Bloghound

This week’s BIF-2 Collaborative Innovation Summit, put on by the Business Innovation Factory in Providence, RI, featured stories from some of the most innovative minds in the world – from science, medicine, business, the arts. For some great, in-depth blog postings about individual storytellers, check out the Corante innovation hub. For some notable quotes that especially resonated to me and the reasons why, read on…

Innovation is not a process. It’s creating an environment that helps teams of people quickly build trust and relationships. Then people have the right framework to create.

Ivy Ross, executive vice president, product design and development, Old Navy on the secret of quickly getting new ideas from teams

Innovation is often just looking at what you have and taking it somewhere new.

Diane Hessan, CEO, Communispace on the value of really knowing your customers

 

Whatever Budweiser does, we do the opposite.

Mark Hellendrung, CEO, Narragansett Beer, on the wisdom of NOT copying the market leader

 

Nothing happens without an innovation intent or point of view.

Larry Keeley, Doblin Group, on the most common obstacle to innovation

 

Just by making half a turn the whole world can change.

Liz Lerman, founder of the Dance Exchange on how taking a slightly different view can help us see new things

 

Sometimes doing research is an excuse for not doing anything else.

Jane Fulton Suri, chief creative officer, IDEO, on the need to rediscover the value of research – observing patterns and themes in new ways for inspiration, imagination, empathy

 

But I couldn’t let that stop me.

Josh Koppel on what he did when Apple iTunes 7.0 in effect killed his innovative TuneBooks products two weeks ago

 

There too much design research and process around creative beautiful objects and not enough on the customer experience.

Jeneanne Rae, president of Peer Insight, on the huge lack of understanding around services innovation and understanding a customer’s entire journey

 

A good marriage is about a conversation, not sex.

Day One moderator Richard Saul Wurman on how conversations connect people and ideas in meaningul ways

 

Execution is successful only if the author of the idea passionately embraces the execution team.

Mary Pat Ryan, executive vice president, Sirius Satellite Radio, on the critical need for passion to transcend the big idea and seep into everyone making the idea real

 

There’s more history under the sea than on the earth

Oceanographer Bob Ballard on the value of creating new technologies that can help children explore what’s under the ocean, from ocean exploring vessels right to the classroom

 

“They are us.”

Inventor Dean Kamen on the need for people to get more involved in helping kids realize what a blast science, engineering and technology can be, urging tech types to volunteer in the FIRST program

 

All new ideas are combinations of existing ideas.

Frans Johansson, author of The Medici Effect, on the tremendous value of combining ideas from different fields and looking at the connections and intersections of those ideas

 

It was difficult to reconcile my desire to be an artist with the reality that I was an administrator.

Roger Mandle on how he came to see his role as president of RISD as one of an artist, creating an environment for creativity and innovation, like onoing performance art among talented people

 

If you suppress one factor too much it can lead to other problems.

Bill Tsiaris, surgeon-in-chief of Ophthalmology, Rhode Island Hospital, on the complexity of angionesis

 

Don’t be a star, be a galaxy.

Peter Gloor, MIT professor and author of Swarm Creativity, on the value of connecting talented people to achieve innovation

 

Social networks like MySpace have nothing to do with core relationships. They are impermanent really just advertising vehicles.

Wall St. Journal columnist and conference Day 2 moderator Walt Mossberg on the value of going to conferences like BIF2 and meeting people face to face

 

Theater is where civilizations throughout history have shaped their democracies. But make no mistake firends, Broadway is not a democratic place.

Trinity Rep artistic director Curt Columbus, on the value of regional theater as the vital public square for people to talk about ideas shaping their communities and lives.

 

What’s the next great idea for you? What is the next big chapter in your life?

Randy Antik, founder of Swat Team Partners, on the questions worth asking ourselves to stay passionate, engaged and innovative

 

The other day I was thinking that the brain is the most important organ in the body. Then I realized who was telling me this.

Several speakers paraphrasing comedian Emo Phillips, pointing to the need to consider the source and its intent when assessing information, and criticism.

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