Jeffrey Phillips

Senior consultant and author

Jeffrey Phillips is the lead innovation consultant for OVO, which offers assessments, consulting, training and team definition, change management, innovation workshops, and idea generation space and services. Phillips has led innovation projects in the United States, Western Europe, South Africa, Latin American, Malaysia, Dubai, and Turkey. He has expertise in the entire “front end of innovation” with specific focus on trend spotting and scenario planning, obtaining customer insights, defining an innovation process, and open innovation. He’s the author of Relentless Innovation (McGraw-Hill, 2011), and 20 Mistakes Innovators Make (Amazon Digital Services, 2013), and co-author of OutManeuver: OutThink—Don’t OutSpend (Xlibris, 2016).

Mon, 12/14/2020 - 12:03
Here Come the Hyphenated Innovation Offerings Expertise and simplicity are often synonymous
Mon, 05/09/2016 - 17:29
It’s the natural order of economics that when an opportunity becomes available, everything rushes in to fill the vacuum. As the market becomes crowded, various offerings must differentiate themselves from the others to demonstrate value. So it’s…
Innovation: Out of the File Cabinet, Onto the Agenda Build on knowledge and skills already developed
Wed, 02/10/2016 - 14:44
Not long ago a new client asked our team to lead an innovation project to create a product. As always with a new client, we did a quick survey. It’s important to understand what the client knows and has attempted in the name of innovation. In this…
Define First, Innovate Later Confusing the ends and the means
Wed, 11/11/2015 - 12:46
I’ve written before (and often) about how challenges with clarity and consistency introduce difficulties when corporations try to create new products and services. Notice that for a blog about innovation, I didn’t use the “I” word. That’s because I…
The Most Common Innovation Project Failures The problem isn’t bad ideas; it’s bad management
Thu, 10/15/2015 - 12:59
I recently had the opportunity to speak to a leadership team that is considering building an innovation capability in their business. I was asked a question I get infrequently, but one I always enjoy answering. The question is this: “What keeps…
Innovation Decreases With Knowledge Surprised?
Thu, 08/20/2015 - 11:45
Did the headline of this article grab your attention? Did you think I was going to assert that dumb people are better innovators? Nothing of the sort. However, I think I can positively assert that bringing all of your knowledge to bear on a problem…
Innovation: Exploiting and Exploring Your business model should become the focus of your innovation effort
Tue, 08/04/2015 - 12:59
In every aspect of life, we create dichotomies to simplify decision making. Something is right or wrong, black or white. We do this to simplify our lives, shorten decision making time, and become more efficient. But creating these simple…
Where to Focus Your Innovation Effort Where, in the customer’s experience, is the greatest amount of needless complexity?
Tue, 06/16/2015 - 12:18
OVO Innovation has done a fair amount of innovation work in the banking and financial sector. I wouldn’t call us “experts” in that space, but we've spent time there, and we’re always interested in the new ideas that percolate in the industry. It…
Innovators Are True Believers There is always a better way to do something
Mon, 04/06/2015 - 16:22
After posting “Don't rock the boat innovation,” I was asked by a few folks a very interesting question. It was: What does it take to be a good innovator in a corporation? It’s fairly easy to be an innovator in a small company or as an entrepreneur…
Innovators Are Pattern Breakers You can ease the customer’s journey even if it’s not within your wheelhouse
Mon, 02/23/2015 - 10:19
During the last five years or so I’ve been asked many, many times for my opinion about corporate innovation. Why is there so much demand for corporate innovation, yet so little practical result? One could stipulate a number of reasons, including:…
Making Sacrifices for Innovation Everyone wants to work for a company that’s changing the world
Tue, 01/13/2015 - 10:08
A post by Jeff DeGraff prompted me to write this. His post was titled, “What Are You Willing to Give Up for Innovation?” although on a closer read he’s not really suggesting that you give up anything. However, most executives believe that “doing”…