FutureLabMEDIA KIT

Revised March 2016

About FutureLabFind your company’s unique innovation style, and nurture it into a powerful competitive advantage

FutureLab’s revolutionary approach combines the best of Agile with the world’s leading methods of Innovation to present a proven system for developing the breakthrough capabilities every organization must master to thrive today and tomorrow.

You already know that effective innovation doesn’t happen by accident – it is achieved by careful, thorough design. Agile Innovation addresses the three critical drivers of innovation success: accelerating the overall process; reducing the inherent risks; and engaging your entire organization and the broader ecosystem in the innovation effort.

The key frameworks described here build on the proven success of Agile to provide a comprehensive and customizable Master Plan approach to sustainable innovation improvement in the five critical performance areas: strategy, portfolio, process, culture and infrastructure.

Major factors include: the power of Agile in the innovation process, how to overcome innovation risk, the best tools to evoke engagement and collaboration, branding as an integral element of innovation, and the best leadership skills and practices that create the special environment that enables transformative growth. Managers will learn specifically how to create better ideas, develop them more efficiently, and work together more profitably and effectively to achieve breakthroughs.

Key Insights:•    Understand how to implement the many ways that innovation efforts can be accelerated to achieve even greater competitive advantage•    Learn to create a culture of innovation, greater engagement, and rich collaboration throughout your organization• Discover how to reduce risk and accelerate learning•    Implement your own unique plan to enhance collaborative innovation, from leadership through operations•    Integrate key agility principles into your strategic planning decisions for sustained improvement•    Explore dramatic new approaches to open innovation that optimize large scale innovation• Apply the latest and best technology tools to enhance innovation, reduce risk, and promote broad participation.

Since innovation is not imitation, you know that copying the ideas and strategies of other successful organizations will not produce the desired outcomes. Hence, all leaders must develop their own way of innovating and nurture the appropriate style of collaborating for their own organization. The methods espoused by the principals of FutureLab will guide you to find your own unique pathways to success.

Blaze your own trail to the highest levels of innovativeness and organizational agility by learning from the expert guidance and practical, actionable advice offered by FutureLab.

Long article about the book

In Agile Innovation, the authors unveil a promising new approach to innovation – by blending the key aspects of the Agile development process with the tenets of classical innovation methodology. I could joke about it being like chocolate and peanut butter, but this subject deserves serious consideration, as the approach is really quite revolutionary. What the authors propose is clearly explained and detailed in this practitioner-oriented implementation guide for making positive change happen.

In the preface, the authors note that your typical innovation initiative usually catches fire first with the CEO, who hopes that the passion will trickle down, but these initiatives usually never get past the crowdsourcing and “idea contest” stage. Agile development, by contrast, is usually propagated bottom up, from a grass roots base of converts, and then is normally blocked by upper management who are frankly afraid of change and losing control. This book rejects the view that you have to settle on one direction only… and replaces it with a vision of inclusive transformation that is diffused in every direction possible. As a result, the book is a clarion call for not just senior managers, or just the product development team, but for the entire enterprise.

The premise of the book is delivered in three sections, which address the three critical drivers of innovation success: accelerating the overall process; reducing the inherent risks; and engaging your entire organization and the broader ecosystem in the innovation effort.

In the first section, The Innovation Revolution, comprising Chapters 1-4, the authors explain the necessity for both agility and innovation, and then they – like any good revolutionary writing a manifesto – deconstruct the structure and meaning of innovation and transformation. Through this, they describe the values and principles that drive Agile Innovation, and show how this new system is an extension and natural evolution of the Manifesto for Agile Software Development. And then they describe in detail how it actually works, based on the fundamental unit of collaboration called the IdeaScrum, and how the overall vision can be implemented through a comprehensive and customizable Master Plan approach that addresses five critical performance areas: strategy, portfolio, process, culture and infrastructure.

The second section, Managing Innovation for Tomorrow, is all about organizational principles for managing and coordinating self-organizing teams. The hardest part of moving to an Agile model is that when you

break up your nicely controlled monolithic development project into 50-100 “scrum teams” that are all “self-organized” – how is that different from herding cats? In other words, how do you make Agile scale? Chapters 5-8 examine the continuing need for control and to manage risk, via portfolio management, in an age when autonomous teams are allowed to “pivot” at will. Their ideas about pivotable portfolios, using methods for insuring strategic alignment, are truly thought provoking. This section then ends by returning to the issue of culture, and why moving to this new model requires a significant organizational transformation to occur.

