The Innovation Engine Podcast

On this week’s episode of the podcast we take a look at the Hub of All Things (aka HAT) project. We’ll talk with Irene Ng about what exactly the HAT is, why you shouldn’t be alarmed to hear that it will make corporations out of everyone, and how it will help put control of personal data back in the hands of consumers. Irene C L Ng is a Professor of Marketing and Service Systems and Director of the International Institute for Product and Service Innovation at WMG, University of Warwick. In addition to her role at IIPSI, Irene also leads the £1.2m UK government-funded HAT research project. She has published numerous articles in a multitude of domains, including management, marketing, engineering, information systems, economics, education, and sociology. Irene is also the author of two books, The Pricing & Revenue Management of Services: A Strategic Approach, and the highly acclaimed Value and Worth: Creating New Markets in the Digital Economy.

On this week's episode we welcome Jo Golden to the studio to talk about the 2015 UXDC Conference. Among the topics we discuss are the evolving and expanding role of UX, some of the talks and topics attendees at the conference can expect to hear, and why content strategy is increasingly an area of importance for UX professionals.  UXDC 2015 will be held in Washington, DC on October 9th and 10th, and will feature 35 hours and over 30 sessions. The conference will include UX professionals, junior designers, students, and a multitude of experts from UX-related fields coming together to discuss UX strategy, deliver results, and help UX professionals get ahead.Jo Golden is a member of the DC Chapter of the User Experience Professionals' Association (UXPA), a highly active local nonprofit association that represents community of individuals interested in usability, user experience design, interaction design, and their many related fields. She is also on the Organizing Committee of UXDC 2015, which is being hosted by the UXPA DC chapter. Jo is a social scientist who works at the intersection of strategy, sense-making, story, and meaningful experience design.Show NotesVisit the UXDC websiteFollow UXDC on TwitterFollow Jo Golden on TwitterConnect with Jo Golden on LinkedIn

3Pillar CEO David DeWolf joins us for the 75th episode of the podcast to talk about the 2015 Fortune Brainstorm Tech conference and more. David shares some of the trends and topics that were on everyone's minds at this year's conference, why software will continue to play an important role for companies of all shapes and sizes, and the importance creating a great culture has in creating great companies. David DeWolf is the Founder and CEO of 3Pillar Global, one of the Mid-Atlantic’s fastest growing technology companies and the generous sponsor of this very podcast. Since founding 3Pillar in 2006, David has guided the company to a leadership position in the Product Development Services sector, establishing 3Pillar as the go-to innovator for content, information, and data-rich companies looking to grow revenue through software. David is passionate about software product innovation, entrepreneurship, and principled leadership. In 2012, he was named one of SmartCEO Magazine’s “Future 50.” In 2011, he was recognized by the Washington Business Journal as one of “40 Under 40” who are Washington, D.C.’s brightest young business leaders. David writes frequently about leadership, business, life and technology at DavidDeWolf.com, and he or his writing has appeared in publications like Fortune, Fast Company, Investor’s Business Daily, Pando Daily, ZDNet, and many more. You can also follow him on Twitter at @DDeWolf. Show NotesVideo with interviews of CVS Health EVP Helena Foulkes and Fitbit Founder & CEO James Park More information about the findings of the original Product Development Success study and PDSI 

On this week's episode of The Innovation Engine podcast, we focus on the progress principle. Among the topics we discuss are:The groundbreaking study that led to a number of insights about motivation in the workplaceThe concept of "inner work life" and why it's important to get right in any companyWhy progress checklists and daily journals can be powerful tools for anyone looking to build high-performing teams.Dr. Teresa Amabile, co-author of The Progress Principle: Using Small Wins to Ignite Joy, Engagement, and Creativity at Work, joins us this week to discuss those topics and more.Dr. Amabile is the Edsel Bryant Professor of Business Administration in the Entrepreneurial Management Unit at Harvard Business School. She is also a Director of Research at the school, where she teaches courses on creativity, leadership, and ethics. Dr. Amabile has spoken to a range of groups around the world about her research, including giving a TedX talk on the Progress Principle in 2011. Dr. Amabile was also the host and instructor of Against All Odds: Inside Statistics, a twenty-six-part instructional series originally broadcast on PBS.Show NotesFollow Dr. Teresa Amabile on Twitter: http://twitter.com/teresamabileVisit the official website for The Progress Principle to buy the book and explore related resources: http://www.ProgressPrinciple.com 

On this week’s episode, we take a look at how to build the perpetually innovative company – the five areas to focus on for improvement in innovation performance, the cornerstones of creating an innovative culture, and how to avoid the dreaded “not-invented-here syndrome.”Kai Engel and Violetka Dirlea join us on this week's episode to discuss those topics and more. Kai and Violetka are partners & Global Innovation Leaders at A.T. Kearney and two of the co-authors of Masters of Innovation: Building the Perpetually Innovative Company. Kai Engel leads A.T. Kearney’s Innovation Practice for Europe and founded the annual Best Innovator Competition in 2003. He regularly chairs top executive roundtables and is a frequent presenter at business and industry conferences. Violetka Dirlea is an industrial manufacturing expert and head of A.T. Kearney’s Innovation Practice for the Americas. She has extensive consulting experience, with a focus on development competitive advantages, delivering tangible results, and improving overall business performance. A. T. Kearney is a leading global management consulting firm committed to helping clients achieve immediate impact and growing advantage on their most mission-critical issues. 

