Scroll down if you wish to skip some thoughts on innovation

(But we really think it's worth reading!!!)

The summary, so far:

  1. Innovation is not synonymous with “profitable”, though Innovation does provide opportunities for profit or competitive advantage if you know how to exploit them.
  2. An Idea has to be implemented successfully to become an Innovation.
  3. Innovation is not always about invention. It can be about repackaging, recombining or simply re-presenting ideas at the right time, in the right way or to the right audience.
  4. Innovation is reliant on the audience to accept an idea and adopt it. Without adoption, there is no Innovation.
  5. Innovation relies on the good will and enthusiasm of idea generators and adopters. No amount of force or coercion will turn an idea or product into an Innovation.
  6. An Idea can be attractive enough that it becomes an Innovation without a direct sponsor or Innovation team behind it.

So what does this mean for Innovation teams?

  1. Our sponsors need to understand that they may be funding initiatives for the long term and at the expense of the short term. This is a difficult concept for many organizations to accept. An analogy would be surgery; we sometimes have to deliberately accept some short term damage, pain and weakness for our long term health and welfare.
  2. Collecting ideas, filing patents and coming up with new designs is a good thing, but it’s not a true Innovation until you can get traction and actually implement the ideas. Innovation teams need to spend a lot of time laying ground work that might not seem to be innovative and may never directly contribute to a specific innovation. But building credibility, establishing relationships and providing incremental value are essential to eventually get to the  Innovation itself.
  3. An idea doesn’t need to be new in order to be Innovative. It could be a dusty old idea that can be polished and put to good use now that the timing is right. There may be a lot of value in revisiting ideas that failed or were shelved in the past. “We’ve tried that a hundred times before” should be a sign of an idea with merit. We need to make sure that our audience understands that “innovative” behavior isn’t just coming up with new ideas. It’s often about recognizing opportunities for existing ideas or simply being open to change.
  4. Innovation teams don’t make Innovations. The audience does. It’s important that an Innovation team engages their audience and encourages them to adopt an idea. Innovation teams should be marketers, facilitators, mentors and close working partners with all of the stakeholders. We often focus strictly on the people doing the work or paying the bills rather than the people that we will ask to adopt our Idea . Never forget that we put on the show for the audience and not for the players.
  5. Innovation teams need to be careful not to alienate the sources of innovation by taking all of the “cool” or “fun” work for themselves. Teams need to be careful to freely give credit to their sources and avoid grandstanding for themselves. It’s a difficult balance when Innovation teams find themselves fighting with their own audience for funding. But finding that balance of recognition and ownership is an important element to a successful program.
  6. If an idea can be properly communicated to the right audience, it can develop a life of its own and become an Innovation

Innovative Trauma Care iTClamp

Now FDA approved for scalp lacerations! Our current project with the Canadian geniuses behind this astonishingly simple and effective innovation is demonstrating the iTClamp to a wide variety of end users including SOCOM Medics, EMS personnel, SWAT teams and others with a need for a solution to massive hemorrhage on the X.  A picture is worth a thousand words, but hands on experience is priceless.  If you would like to attend one of the demonstration labs, let us know.  For more information, or to be introduced to your regional rep, check them out at http://www.innovativetraumacare.com/index.html

 

Fighter Design LLC Airflow Technology

When these guys asked us to run these pants around Afghanistan during the summer in some of the hottest most miserable conditions, we said "Sure!"  The end result is this limited edition run through an agreement with Vertex and the guys over at Fighter Design are still nipping, tucking and tweaking the "coolest" pants on the market.  Recent internal body temperature testing in the swamps of Florida resulted in a 1.7% decrease in temperature...and that was just using the pants!  Wait until you see what else they are cooking up down in Austin.  Go check them out and tell them we said hello http://www.fighterdesignusa.com/

 

ThinkLabs One Stethoscope: 

click here to check out the details!

After testing this in Afghanistan, Africa and Central America on MI-17 Helicopters, Blackhawks, Twin Otter STOL aircraft, in heat and cold, in the desert and on mountain tops we can say that this is the BEST stethoscope on the market hands down...end of story.

Amplified, rugged, small...what more can you ask for?

Amplified, rugged, small...what more can you ask for?

The T-MAX NV provides white light illumination and secondary colors (infrared plus red and green or red and blue); momentary output; three intensity levels ofconstant-on; lock-out mode and ready-strobe function designed to disorient subjects with a quick touch of the thumb and safety beacon.