Innovation Talks

Reviewing Annual Reports

Reading annual reports carefully is an excellent strategy for knowing where you are going. They can give a good impression of what a company is thinking. With the significant disruption caused by the global pandemic, we can look to these annual reviews to discover clues into what we can expect to see over the next one or two years. These expectations include the critical role of partners and rapidly expanding ecosystems, trends in collaboration, cybercrime, sustainability, and privacy. In ...

Internet of Things (IoT) based innovation management – closing the loop, or close to a snoop?

Colin Tattersall is the Product Manager at Sopheon. He has a strong background initially working in a research capacity in linguistics and knowledge management, eventually moving into new product development and innovation. He was previously an Associate Professor at Open Universiteit Nederlands, a Consultant at QNH Consulting, and a Project Leader at KPN Research. Colin has a Bachelor’s degree in Computational Science and a Doctor of Philosophy in Computational Linguistics and Knowledge-Bas...

Technologies Causing New Problems for Virtual Collaboration

We all spend a significant amount of time in virtual meetings, whether it’s within our businesses or with other companies. The perception of an increased number of meetings is being noticed throughout the workplace, and people are beginning to express that they are having trouble keeping up, running from one meeting to the next. But, is meeting prevalence on the rise as more people work from home? Are we really spending more time in meetings, or is this simply a matter of perception? In ...

Losses in Collaboration and Ideation due to Changes in Remote Work

Chris Colbert has helped build and run several domestic and international companies focused on innovation and business optimization. He was previously EVP for Strategy Scholastic’s core publishing business, which he left in 2014 to explore the world of higher education and technology-enabled learning systems for adults. He was the Managing Director at Harvard Innovation Labs and is now focusing on adaptive culture and the human potential. He is the host of the Insert:Human podcast, and is wo...

More Thoughts about Stage Gate

We often hear that Stage Gate equates to Phase Gate and that it is tied to development. If you search Wikipedia, you are directed to something called the Phase Gate Process. The article explains it as “a phased approach for making investment decisions” but then cites Phase Gate as something NASA created for development and defines Stage Gate as a variant of Phase Gate. According to Wikipedia, “Phase Gate processes are often called front-end loading or big design upfront” processes, but this ...

Governance in Innovation with Andy Michuda

Andy Michuda is the Executive Chairman of Sopheon. He is an internationally recognized speaker, regularly presenting on topics related to innovation management tools and best practices for improving critical business processes. Since the 1990s, he has been helping Fortune 500 companies and large multinationals with knowledge management implementation and new product development solutions. Andy previously worked in computer technology with Control Data Corporation and holds a Bachelor’s degre...

Smart Products

Smart products are all around us, and it is hard to imagine how our lives would be without them. From smartphones to smart toasters, refrigerators, and earbuds, smart products give us a lot of help and make our lives better in so many ways. They perform actions on our behalf and inform our decision-making. Smart products gain their effectiveness through a combination of core components, intelligence, connectivity, and automation. In today's episode, I talk about smart products and the chal...

Why Innovation Fails – Governance, budget and methodologies

HC Eppich is the Business Development Director for Sopheon. He speaks to companies across various industries about futureproofing their current portfolios and achieving more revenue with new business. He has a background as a product manager with twenty years of experience in knowledge management solutions. HC has held senior positions with German companies such as Beratung für erfolgreiches Scheitern, Planview, and Cordys Deutschland AG. HC has an engineering degree in computer science and ...

Single versus Multi-Product Mindsets: What's The Difference and Why It Matters.

Paul O’Connor is the Founder and Managing Director of The Adept Group, an organization focusing on product line velocity to improve innovation in mid-size and large companies. He has led innovation initiatives at Johnson & Johnson, Exxon, Pfizer, WL Gore, and Procter & Gamble. Paul is a consultant, advisor, and author of The Profound Impact of Product Line Strategy: Your Guide to Highly Productive Innovation and Product Management. He was a contributing editor to R&D Magazine and is widely p...

Dr. Huub Rutten's Predictions on how Governance will Affect the Market

Dr. Huub Rutten serves as the Vice President of Product Research and Design at Sopheon and is one of the company’s founding members. He holds a Master’s degree in Applied Linguistics and Literature, Theory of Science, Sociolinguistics, Speech Act Theories, and Language Teaching from the Radboud University in Nijmegen, Nigeria and has worked in the linguistics and language management sector for over 20 years. Prior to working at Sopheon, Huub has worked at several higher education institutes ...