The third section, Leading the Revolution: From Plans to Action, dedicates the remaining chapters to delve into the need and requirements for a new kind of leadership, Agile leadership. The authors tap Abraham Maslow’s Theory Z as a map for creating self-actualizing organizations. Chapter 10 is all about cultivating greater creativity – what YOU can do to be more innovative and effective, and how that fundamental shift can do more to change the organization than anything else. In this section, the authors offer a new approach for stimulating group creativity called “multi-visioning” which is built directly into the structure of the IdeaScrum described in Chapter 3.

The authors then traverse a triumvirate of related by ancillary topics, starting with the use of innovation to drive iconic branding, optimizing the infrastructure for innovation, and finally, they present a breath-taking vision for the future of open innovation. The ideas presented in this chapter, including futuristic functionality of things like non-binary trust models, intellectual property policy servers, the establishment of a fourth standard financial statement about innovation portfolio valuation, all culminating in the vision of a global innovation smart grid – are nothing short of mind-bending. Thankfully, the authors were merciful to non-technologists, and explained the form and function of the future in understandable terms.

The book concludes with a discussion about the evolution of innovation, both strategy and tools, and ends with a description of the emerging Agile economy, and where the Agile Innovation revolution is heading – empowering competency, innovativeness, collaboration, and delivering faster and better results. All of which, of course, will help you to build a better world.

Altogether, the book includes 11 detailed case studies illustrating the world’s best innovation practices at Wells Fargo, Nike, Volvo, Netflix, Southwest Airlines, NASA, The New York Times, and others; dozens of specific business examples; and two dozen powerful and unique techniques and methods. The appendices are interesting to read as

well, including a compendium of critical questions, which could probably be sold as a book all on it’s own.

The bottom line is that this is a “must-read” book, as it presents so many new ideas and techniques for fostering a culture of innovation, nurturing creativity, and efficiently developing the ideas that drive strategic growth. Plus, the authors reinforce that “innovation is not imitation” and that true leaders must develop their own way of innovating and nurture the appropriate style of collaborating for their own organization. This book will certainly help guide those leaders to find their own unique pathways to success.

Short Article about the book

In the new book Agile Innovation, authors Langdon Morris, Moses Ma and Po Chi Wu make the case for a paradigm shift in the methodology of innovation. Their proposed approach is to combine the best of Agile with the world’s leading methods of Innovation to deliver a new way to do innovation that addresses the three critical drivers of innovation success: accelerating the overall process; reducing the inherent risks; and engaging your entire organization and the broader ecosystem in the innovation effort.

The premise of the book is delivered in three sections, which address those three critical drivers. The first section describes the values and principles that drive Agile Innovation, and show how this new system is an extension and natural evolution of the Manifesto for Agile Software Development. And then they describe in detail how it actually works, based on the fundamental unit of collaboration called the IdeaScrum, and how the overall vision can be implemented through a comprehensive and customizable Master Plan approach that addresses five critical performance areas: strategy, portfolio, process, culture and infrastructure.

The second section discusses organizational principles for managing and coordinating self-organizing teams. The hardest part of moving to an Agile model is scalability. The waterfall approach to project management is good at reducing risk by demanding control. How do you manage that monolithic project after you’ve split it into a hundred “self-organizing teams” that pivot directions and deliverables as they please? The authors propose some thought provoking ideas around the use of corporate utility functions and pivotable portfolios to insure strategic alignment.

The third section delves into the necessary changes required in organizational culture, and the vision of the self-actualizing organization and Agile leadership. Then, like a multi-cushion bank shot in pool, the authors sink several balls in a roll: a chapter about increasing core creativity, a chapter about the use of innovation to drive iconic branding, a chapter about optimizing the infrastructure for innovation, and finally, a chapter that presents a breath-taking vision for the future of open innovation. Their grand vision of a global innovation smart grid – ie, “an Internet for ideas – is nothing short of mind-bending.

