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How to Prioritize Your Innovation Budget

Harvard Business Review

Leaders and organizations are under more stress than ever to do two things simultaneously: deliver on today’s pressing commitments by troubleshooting and refining processes; and find and invest in innovation opportunities that will create tomorrow’s success. The problem is, this instinct crowds out longer term, innovative thinking.

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How GE Stays Young

Harvard Business Review

Under CEO Jack Welch in the 1980s and 1990s, they adopted operational efficiency approaches (“ Workout ,” “Six Sigma,” and “Lean”) that reinforced their success and that many companies emulated. You need to think like a portfolio manager, allocating resources both to innovate in your core and for the future.

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The 5 Requirements of a Truly Innovative Company

Harvard Business Review

Can you think of any business topic that’s been hotter for longer than innovation? In a McKinsey poll , 94% of the managers surveyed said they were dissatisfied with their company’s innovation performance. And yet when it comes to innovation, the gap between aspiration and accomplishment seems as big as ever.

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Building a Software Start-Up Inside GE

Harvard Business Review

Key selection criteria included experience in innovative software and service (versus product) development, and an ability to manage a start-up in a very large, complex company. A design studio is geared for collaboration and innovation work with customers and partners. The first step was to hire someone to run it.