Challenges with Developing Smart Products with Huub Rutten

Dr. Huub Rutten is one of the Founding members of Sopheon and is currently the company's Vice President for Product Research and Design. After gaining a Master’s in Applied Linguistics from Radboud University in the Netherlands, Huub went on to work for several academic institutes teaching linguistics and communications.  An adjunct professor at the European Institute for Public Administration (EIPA), he then became a permanent advisor to the European Commission, counseling them on IT and po...

The Agile Mindset for Innovation with Huub Rutten

Dr. Huub Rutten is one of the Founding members of Sopheon and is currently the company's Vice President for Product Research and Design. After gaining a Masters in Applied Linguistics from Radboud University in the Netherlands, Huub went on to work for several academic institutes teaching linguistics and communications.  An adjunct professor at the European Institute for Public Administration (EIPA), he then became a permanent advisor to the European Commission, counseling them on IT and pol...

AI and Machine Learning in Innovation with Huub Rutten

Dr. Huub Rutten is one of the Founding members of Sopheon and is currently the company's Vice President for Product Research and Design. After gaining a Master’s in Applied Linguistics from Radboud University in the Netherlands, Huub went on to work for several academic institutes teaching linguistics and communications.  An adjunct professor at the European Institute for Public Administration (EIPA), he then became a permanent advisor to the European Commission, counseling them on IT and po...

Innovation Isn't Just Ideation

I'm sure you have heard yourself, or a friend say they have a great idea for an invention. Or maybe just an abstract idea of a 'need' for something – an observed gap in the market, if you will. But then, somewhere along the way, you see that gap filled, and you think, 'Why didn't I DO that? I THOUGHT of it first.' Well, ideas are nothing if you don't do something about them, and in the world of innovation, ideation is the first step for those who do decide to make their idea a reality. But t...

Holistic Innovation Management

You might have heard the phrase 'the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, so it goes with Innovation Management. Collaboration across various manufacturing industries can give birth to solutions through sharing ideas, research, and strategies. Understanding the ecosystem of innovative solutions around your production can achieve a lot in terms of savings in cost, time, and leverage. Partnerships in development and reaching beyond the confines of your business problem will reap the rew...

What are Agile and Safe Methodologies

How do larger companies with lots and lots of teams scale? If you have too many people with too many moving targets not aligned in their outcomes, your product is at risk. In the past, companies found their processes getting slower and slower as their product became more complex, and at the same time, methodologies inside software development were changing fast. The birth of the Agile Manifesto meant a different approach to production that was more about doing than spending too much time thi...

Stage-Gate® Methodology Basics

You might have heard the term Stage-Gate® when discussing product development processes, from Idea to Product Launch. The name comes from one, Dr. Robert Cooper, one of the most influential innovation thought-leaders in the industry. He trademarked the term Stage-Gate® and its methodology, which was implemented by almost 80% of North American companies. In his framework, a product's genesis will go through discreet stages until it hits the market with expected high success rate results. In...

Stage Gate Methodology Basics

You might have heard the term Stage-Gate when discussing product development processes, from Idea to Product Launch. The name comes from one, Dr. Robert Cooper, one of the most influential innovation thought-leaders in the industry. He trademarked the term Stage-Gate and its methodology, which was implemented by almost 80% of North American companies. In his framework, a product's genesis will go through discreet stages until it hits the market with expected high success rate results. In t...

The Impact of Software Eating the World on Product Innovation with Greg Coticchia

Greg Coticchia is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of ENTRA, a consulting company providing business development, product management, and marketing expertise in the manufacturing industry. He also happens to be President of Sopheon, bringing decades of his award-winning experience to oversee the mission of achieving best practices for exceptional long-term revenue growth and profitability. Greg created and launched Carnegie Mellon University's Master program in Product Management – th...

Who is Sopheon?

In the previous episode, I took some time to explain the purpose of this podcast. Before we start diving into innovative topics, it may be helpful for you to better understand Sopheon, and how we became an innovative company. Understanding our background will help better understand why this podcast is dedicated to innovation. In this episode, I discuss in greater detail, what Sopheon is and the types of services it provides. I explain what linguistic analysis is and how it helps businesses...

Introduction to Innovation Talks with Paul Heller

Welcome to Innovation Talks. I'm your host Paul Heller, the Chief Technology Officer at Sopheon, and I'm excited that you’re listening and want to be a part of this new podcast. Innovation is at the core of software we produce to make our client’s job easier, however, technology is only one piece of the innovative solution. Get ready to learn about business innovation from industry leaders, customers, and other innovation experts. In this episode, I take some time to welcome you and introd...

Welcome to Innovation+ Talks