Altogether, the book includes 11 detailed case studies illustrating the world’s best innovation practices at Wells Fargo, Nike, Volvo, Netflix, Southwest Airlines, NASA, The New York Times, and others; dozens of specific business examples; and two dozen powerful and unique techniques and methods. The appendices are interesting to read as well, including a compendium of critical questions, which could probably be sold as a book all on it’s own.

Yes, this is a “must-read” book, as it presents so many new ideas and techniques for fostering a culture of innovation, nurturing creativity, and efficiently developing the ideas that drive strategic growth. Definitely, this isn’t “your dad’s innovation”, it’s something new that needs to be read carefully and digested thoroughly. Failing to read this watershed book is probably a significant source of business risk.

Content around Innovation Tips

What is the secret sauce for radical and absolute corporate innovation? In the new book Agile Innovation, several ingredients for that secret sauce are proposed. Consider the following:

1) All businesses have to weigh and embrace risk. In general, successful companies from Apple to Toyota to Federal Express are accustomed to taking significant risks. In the words of author Langdon Morris, " The most common reason companies fail to innovate is because they are afraid of the risks of innovation. But what they don’t take into account is the risk inherent in not innovating."

2) An ability to see through the fog of the future. To steer toward blue ocean waters that enable future mass markets, companies should develop models to detect unarticulated needs for radically new products, the evolution of technology and business models, and to listen predictively for emergent customers. In the words of author Moses Ma, "The secret of innovation is to perfect the subtle art of seeing things that actually are broken even when everyone else thinks they’re just fine. This empowers you to perceive opportunities that are hidden in plain sight."

3) For companies that haven't quite reached the holy grail of truly innovative culture, companies need to embrace business practices that can help nurture those traits. In the words of author Po Chi Wu, " An innovation culture must be inspired and nurtured. It cannot be ordered on-demand."

Infographic approach

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Download at:

http://futurelabconsulting.com/explore/books/the-futurelab-blog/83-the-5s-s-of-startup-success

Twitter Kit“The secret of innovation is to perfect the subtle art of seeing things that actually are broken even when everyone else thinks they’re just fine. This empowers you to perceive opportunities that are hidden in plain sight.”

“The most common reason companies fail to innovate is because they are afraid of the risks of innovation. But what they do not take into account is the risk inherent in not innovating.”

“One of the few real secrets to innovation is to look deeply into the heart of your customer to grasp their innermost aspirations.”

“Unlike most other parts of your business where failure is considered entirely negative and to be avoided, failing in order to learn must become a central tenet in your innovation culture.”

An innovation culture must be inspired and nurtured. It cannot be ordered on-demand.

Courage is a core competence. Someone who is afraid to fail simply will not learn effectively, because creativity and the possibility of failure are inextricably linked.

For corporations to achieve their full potential, they must follow the same principles that Maslow defined for people, to transform themselves at the organizational level.

Believing that you really are creative is the first step to becoming so.

For innovation to reach its full potential, the right infrastructure, systems, and tools are required as the essential catalysts of innovation.

Open innovation represents the evolution of a company into one that accesses and leverages knowledge across an entire global ecosystem.”

Given these pressure of the Information revolution, nothing less than a systematic and comprehensive approach to innovation management can provide the outcome you seek.

150 word summary:Agile Innovation: A Revolutionary Approach to Accelerate Success, Ignite Creativity and Engage Everyone

The authoritative guide to survival and success in today’s “innovate-or-die” world.  This book crisply articulates a proven system that combines the best of Agile with the best of innovation, and details the key capabilities every organization must develop to thrive in an exponentially changing world.

The insights offered in this book are critical for success in these times of lightning fast change and global competition. Included are: 11 detailed case studies (Wells Fargo, Volvo, Southwest Airlines, NASA, and others), dozens of specific examples, powerful and unique techniques and methods, and a full set of implementation guidelines to put these insights into practice.

This "must read" book will enable 21st century leaders to master the art of innovation and transform their organizations. The authors, Langdon Morris, Moses Ma, and Po Chi Wu, are globally recognized innovation and technology experts with decades of experience working with large corporations, governments, and start-ups.

