Mills Scofield

DECEMBER 9, 2010

" Most market research projects - for strategic planning and innovation (my passions), or even incremental product development focus on getting the facts. Facts & Data. At Bell Labs we used to say, "How much did you pay for that data?"

Innovation 107

Innovation Strategic Planning Project Marketing 107

Mills Scofield

NOVEMBER 21, 2013

Currently, Founder Project is only in Canada - Montreal & Toronto, but Ilan has plans to expand to the USA. The founder of Founder Project , Ilan Saks , did a guest post and asked me to return the favor, which I did here. I sure hope so!!! Education Entrepreneurship Funding Innovation Startups Venture Capital Venture capital'

Venture Funding 105

Venture Funding Entrepreneur Education Project 105

Mills Scofield

JANUARY 6, 2013

From this we developed an action plan for the year, starting with the development of a charter statement for our new innovation initiative: Innovation Charter: The innovation initiative is to foster a culture of innovation, creativity, and teamwork within Geneca. What is the overhead (cost of support/resources)? Market Analysis and Customers.

Innovation 130

Innovation Incubator Brand Document 130

Mills Scofield

MAY 13, 2019

Here are 5 (of many) takeaways from taking this class (in no particular order) which are important for life beyond college: Have a plan and be flexible - I started out the course thinking in my perfectionist mindset -- craving to find and work towards THE ideal solution.

Class 91

Class Education Retail Course 91

Mills Scofield

APRIL 28, 2013

On the other hand, it can be risky to invest in a social enterprise whose company is doomed to fail or doesn''t have a stable enough business plan to succeed. I think it is important for the investor to have full faith in the company and it''s cause, as well as the enterprise''s stability and business plan.

Innovation 171

Innovation Conference Metrics Education 171

Mills Scofield

OCTOBER 3, 2010

When things don't go according to plan or expectations, ending up with unexpected and/or undesired outcomes (which we can argue could have been avoidable, or not). The key is ‘undesired' - because if they were desired and not planned or expected, that would still be great! What is failure?

Planning 93

Planning Innovation 93

Mills Scofield

JUNE 17, 2012

In preparing for a strategic planning session this week, I realized that no matter how many of these I do, there is always a paradoxical feeling of being nervous about doing an excellent job for my client and being confident (hopefully not arrogance) in being great at what I do. This is just a quick post on something that hit me yesterday.

Strategic Planning 189

Strategic Planning Innovation Environment Creativity 189

Mills Scofield

MARCH 2, 2020

Your customers are too busy to plan, shop for, and cook healthy meals. This starts with truly understanding your customers’ needs—their challenges, issues, constraints, priorities—by walking in their shoes and in their neighborhoods, businesses, and cultures. See what’s inconvenient, taking a lot of time, money, and/or effort.

Management 127

Management Travel Constraint Workshop 127

Mills Scofield

SEPTEMBER 10, 2013

Last week an incoming student tweeted to me, “I would love to talk to you about my flight plan.” As the Flight Instructor, I help students navigate takeoffs, weather turbulence, and stick their landings. ” Buckle up. It’s time for takeoff.

How To 167

How To Education Class Audience 167

Mills Scofield

AUGUST 5, 2014

Last week an incoming student tweeted to me, “I would love to talk to you about my flight plan.” As the Flight Instructor, I help students navigate takeoffs, weather turbulence, and stick their landings. ” Buckle up. It’s time for takeoff.

Education 131

Education Class Audience Content 131

Mills Scofield

SEPTEMBER 9, 2010

Last year, I volunteered to participate in Brown University's Women's Launchpad Program which pairs women alumni in industry (me) with senior women for mentoring in career and graduate school planning. My mentee, Sarah, was a Mechanical Engineering major from the Boston area and leader on the Women's Crew Team.

Mentor 98

Mentor Engineering Participative Industry 98

Mills Scofield

JANUARY 8, 2014

When she arrived in South Africa, she quickly realized that, despite months of communication and planning, the community partner did not want her or her team of student volunteers there. Being a social entrepreneur and leader of her venture became her identity. The social innovation sector is filled with perverse incentives.

Entrepreneur 124

Entrepreneur Innovation Incentives Mentor 124

Mills Scofield

MARCH 13, 2017

Most of us have realized, or at least acknowledged, that life and careers are no longer linear, predictable, plan-able. We are told to be opportunistic (in a positive way) because we never know if the moment will be right again, hence the ever used adage, "Timing is everything." Timing is everything AND timing is not fixed!

Construction 70

Construction Learning-by-Doing Creativity Career 70

Mills Scofield

MAY 19, 2014

It’s also one of the first times in their lives they need to create their own plan instead of being told what to do. Life, unlike K-12, isn’t a clear path with detailed instructions. The Applied Discovery Year helps students transition from prescription to discovery.

Education 175

Education Learning-by-Doing Innovation Morale 175

Mills Scofield

MARCH 2, 2020

Your customers are too busy to plan, shop for, and cook healthy meals. This starts with truly understanding your customers’ needs—their challenges, issues, constraints, priorities—by walking in their shoes and in their neighborhoods, businesses, and cultures. See what’s inconvenient, taking a lot of time, money, and/or effort.

Management 91

Management Travel Constraint Workshop 91

Mills Scofield

MARCH 25, 2013

No doubt this is why so many insurance and retirement planning companies rely on images of retired couples lounging on a boat off some tropical island, or taking up salsa dancing lessons before enjoying a night on the town. In each instance the message is clear – we can live the life we really want.

