Digital Pentagon

One of the most inspiring terms of the English language is Innovation – to create a new product, technology, or strategy that results in radical change. Large bureaucracies, like those in the Pentagon crush innovation opportunities daily, leaving outdated programs, policies, and strategies to languish far beyond their useful lifespan.

We must create fertile ground for innovation to prosper once again, from DARPA and the labs developing breathtaking new technologies to our daily military and business operations finding efficient and more effective methods to develop and execute our national defense strategy. We must teach everyone from the most senior Pentagon executives to the recruits entering basic training how to innovate, why adopting an innovation culture is essential to our line of work, and give them the tools to succeed at every level of an organization.

As our future requires a strong partnership with industry we must find strategies to enable open innovation to advance our technologies and strategies.  The DoD should follow the President’s lead in publishing a Strategy for American Innovation to harness the ingenuity of the American people.

“Never before in history has innovation offered promise of so much to so many in so short a time.” – Bill Gates

Creating a Culture for Innovation

• How Do You Create a Culture for Innovation by Scott Anthony
• A Dozen Ingredients for a Culture of Innovation by Jeffrey Baumgartner
• 7 Steps to a Culture of Innovation by John Linkner
• 6 Secrets to Creating a Culture of Innovation by Tony Schwartz
• Ten Steps to Boost Corporate Innovation by Jeffrey Baumgartner
• Why Corporate Culture is Important for Innovation by Jeffrey Phillips

Insightful Innovation Writings

• HBR on Innovation Part 1: An Amazing Status Report by Steve Denning
• Solving The Innovation Enigma: HBR Part 2 by Steve Denning
• Bureaucracy, anarchy & innovation amnesia: HBR Part 3 by Steve Denning
• Innovation’s Nine Critical Success Factors by Vijay Govindarajan
• 10 Steps to a Solid Innovation Foundation by Braden Kelley
• Innovation White Papers by Innovation Tools
• The Opportunities and Threats of Disruptive Technologies by Clayton Christensen
• Ten Ways Organizations Kill Innovation by Ron Ashkenas
• Essential Ingredients for Innovating in Government by Vint Cerf
• How to Find Champions of Innovation Among Your Ranks by Andy Zynga
• 7 Key Activities for Getting Innovation Right by Seth Kahan
• Innovation Isn’t About New Products, It’s About Changing Behavior by Thomas Koulopoulos
• Marissa Mayer’s 9 Principles of Innovation by Chuck Salter
• To Encourage Innovation, Eradicate Blame by by Ken and Scot Blanchard
• Why Big Companies Can’t Innovate by Maxwell Wessel

Innovation Blogs

• Innovation Excellence
• Innovation on Harvard Business Review
• Innovation Tools
• 15inno
• Matthew E May
• Open Forum – Innovation
• The Heart of Innovation
• Innovate on Purpose
• Idea Sandbox
• Top 40 Innovation Blogs of 2011

“Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.”- Steve Jobs

Innovation Reading List

“Innovation is the specific instrument of entrepreneurship. The act that endows resources with a new capacity to create wealth.” -Peter Drucker

Innovation on SlideShare

• The Other Side of Innovation
• 9 Tips to Boost Your Innovation Project
• The Innovation Secrets of Steve Jobs
• The Art of Innovation
• 9 Innovation Roles
• JWT’s 100 Things to Watch for in 2011
• Innovation and the Future
• Innovation Shift
• Open Innovation
• Road to Innovation

Innovation Videos to spur your own innovative thinking

• TED Talks
• Aspen Ideas Festival
• How Do You Create a Culture of Innovation?