Publications by

Idit Bitton

Idit Bitton

Idit teaches innovation at Columbia University and IDC University in Israel. She is also a guest lecturer and keynote speaker at Wharton, INSEAD and international innovation conferences. She combines a passion for innovation with a deep understanding of the challenges that organizations face in adapting an innovation culture.

FIFA World Cup’s Top 5 Innovative Technologies

Published on: June 25, 2018 в 11:02 am

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Categories: Uncategorized

It is safe to say that everyone is excited about the games, but have you heard about the new technological advancements on and off the field?

Each of the following technologies are potential revenue boosters and, with proper implementation, have the potential to revolutionize both the event and the athlete training process.

Below, you will find a full cup worth of world-changing tech for you to marvel at while you watch your favorite teams battle it out on the field!

Did you know SIT has more in common with the World Cup than you might think? In 2010, SIT worked with Davivienda, a large financial leader in South America, on their digital marketing strategy. The project resulted in “The Correspondent Campaign,” which included the invention of a unique character who connected with the public through humor. During the 2010 World Cup, it was the most talked about marketing campaign and increased Davivienda’s revenue by over $3M!

Innovative Technology #1: Adidas miCoach Smartball

Adidas, the sponsoring company for the World Cup, recently made some noise with its newly released smart ball. The innovative smart ball, coined the “Adidas Telestar,” comes preinstalled with an NFC chip that is connected to a mobile application. Connecting to the app allows users to monitor game results, view ball movement, and share with other users. This smart ball also measures kick power, speed, ball height reached, and more.

The battery life is one week or 2,000 kicks. It also comes with its own charging station.

With Adidas constantly exploring new innovative technologies, we can expect further product developments in the athletic department and fan experience in the years to come.

innovative technology

Source credit: Adidas

Innovative Technology #2: Training Apparatus – SKLZ (Skylz) STARKICK

innovative technology

Source credit: Skylz

 

Want to practice your shots but are missing a training partner? Luckily, this training apparatus allows players to practice all shot types, including passes, free kicks, corner shots, and penalty kicks. The elastic band and rope can be attached to sandbags for longer range kicks, or to the player’s body for ball-control practice. This device can also improve creative dribbling and juggling skills.

 

Innovative Technology #3: ZEPP Play Soccer

The ZEPP Play System measures player data during gameplay to generate statistics. This tiny 7-gram sensor is attached to the player’s shoe or shin guard and connects to a mobile app. The innovative sensor measures distance, speed, sprints, and success rate in scoring goals (as opposed to attempts). After completing the activity, you can review all your past and current stats in an organized database on the app.

innovative technology

Source credit: Zepp

Innovative Technology #4: PlayerTek Soccer Tracker – Vest / GPS

Source credit: Playertek

A new gadget stemming from an Indiegogo campaign and very similar to the ZEPP Play Sensor is the PlayerTek Vest.

This product works in a similar fashion to the ZEPP, but in a comfortable vest form! It can collect maximum speeds and location data, but it does not yet measure a player’s cardiovascular rate.

For easy review post-training or post game, the app includes training tips and organized data. The device lasts seven hours per charge, which is perfect for a training day or several games back-to-back.

With new product development strategies, the PlayerTek Vest will surely continue to advance and transform from a classic innovation into an extraordinary one.

Innovative Technology #5: Norrlands Guld – “Social Beer”

This one is for those that love a good pub-based soccer viewing!

The creative masters at Norrlands Guld implemented an inventive solution that discourages phone use at bars. Instead of viewing live tweets on your phone, this innovative tech prints them directly on your beer’s foam in the most pretentious color possible… gold.

The last World Cup was one of the world’s highest tweeted events. This time, instead of hearing the phone buzzing (and potentially missing the action), why not keep the taps flowing and check out this innovative bartending technique?

innovative technology

Source credit: Norrland’s Guld

*Disclaimer: This remarkable engineering feat is only available in Sweden. Hopefully, one day soon, we can all experience the joy of drinking a tweet.

What’s Next?

 

New technological advancement means players and viewers can get even more out of their World Cup experience! Keep a look out during the next World Cup to see all this world-changing tech in action!

In the meantime, read about the coolest fashion tech wearables and let us know which one you would sport.

Innovation Program: 6 Extremely Useful Tips on How To Make It Work

Published on: August 14, 2017 в 9:56 pm

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Categories: Creativity,innovation

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Our experience has shown us that making an innovation program sustainable and fruitful in the longer term requires an organization to focus on 3 Pillars: Results, Skills, and Structures. Many of our most valuable insights have been learned directly from implementing these programs with our innovation partners (somehow ‘clients’ doesn’t accurately reflect the true nature of our work together).

We have found that the task is quite complex (obviously) and requires a combination of varied activities on several levels: individual, team and organizational.  We have formalized our knowledge in what we call The Three Pillar Approach. Here we will discuss a few examples of useful do’s and don’t’s.