100 word summary:FutureLab offers a comprehensive guide to survival and success in an “innovate-or-die” world. This unique innovation firm crisply articulates a proven system that combines the best of Agile with the best of innovation. Many of the insights are offered in a definitive book titled Agile Innovation that will soon be universally recognized as the tipping point in third wave innovation, addressing exponential change and fierce global competition. They also offer a dazzling variety of training, workshops, software and engagement types. The authors are globally recognized innovation and technology experts with decades of experience working with large corporations, governments, and start-ups.

50 word summary:FutureLab offers a new and notable approach to survival and success in an “innovate-or-die” world, carefully articulated in their "must read” book, Agile Innovation. They also offer trainings, workshops, and some pretty innovative software. The authors are globally recognized innovation experts with decades of experience working with large corporations, governments, and start-ups.

Elevator pitch mnemonicAuthoritative guide to a revolutionary approach to innovationCombines Agile with classical innovation Tremendous offering of books, trainings, workshops and some pretty innovative softwareImplementation guide for “third wave” innovationOpen innovation breakthroughNext generation technologies to support the model

Managing Partners BiographiesLangdon Morris Bio

Langdon is one of the three principal founders of FutureLab. He is also cofounder and senior partner of InnovationLabs, one of the world’s leading innovation consultancies, with clients and affiliates on all continents.

His work focuses on helping leaders and their organizations implement the world’s best innovation methods and tools and helping them solve very complex problems with high levels of creativity and effectiveness. His work has led to new breakthroughs and market-leading solutions.

The comprehensive innovation training program that Langdon designed is used worldwide and has been licensed to consulting partners as well as education ministries in multiple nations.In addition, Langdon is well known as author or coauthor of some of the most important innovation books of the past decade, including Permanent Innovation, The Innovation Master Plan, and 4th Generation R&D.

Moses Ma Bio

Moses is one of the three principal founders of FutureLab. He is an innovation consultant who works with senior executives at global companies and organizations and is the managing partner of FutureLab Ventures, a boutique, high-tech venture incubator with start-ups in enterprise, e-commerce, e-learning and virtual reality technologies.

He is also a tech visionary praised in Time Magazine and the New York Times. Over the years, he’s been involved in the forefront of many exciting technologies—he was a legendary games designer who created two of the world’s best-selling computer games, including the world’s first commercially successful Internet game; he took an uncapitalized software start-up and built it into the ninety-seventh largest, seventh fastest growing, and eleventh most profitable in the country; he co-developed the first specification for universal identity on the Internet; and he helped invent the concept of e-markets in business-to-business e-commerce.

Moses was trained as a scientist and received a bachelor of science degree from Caltech (1979) in physics, where he was lucky enough to

learn from some of the most inspirational scientists of the twentieth century, including Richard Feynman and Eugene Shoemaker.

You can follow him at his blog on the psychology of innovation at:http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-tao-innovation

Po Chi Wu Bio

Dr. Po Chi Wu is one of the three founders of FutureLab. Having been a highly successful international venture capitalist and entrepreneur based in Silicon Valley for more than 25 years, he brings unique perspectives and insights into the challenges of nurturing innovation and entrepreneurship.

Dr. Wu is currently serving as a Vice-Chairman of Invotech, a new non-profit organization in Hong Kong. In this role, he is driving an initiative called "Smart HK" to inspire and motivate entrepreneurs, especially young people, to focus their energies on creating practical solutions that will make Hong Kong a "smarter" city, more responsive to its citizens, so people can be healthier, happier, and more productive. Previously, he was a Visiting Professor and co-founder of the Global Innovation Research Center, Peking University and an Adjunct Faculty at the University of San Francisco.

Dr. Wu has a PhD in Molecular Biology from Princeton University and BA degrees in Mathematics and Music from the University of California at Berkeley.

Steve Markman Bio

Dr. Steve Markman has has over 48 years in high technology product development and product marketing working for internationally recognized companies in the defense; telecommunications; networking; network management; security; applications; voice service provider; and Innovation businesses. He is the former CEO of General Magic Inc., Executive VP of Products at Avaya, Inc., CEO of DB Best Technologies, Executive VP of Products at Novell, Inc., General Manager of Hewlett Packard, Inc. and Division Manager at AT&T Communications, Inc. and AT&T Bell Laboratories, Inc.

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