On this week's episode of the podcast we take an early look at the 2016 Digital Entertainment World Expo with the event's co-founder, Ned Sherman. Among the topics we discuss are the startup competition at the 2016 DEW Expo, what Ned's hands-on experience with the Oculus Rift was like, and what some of the most notable Media & Entertainment companies from the 2015 DEW Expo have been up to since. Ned Sherman is the Co-Founder and CEO of Digital Media Wire, a media company that provides strategic consulting, manages marketing campaigns for digital media brands, and owns and produces industry conferences. Digital Media Wire publishes daily newsletters and operates the popular DMWMedia.com news and community portal. Ned currently sits on the board of The Technology Council of Southern California and the NAB Show Advisory Council. He is founder and creator of the Billboard Digital Entertainment Awards, which he sold to VNU/Nielsen in 2006, and is co-founder and co-creator of Digital Entertainment World, a joint venture with IDG World Expo. You can follow Ned on Twitter at @NedSherman, and you can learn more about the DEW Expo at http://www.dewexpo.com/. 

On this week's episode of the podcast we talk with Mike Bearman and Andrea Bennetti of Sapienza Consulting about innovation in the space industry. We talk about topics including the future of space travel, whether the next generation of innovation lies in private industry or the government space, and what has changed with project management in the space industry in the last 20 years. Sapienza Consulting is a leading provider of space mission and project support through people, software, and services. The company has been a supplier to the European Space Agency since 1994. Mike Bearman is the Managing Director and Founder of Sapienza. His background in project management led him to found Sapienza, which specializes in Internet-based project management solutions for space agencies. Andrea Bennetti is the Commercial Director at Sapienza, where he is responsible for the company’s commercial strategies and activities for mission-critical applications. He leads the company’s Innovation and New Product Development strategies and oversees Marketing and Sales across all business streams. 

Jeff B. Cohen joins us on this week's episode to talk about the Art of Dealmaking and his recently published book, The Dealmaker's Ten Commandments. Among the topics we discuss are:Why dealmaking is an important skill for anyone in the business worldWhy asking yourself ”So what?" can be a powerful question any time you feel stuckHow you can use a Motivation Mosaic to understand all the different angles that may eventually impact whether or not a deal gets madeJeff Cohen is a Founding Partner of Beverly Hills-based Cohen Gardner LLP, an entertainment law firm whose specialties include Entertainment Finance; Intellectual Property & New Media; and Development, Production & Distribution. Jeff has written numerous articles on business, technology, and entertainment matters for CNBC, The Huffington Post, Backstage, Lawyerist, and others. Among Jeff’s claims to fame is that he starred in the beloved 1980s film ‘The Goonies’ as Chunk. You can follow Jeff on Twitter at @Jeff_B_Cohen. 

Dr. Fred Kiel joins us on this week's episode to discuss the business benefits of corporate leaders behaving with moral character. We talk about Dr. Kiel's recently released book, Return on Character: The Real Reason Leaders & Their Companies Win, which draws on a 7-year research study of 84 companies and their leaders from a wide variety of industries. Dr. Kiel is the co-founder and a principal of KRW International, a consulting firm committed to raising society's standards for great leadership by combining skills and character to drive results. For more information on the book, you can visit the book's website at ReturnonCharacter.com. You can also follow Fred Kiel on Twitter at @FKiel. 

On this week's episode we look at the intersection of innovation and marketing. Among the topics we discuss are:Why marketing touches more areas of a business than ever beforeThe concept of "the visual web" and why looks matter when it comes to marketingHow to go about reverse engineering your company’s social media strategyDr. Leigh George joins us to discuss those topics and more. Dr. George is the Founder & CEO of Freedom, a boutique consulting company that helps organizations that feel stuck clear the way for innovation. She was previously the Director of Marketing and Communications at URAC, the VP of Social at Ogilvy, and the Director of Strategy at R2Integrated. Dr. George is one of the few people in the country with a PhD in Branding History and Theory, which she earned from Binghamton University. To learn more about Dr. George and her company, please visit www.findfreedom.co or follow Leigh on Twitter at @LeighGeorge.