Presentations and Articles
The Launchpad Partners frequently present their views on current trends and opportunities in publications and for various groups. You can find the articles and slides for several of these presentations on this page. For more information, please give us a call!
Thinking Inside the Box -- The Story of Roger Smith
Most experts prod companies and thier leaders to think outside the box. It seems to be the stock answer to creativity and innovation for these people. Everything will be much better if you just think outside the box.
We believe most companies would be much more successful thinking inside, the box; working on solutions for their customers and developing better ways to deliver value. These investments will pay better and faster returns and put your organization in position to take advantage of the true opportunities as they arise.This story of Roger Smith illustrates our point. He did an excellent job thinking outside the box for GM, but never fixed what was inside the box to support these new ideas.
Five Skill Players -- What Change Leaders Need
Baseball scouts rate prospects based on five skills: Hitting for power, hitting for average, speed, arm strength, and fielding ability. The best change leaders also require five skills. Learn what they are and how they relate to the baseball skills in this article by Buckley Brinkman.
Chicago Innovation Summit
Launchpad Partners participated in the Chicago Innovation Summit Roundtable. Buckley Brinkman was elected as a delegate to the panel and participated in a wide-ranging discussion on Innovation.
The Summit discussed the difficulties of innovating in these times and the increasing need to make it a priority. Companies are under stress as the economy continues to struggle. It's more important than ever to take action now and focus on innovation to create new growth.This innovation requires leaders' personal investments of time and energy. Leaders must make innovation a mission critical initiative in their organizations, engaging the entire organization.
Corporate Culture and the Perfect Fit
Companies seeking to increase executive bench strength often hire the best overall executive or the best athlete for their executive opening. The hire is made based on the belief that strong management skills are transferrable. Relying on this belief is rarely a slam dunk, as up to 25% of new executives fail within 18 months. We propose that understanding corporate culture – a definable and stable company quality – and the executive’s experience within that culture is a better determination of success.
Corporate culture remains stable and is based on the size and ownership of individual organization. Companies may move through various cultures as size and ownership changes. Culture can be defined and applied based on seven defining leadership characteristics. Company movement across these stages can cause fit problems with key executives, as most executives can only operate within a fairly narrow range of cultures. These conditions make fit critical at two different times: the initial executive hire and when the company moves to a new culture.
Corporate Kryptonite™
Dan Wallace discusses Corporate Kryptonite™ -- practices and beliefs that sap tremendous strength from organizations struggling to reach their potential. Often, these beliefs and practices are so deep-seated as to be invisible to people in the organization, preventing effective action from taking place.
Read about Corporate Kryptonite™ 
Building New Knowledge and the Role of Synthesis in Innovation
Bill Burnett was published in the premier issue of the International Journal of Innovation Science. He outlined how synthesis can improve innovation efforts and the importance of Supersynthesizers in those efforts. Supersynthesizers can energize your entire innovation effort and truly create breakthrough results.
GOLF TEE: The CEO's Role in Innovation
Bill Burnett spoke to the Harvard Business School Club of Chicago on Thursday, March 12, 2009. In his presentation, Bill outlined the role that CEOs play in innovation and provided a simple acronym to cement the key elements in our memories. View the slides from this presentation and learn some of Bill's unique appraoch to organizing for innovation.
View the Golf TEE Presentation
Four Keys to Breakthrough Growth
Dan Wallace addressed a local marketing group and outlined four keys to breakthrough growth. LP believes in taking a structured approach to growth, laying a firm foundation in order to sustain growth over the life of the organization. See the details in the slides.
View the Four Keys to Breakthrough Growth Presentation
Leadership for Innovation
Dan Wallace and Buckley Brinkman lead the Harvard Business School Alumni through a presentation that outlined critical issues surrounding leading innovation. The basic actions can be found on the slides from this June 12, 2008 presentation.
View the Leadership for Innovation Presentation
