "lack of belief in the
approach itself," while somerespondents reported seeing innovative programs
get off to a great start, only to be abandoned soon after. Some simply felt
skeptical or weary of adopting new programs becauseof pastfailures or poor
performance.
Other businesses reported someteams or business unitteams adopting
innovative processes thatthey didn't extend to the rest of the company. This
inconsistency across thebusiness unit can causeinnovation to die quickly, with
only someteams using new tools or adopting new process and others sticking
with the old way of doing things.
"Severalother respondents noted that because innovation methods are often
applied scattershotand in localized settings, they fail to create synergies and
scaled practices throughoutthe innovation lifecycle," the study reports.
Keeping up withfast-pacedchanges
For large, process-driven companies, itcan be hard to keep up with the fastpace
of technology. And larger companies havemore risks when instigating change
within the organization.
"Larger, more-established companies havelots of legacy tech, they have brand
equity, shareholders, usually a large baseof existing customers, a company
culture, very highly scaled leveraged process and so on," says Townsend. "Allof
these things are assets, butfor innovation they can also be liabilities."
When compared to a startup, bigger companies might find it more difficult to
innovate like startups do. Startups may not have the same assets as larger
businesses, butthey also don't have the liabilities, so it's easier for them to be
agile.

12. Townsend says somecompanies should consider reshaping departments to run
more like a startup. It's unreasonableto think a company with more than 1,000
employees could function like a business with 100 employees, but by targeting
certain departments, larger companies can reap the benefits of a startup culture.
Too focused on the bottomline
Oftentimes, the easiest way to get things done is to demonstrate the ROI. But
when it comes to fostering innovation, ROI can be hard to prove. Therefore,
innovation often never gets off the ground, becauseit is seen as too risky if the
person behind the idea can't demonstrate how the company will profit. The study
reports that 7 percent of respondents seean "inability to justify ROI" as the
biggest challenge to innovation. "Even very senior executives had no real way of
accounting for whatthey're spending on innovation. They didn't have that
calculation. Itdidn't exist as a line item and they had to try and fudgeor guess
fromdifferent parts of the actual corporateledger," Townsend says.
For executives, the idea of embarking on a new plan without a clear idea of the
ROI might be nerve-wracking, butit's the only way to see if an idea will actually
work. If a business is hung up on proving the financial benefit of an innovative
idea beforeit launches, it'll probably never get off the ground. Townsend says it
goes back to the idea of properly funding innovation and ensuring there are
resources behind it, because that's the only way innovation won'twind up being
an abandoned afterthought.
Q Intellectual Property Rights:
Intellectual property (IP) refers to creations of the intellect for which
a monopoly is assigned to designated owners by law.[1]
Intellectual property
rights (IPRs) arethe rights granted to the creators of IP, and
include trademarks, copyright, patents, industrialdesign rights, and in some
jurisdictions tradesecrets.[2]
Artistic works including music and literature, as well
as discoveries, inventions, words, phrases, symbols, and designs can all be
protected as intellectual property.
Types

13. 1. Copyrights
Copyrights protectoriginal works of authorship, such as literary works, music,
dramatic works, pantomimes and choreographic works,sculptural, pictorial, and
graphic works, sound recordings,artistic works, architecturalworks, and
computer software. With copyrightprotection, the holder has the exclusive rights
to modify, distribute, perform, create, display, and copy the work.
In order to qualify under copyrightlaws, the work mustbe fixed in a tangible
medium of expression, such as words on a piece of paper or music notes written
on a sheet. A copyrightexists fromthe moment the work gets created, so
registration is voluntary.
However, registered works may beeligible for statutory damages and attorneys
fees in a copyrightinfringement suit, so you may want to consider registering
your work through the U.S. CopyrightOffice. You can register your copyright
online by completing an application, submitting a nonrefundablefee of $35, and
sending in a nonreturnablecopy of your work.
The average processing time for e-filed copyrightapplications is 2 1/2 months and
a little more than 5 1/2 months for paper filing. Copyrightduration depends on
severalfactors, but generally for works created after Jan. 1, 1978, thecopyright
lasts for the life of the author plus an additional 70 years and is nonrenewable.
You can visit the U.S. CopyrightOffice website for more information.
2. Patents
A patent grants property rights on an invention, allowing the patent holder to
exclude others frommaking, selling, or using the invention. Inventions allow many
businesses to be successfulbecausethey develop new or better processes or
products that offer competitive advantageon the marketplace. You get a patent
by filing a patent application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office(USPTO).
You'll discover three types of patents:
 Utility
 Design
 Plant