 

So here are the 6 useful ways on how to achieve a successful innovation program in the long-term:

1. Brand your innovation process

Our partners have proven that giving your innovation process a catchy name and logo is much more than a gimmick. It makes an abstract process or idea immediately tangible.  It communicates seriousness and commitment.  It makes it easier for innovation to become a part of your organization’s language and culture.  It provides a platform for getting people onboard and PR-ing successes.  And, it becomes an expression of pride and responsibility.  Well worth the effort.

2. Take ownership of the process

Some of our partners describe their innovation process as their personal “baby”. Parenting is indeed an apt metaphor. Labor pains, crawling, teething, sleepless nights, tantrums giving way to jubilation, creativity, wonder and a tremendous feeling of accomplishment.  Sure, family and friends (AKA external consultants) can offer essential support and guidance. But, remember your innovation “baby” is ultimately part of your organization’s DNA and, success comes with time, patience and love. As they say, raising an innovation program isn’t easy, but it’s one of the best jobs around.

3.  Have fun!

Innovation, like marathon running, demands Herculean effort, buckets of stamina, sweat and the occasional strained muscle (usually the brain). But it should also be exhilarating, compulsive and fun. If it’s not, something’s wrong and needs to be changed.

4. ROI – Return on Innovation

Profit, increased productivity, new products, and more motivated staff.  Talking to our partners, we realize their innovation initiatives yield a diverse range of positive contributions to their organization. Some are easy to measure, like a more efficient internal process, some are dramatic like a breakthrough product launch, and some are subtle and cumulative, and seen in the way that teams think and work with each other. An innovation initiative in full flight has the potential to add enormous value: constantly checking return on the innovation investment and communicating successes will keep the cheques flowing.

5. Buzz

We know that innovation creates a buzz. But it’s not trivial to keep the buzz going, so pro-active internal communication is critical to keep the buzz alive. Our clients have invested a lot of time, money and resources in internal communications, producing professional-looking internal advertisements for the entire innovation program; innovation coach awards, internal newsletters, events and lots more. AND they still think they could do better.

6. A common language for innovation

 When the Lord wanted to punish those involved in the ill-conceived Babel building project, he enrolled them all in Berlitz courses.  We make a big point about giving everyone in the organization a common lexicon for innovation.  And we hear the impact when our partners tell us how colleagues from different business units can get together to work on an innovation project and immediately have a shared set of terms and concepts (“existing situation”, “Closed Worlds”, “limiting rather than diluting an idea”, “attributes and values”, “thema and rhema”, “fixedness”, etc.) to help them. A multitude of perspectives enriched by a common language makes innovation a natural part of the organization’s daily culture.

The 4 P’s of Creativity & Creative Thinking

Published on: August 14, 2017 в 9:56 pm

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Categories: Creativity

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When it comes to research around “Creative Thinking”, four standard approaches prevail (The 4 P’s of Creativity):

 

4 p's creativity

Source: Sparcit

So what are the 4 P’s of Creativity?

  1. Born this way

The first approach is the Person approach. This approach suggests that innovation is a characteristic inherent in naturally creative people. Either you’re born with it, or you’re not. Some of us have it, and some of us don’t. Managers who subscribe to this view tend to recruit innovative people into the company and assume that these creative people will be the standard bearers of creativity and creative thinking within the organization. For example, creative departments in advertising agencies often lean towards the Person approach – they look for people “born creative.”

  1. Creativity steps

The second approach is the Process approach. This approach suggests that there are particular processes that promote creativity. Take Brainstorming for example. This method says that if you create a process which gathers people from different disciplines, put someone in charge of facilitating the discussion,  suspend judgment when coming up with ideas,  put emphasis on the quantity not quality of ideas, and build on the ideas of others, then you’ll get to some good ideas upon which you can build your work plan. Similar to Brainstorming, there are a variety of other methods which you can adopt in order to reach creative thinking. For instance, Function Follows Form by SIT, emphasizes the voice of a product, instead of the voice of the customer.

  1. Common Ground

The third approach is the Product approach. This approach suggests that creative thinking can come from anyone, meaning that the source for creativity isn’t the person or the process, rather it’s the characteristics of the creative product itself that serves as the source of successful new creative ideas. Try this: take a sample of, let’s say, ten successful innovative products from different categories and examine what they have in common. Ask yourself what it is that makes them more “creative” as compared to other less creative products. If you succeeded in finding commonalities amongst the creative products that are lacking in non-creative ones, you have discovered something important. The next step would be to turn these shared characteristics into a “tool” that could help you create similar successful yet creative ideas in the future. This would be a Product approach pathway for arriving at creative thinking and creative solutions.

  1. External Factors

The fourth and final approach relates to the environment in which the person operates. That is, there are certain conditions that are enhanced by the organizational culture and resources that are around us.  According to Amabile (1983), even though everyone can be creative, certain environments are more influential determinants. Therefore, companies can create an atmosphere that will foster creativity and innovation from within.

 

Summary of the 4 P’s of Creativity

 

Generally speaking, you can find most of these approaches in any organization: a combination of “creative people”, processes aimed at encouraging new initiatives, and analyses of current successes with the goal of creating templates for future success. However,  one of these approaches can always be identified as being more dominant than the other.

Can you identify which approach characterizes your creativity today? Through utilizing the 4P’s approach, how would you manage your strategy differently in the future?

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