by Tristan Allen | Feb 12, 2019 | Consumer insight, Future forecasting, Future landscaping, future thinking, Innovation consulting, Innovation strategy
Why do companies seem great while the founder is in place and then gradually wither to nothing? My dad started his jewellery retail business in the late 1960s. He grew it to three shops and planned for his family to succeed him. Then the 1970s came along. Petrol was...
by Tristan Allen | Feb 11, 2019 | Design Thinking, Future forecasting, future thinking, Innovation consulting, Innovation strategy, Innovation workshops, Scenarios planning
Practically, the room44 innovation audit provides a view of your world that your customers see. Strategically, if you are beginning to think about divestment, investment, or retirement and succession, this will show you how your plans might be helped along. Say...
by Tristan Allen | Feb 4, 2019 | Design Thinking, Future landscaping, Innovation consultancy, Innovation strategy
History tells us that the likelihood of most companies surviving much beyond the founder’s involvement is slim. Many businesses get bought, absorbed into other companies or simply fail. In fact, according to John Elkann at Fiat, only 49 companies per million last...
by Tristan Allen | Jan 29, 2019 | Design Thinking, future thinking, Innovation strategy
Product trend-spotting is a bit like birdwatching, or chasing hurricanes. You know they’re out there, but you don’t know when or where they’re going to show up. Patterns from the past may tell us roughly what to expect, but the actual event is harder to predict. So,...
by Tristan Allen | Jan 28, 2019 | Consumer insight, Innovation consultancy, Innovation consulting, Innovation strategy
When you call your next assembly, staff meeting or write a directors’ newsletter, stick something with ‘innovation’ in the title and it’s expected to grab the attention and get everyone buzzing. If it’s nothing else, innovation is definitely a buzz word. Reactions to...
by Tristan Allen | Jan 21, 2019 | future thinking, Innovation consultancy, Innovation consulting, Innovation strategy, Scenarios planning
UK businesses have a little under two months to watch Brexit unfold and try to decide how to move forward. Conventional advice is to watch the pennies and mitigate the risk of getting caught out if and when rules change. This is brilliant news for innovators. Your...