14. A utility patent is the mostcommon type, covering any process, machine, article
of manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and usefulimprovements
thereof.
To qualify for a utility patent, the invention mustbe novel, nonobvious, and have
some usefulness. Novelmeans new and not known by anyoneelse, while
nonobvious means that it can't be immediately obvious to someone having
ordinary skills in the industry. A design patent covers any new, original, and
ornamental design for an article of manufacture, while a plant patent covers any
new variety of asexually produced plant. A design patent lasts for 14 years, and a
utility or plant patent lasts for 20 years.
With patent protection, the payent holder can take legal action againstanyone
who copies the patented invention, design, or discovery. Withoutthis legal
protection, anyonecan use similar designs, products, and processes withoutrisk.
In fact, if you don't file for patent protection on your invention within 12 months
of releasing it in a public setting, the opportunity to patent it will be gone.
Other companies or individuals can also file for a patent on your idea, taking away
your chance to do so first. When reviewing patent applications and violations, the
USPTO will usually default to the individual who submitted the application first,
since proving who used something firstis nearly impossible.
Before filing for a patent, you should determine who will own the idea. Some
companies file for patents on their protected inventions, but if an employee came
up with the idea, the individual may be granted holder of the patent. If your
business owns thepatent, you mustprotect the patent with the company by
having employees involved in the invention process sign an agreement stating
that the idea belongs to the company.
Certain industries rely on patents more heavily than others. For example,
pharmaceuticals go through extensive and costly testing procedures to make sure
that products are safefor human use. When spending considerable money on a
product, applying for a patent is one of the only ways that pharmaceutical
companies can protect their investments. Without a patent, any other company
could manufacturean exact replica of the drug.
In March 2011, theU.S. Senate passed The America Invents Act, one of the most
significant changes to patent law in the last century. The final details of the laws
are still under review, but its purposeis to change whatmakes an idea

15. patentable. This act also increases the protections for the firstperson or company
to file for a patent. Critics of the act believe that the regulation may be biased
toward larger companies with more funds available to patent ideas quickly.
Those on the opposite side believe that patents and other forms of protection
restrict free trade and economic growth. But IP protection laws are still in place
and designed to protect inventors, business owners,and creators.
3. Trademarks
A trademark is a word, phrase, symbol, or design that distinguishes the sourceof
products (trademarks) or services (servicemarks) of onebusiness fromits
competitors. In order to qualify for patent protection, the mark must be
distinctive. For example, the Nike "swoosh" design identifies athletic footware
made by Nike.
Although rights in trademarks areacquired by use, registration with the USPTO
allows you to more easily enforce those rights. Before registering your trademark,
conduct a search of federal and state databases to make surea similar trademark
doesn't already exist. This trademark search can help you reducethe amount of
time and money you could spend on using a mark that is already registered and
trademarked.
4. Trade Secrets
A trade secret is a formula, process, device, or other business information that
companies keep private to give them a business advantageover their
competitors. Examples of trade secrets include:
 Soda formulas
 Customer lists
 Survey results
 Computer algorithms
Unlike the other types of intellectual property, you can't obtain protection by
registering your trade secret. Instead, protection lasts only as long as you take the
necessary steps to controldisclosureand useof the information.

16. Businesses usenondisclosureagreements, restricted access to confidential
information, post-employmentrestrictive covenants, and other security practices
to maintain trade secrets.
When protecting intellectual property, look at competitors and others in the
industry as if they are in competition for your ideas. Protecting yourself and your
company is the best way to make surethat no one else can use your distinctive
inventions, works, marks,or other ideas. Meet often with employees to keep
them awareof whatmust stay out of public discussion and away from
competitors. Physicaland digital protection of ideas is also necessary, so track
who has access and limit who can get into importantdatabases.
Looking at the risk and cost-benefitanalysis can also help you decide what's
worth protecting. Protection of intellectual property often comes at a high cost
and takes much time, so make sureyour time and money is worth the
investment.
5.IndustrialDesign:
Monopoly right for the appearanceof the wholeor a part of a productresulting
fromthe features lines, colours, shape, texture or materials used. Cannot be the
same as any design already available and must have‘individual characters.
Advantages frompdf
Q Tools of creativity
Problemreframing
Reframing is a critical tool for promoting innovation and creativity in the
workplaceand it is very effective for problemsolving. Senior leaders and
operational managers who use this tool also improvetheir own emotional
intelligence as they “smartly” manage their own emotions and the emotions of
others to effect meaningful change.
Imagineyourself as a child waiting with several friends for a fruit snack after an
afternoon of hard play. Each friend receives their own special fruitfrom your best
friend’s mother: cherries, peaches, grapes, and apricots. You are happy to get