Development 172

Development Follow-up Creativity Short-term 172

Mills Scofield

MARCH 28, 2013

She continues with a ‘how to’ plan that is so easy to follow and execute on our own. Dorie gives us very actionable advice on how to identify our starting point, why we are starting from there and then discovering possible destinations.

How To 163

How To Mentor Tactics Advice 163

Mills Scofield

JUNE 1, 2015

Our floors are sinking and our walls are thin; an open floor plan helps a whisper from the basement be heard in the third-floor attic. Lastly, thank you to the place I associate with that type of enthusiastic learning: an old house on Angell Street with an open floor plan and sinking floors. “Just answer the question.”

Kaplan 70

Kaplan Wilde Learning-by-Doing Class 70

Mills Scofield

JUNE 1, 2015

Our floors are sinking and our walls are thin; an open floor plan helps a whisper from the basement be heard in the third-floor attic. Lastly, thank you to the place I associate with that type of enthusiastic learning: an old house on Angell Street with an open floor plan and sinking floors. “Just answer the question.”

Kaplan 70

Kaplan Wilde Learning-by-Doing Class 70

Mills Scofield

FEBRUARY 1, 2012

The alumni gave their own stories and then critiqued the kids’ plans. Last week, I was privileged to tag along with the Oberlin College Enterpreneurship Scholars on their trip to NYC visiting “Obie” alumni. These kids were at different stages of developing or executing their businesses.

Innovation 105

Innovation Advice Marketing Planning 105

Mills Scofield

DECEMBER 5, 2014

By cross-analyzing the two, they determined the unmet need-- a real opportunity-- because they found a gap in the market; people wanted a hair product with a specific texture and no other companies sold or were planning to sell it. They then took it one step further and asked, "How would you find the technology and material to meet this need?"

Stage-Gate 128

Stage-Gate Productivity Products Innovation 128

Mills Scofield

APRIL 20, 2013

We are looking ahead to next year and have plans to expand to more regions. So plan for this, give yourself a buffer, and create systems as you learn to move things along and make them run smoothly. What have I learned through these past two years?

Supply Chain 159

Supply Chain Fashion Proposal Learning Curve 159

Mills Scofield

OCTOBER 31, 2012

Early on in their lives, my kids learned to check the tide clock before planning the day. This was, and still is, a predictable cycle. In Maine, we are guided by the tides - we are not free to do what we want when we want.

Engineering 150

Engineering Learning-by-Doing Cost Planning 150

Mills Scofield

JUNE 15, 2015

I had a great boss, a great dental plan, and a great city to call home. So, in March, I left my great job, my great dental plan, and my great city and I moved to Brooklyn to write, build a website, and make my dent in the universe. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~. This is not a practical story. Convention.

Policies 70

Policies Storytelling Library Resistance 70

Mills Scofield

JUNE 15, 2015

I had a great boss, a great dental plan, and a great city to call home. So, in March, I left my great job, my great dental plan, and my great city and I moved to Brooklyn to write, build a website, and make my dent in the universe. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~. This is not a practical story. Convention.

Policies 70

Policies Storytelling Library Resistance 70

Mills Scofield

FEBRUARY 8, 2013

After many months of planning, we have now completed our pilot project with Chatham Business Association (CBA). During the upcoming months, we plan to roll the program out to the company. Our First Project. After that, we have a long list of tasks, administrative and marketing, ahead of us.

Ryan 130

Ryan PR Project B2B 130

Mills Scofield

JULY 8, 2013

In the next few months we plan to expand to Vancouver and then the U.S. TheFounderProject is disrupting the startup ecosystem by engaging young students in startups. And, it’s resulting in innovation and economic growth.

Entrepreneur 192

Entrepreneur Venture Funding Venture Capitalist Project 192

Mills Scofield

APRIL 15, 2013

Starting a business, let alone a beverage company, as an undergraduate was not something I had planned on doing. I studied indigenous Amazonian languages and Ethnobotany in college and managed to avoid taking any math, science or business courses (yes, I went to Brown University).

Talent Management 167

Talent Management Management Supply Chain NGO 167

Mills Scofield

OCTOBER 21, 2011

I proposed a 3-year training plan to improve the culture, starting with the basics: getting people on the floor to share ideas with people in the office. DMS : How did the 3-year plan evolve? Neenah’s General Manager (GM), Jerry Hessel, knew that team-based manufacturing improved performance, so he felt he had to do something.

Handbook 87

Handbook Committee Training Tools 87

Mills Scofield

MAY 27, 2014

Why It’s Worth Planning and Pushing to Reach your Goals. So please read this post and his book, Raise Your Voice: A Cause Manifesto , if you want to change your business.and yourself. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~. At age 52, I ran my first half marathon. My friends who are marathon runners said my time of 2:14:34 was respectable.

Goal 161

Goal Entrepreneur Training Strategy 161

Mills Scofield

APRIL 15, 2012

We know the importance of a living, adaptable, actionable strategic plan. Saul emphasizes a very critical, and almost always overlooked, component of business models - the HOW of delivering value. It focuses the organization on the WHY and WHAT of value creation. It provides everyone with a common mission and purpose.

Kaplan 151

Kaplan Business Model Levitt Christensen 151

Mills Scofield

MARCH 5, 2015

The business world has countless tools for planning and eking out process improvements for such journeys, and you probably already know how to use them well. In these rare moments in the world of enterprise, getting to your destination as fast and efficiently as possible must be your paramount goal.

Tools 70

Tools Innovation Operations Engineering 70