Jackie Cooper's Page

Speaking of Tech Scouting, yesterday's Computerworld published this story: Google Lists Job with a Star Trek-Like Mission. Google Inc. (GOOG) is advertising for a " renewable energy technology scout" whose mission will be to "seek-out, analyze, present, and promote new technologies" that are designed to cut energy costs.

The story quotes expert… Continue

I know there's a name for it when you blog about someone else's blog, but I can't remember what it is...
However, well-known innovation blogger Stefan Lindegaard picked up on a study that I also found noteworthy. The study is called Scouting for Innovation in 2009, and it's by NERAC, a global research firm.

Stefan blogged about it better than I could have, and since tech scouting is a growing activ… Continue

The last two gurus in our 2009 Innovation Leadership Guru Series were Gene Slowinski (well-known alliance guru and author of Reinventing Corporate Growth) and Rob Shelton (co-author of Making Innovation Work). Both continued the 'think big' theme (see my previous blog entry).

Gene's main advice: Go for alliances that shake up an industry, otherwise it's very easy to underestimate resources. Better to do a… Continue

After listening to four top experts (Scott Anthony, Jay Paap, Marc Meyer, and Rita Gunther McGrath) speak at our Innovation Leadership Guru Series, I learned that the best way to deal with today’s economic uncertainty – as well as other uncertainties – is to start small. Prototype and test concepts in the marketplace, pay attention to what you learn, and invest in stages -- if (and only if) demand is there. Look at projects acr… Continue

What keeps you up at night? Personally I’m troubled by what I read in the news these days – and not just about Iran, North Korea, or even Madoff. I’m worried about product development and innovation.

First, about a week before A.G. Lafley resigned as CEO, market analysts were criticizing Procter & Gamble for not being innovative enough. P&G not innovative enough?! That’s like Hollywood producers saying Lindsay Lohan isn’t thin enough. Good grief.

Then there’s Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner te… Continue