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Innovation is an evocative word. But the image it most frequently conjures--a lone, sleep-deprived genius slaving away in a cluttered garage--is also the most misleading. In reality, says SRI International CEO Curtis Carlson, "you can invent by yourself, but you can't innovate that way." He ought to know. For six decades, SRI, based in Menlo Park, Calif, has endured as a prolific incubator of money-minting ideas, playing a key role in creating everything from the computer mouse to the HDTV standard, which Carlson helped develop. Over the past 20 years, Carlson has searched SRI...
Rapid, consistent innovation, the authors find, arises only from a highly disciplined process. Most executives, they say, don't get that. So, what are the five disciplines? For starters, pick important, not merely interesting problems. Douglas Engelbart, the SRI engineer who invented the computer mouse and hypertext, had his team aim to "make the world a better place by augmenting and extending human intellect." Such outrageous ambition yielded the foundations of personal computing...
...competitors. The proposition doesn't just hone the pitch; it also aligns product development. Yet no matter how compelling that proposition is, innovation is a frustrating business. Hence the third discipline: the appointment of a champion who is insanely committed to the project. "We have a saying at SRI," says Carlson. "No champion, no project, no exception...
None of the candidates in a Security Council straw poll held in July--they hail from India, South Korea, Sri Lanka and Thailand--are seen as real contenders. A straw poll expected later this month should feature new and prominent names. Says a senior U.N. official: "The most important countries don't seem to like the horses in the starting gate, so they'll have to roam the paddocks looking for better material." Insiders expect Prince Zeid al-Hussein, Jordan's U.N. envoy, to declare, though handicappers note that an Arab might be viewed as insufficiently impartial, given the turmoil...
...accounts, Segway's commercial sales are picking up fast. But is this business sustainable? Curtis Carlson, ceo of SRI International, an innovation consultancy and research institute, has his doubts. Segways, he notes, are competing with established products, like electric golf carts, and stealing only a share of their market. Price is a problem, too. "Value is benefits per dollar," says Carlson. "For a lot of the world, a small lightweight bike is a good alternative to a $5,000 Segway...