17. your fruit as you know it will be special (sincethis is your best friend’s mother)—
that is, until your bowlof lemons arrives.
After receiving your lemons, you have two choices. The first choice that comes to
your mind is to feel sorry for yourself as you now realize how much your best
friend’s mother does not like you. As an innovative child however, you think
differently.
You look on this problem as an opportunity!You take your lemons and go home
and make lemonade and then sell glasses to your friends. With the money you
earned, you go and buy your favoritetropical fruit. In effect, you make lemonade
out of lemons. This is the essence of positivereframing: taking what appears to be
a difficult situation and finding something positiveto makeout of it. You put
another frame(perspective) on the situation you face. You look for other ways to
view your situation.
The power of reframing is that it forces you to harness your creativeand
innovative thinking to achieve breakthrough solutions. Itis original, out-of-the-
box thinking! When you use positivereframing, you view problems differently.
Instead of firstexploring how to get the problem to go away, you firstask
yourself, Whatis the opportunity here? Breakthrough thinking begins when you
view problems as opportunities. Problems are often your chance to make needed
changes whether they occur in your life or in the workplace.
Example:The firstis about Tom Watson, the founder of IBM. Oneof his
employees made a very costly error that costthe firmten million dollars. The
employee had to meet with Watson in his office. As the employee entered the
office he said, “I supposeyou wantmy resignation.” Watson looked at him and
said in disbelief, “Areyou kidding? We justspent ten million dollars on your
education.”
Fromthis point forward, you can bet that Watson had both the attention and
cooperation of the employee. This is reframing. The mistakehad already occurred
and the money was lost; Watson choseto see this mistake as an opportunity to
salvagesome value fromthis employee.

18. MindMapping
A mind map is a diagramthat is ideal for brainstorming, planning, information
gathering, data presentation, and many other uses.
What makes a mind map so effective is that it allows us to useboth sides of our
brains at once. The left side of the brain controls logic, analytics, and details. Itis
very structured and organized. The right side is creative, imaginative, and likes to
think freely. In business when someonesays "think outside the box," what they
really mean is to move away fromthe left side of your brain for a while and allow
your brain's right side to daydream, explore, and think about the "bigger picture."
This is when a mind map can be an invaluable tool. Rather than using a lined note
pad and making lists, a mind map allows more creative thoughtprocesses to
surface.
But it doesn't do this at the expense of the logical left half of the brain. A mind
map also allows thoughts and ideas—no matter how imaginative they might be—
to be organized in a thoughtful and logical way.
A mind map encourages a "mind meld" of the entire brain.
10 Uses for Mind Mapping
Mind maps have an almost limitless number of uses. They are a powerfultool
because they allow you to think visually, using pictures to solveproblems, plan
strategies, and to communicate ideas clearly.
The diagram below shows ten uses for mind maps.

19. ..
Q Senarioplanning
Scenario planning is making assumptions on what the future is going to be and
how your business environmentwill change overtime inlight of that future.
More precisely, Scenario planning is identifying a specific set of uncertainties,
different “realities” of what might happen in the future of your business.
Itsounds simple, and possibly notworth the trouble or specific effort, however,
building this set of assumptions is probably the best thing you can ever do to help
guide your organization in the long term.
For example, Farmers usescenarios to predict whether the harvestwill be good
or bad, depending on the weather. Ithelps them forecasttheir sales but also their
future investments.
Military institutions use scenario planning in their operations to cope with any
unlikely situations, anticipating the consequences of every event. In this case,
scenario planning can mean the differencebetween life and death.
Scenario planning might not havesuch dire consequences in your organization,
but if not done, you risk opening the door to increased costs, increased risks, and
missed opportunities.
The idea is very simple: Scenario planning aims to define your critical
uncertainties and develop plausible scenarios in order to discuss the impacts and

20. the responses to give for each one of them. If you are awareof what could
happen, you are morelikely to deal with whatwill happen.
The process to create your own scenarios is very simple. You will have to:
 Identify your driving forces:
To begin with, you should discuss whatare going to be the big shifts in society,
economics, technology and politics in the future and see how it will affect your
company.
 Identify your critical uncertainties:
Once you have identified your driving forces and made it a list, pick up only two
(thosethat have the most impact on your business). For example, two of the most
important uncertainties for agribusiness companies arefood prices and consumer
demand.
 Developa range of plausible scenarios:
The goal is now to forma kind of matrix with your two critical uncertainties as axis
(see the above example). Depending on whatdirection each of the uncertainties
will take, you are now able to draw four possiblescenarios for the future.
 Discuss the implications:

21. During this final step, you should discuss the various implications and impacts of
each scenario and start to reconsider your strategy: set your mission and your
goals while taking into account every scenario.
Example