I picked up on TechCrunch that Tesla have just signed a deal to supply Mercedes Benz with their Litium Ion batteries. MB are likely to make electric versions of the A and B class vehicles as soon as 2010 along with an electric version of the Smart. If this deal is anything to go by, it seems that Tesla’s technology is going to be in demand. I’ve just been on a poll on TechCrunch which is currently showing that 78% of voters think Tesla will have a bigger business in 5 years time selling it’s batteries than making and selling it’s own cars. A case of a real “sweet spot” technology if I’m not mistaken.

I’ve recently come across a couple of new books which ought to be worth a read. Currently, I’m in the middle of The Game Changer by A.G. Lafley, head of P&G and Ram Charan, a top management consultant. So far the main theme I’m getting is that to make innovation stick it should come from the top, consistently and with positive reinforcement. Credit due, for P&G I reckon the whole connect and develop initiative was quite an inspired change of direction in 2000, based on the very internally focused approach to R&D which existed in P&G up until then. The book is somewhat better than the review I mentioned before led me to believe. So far the book seems reasonably light on Innovation motherhood. Still, I’ve got a fair bit of reading to do as yet so there’s time for disappointment.

Another book that is on my reading list is the latest Gary Hamel book “The future of management”. This book is interesting because it oulines something I felt for a while, how organisations are most often less human that the people who work in them, less inspiring, adaptable, innovative and less engaging. Gary Hamel thinks this is due to the control systems, budgeting, processes and reviews that take place within large organisation, leaching adaptability and innovative thinking out of the very people who are critical to the future of the organisation. Hmm.. sounds a familiar enough story, doesn’t it? The book is sure to contain lots of other good stuff, sounds like a must read.

 

Finally, a book building on the message from the Game Changer – Innovation to the core by Peter Skarzynski and Rowan Gibson, pulls together a range of examples from leading innovative companies such as Nokia, GE, P&G and IBM to create a blueprint for how to transform your business and get Innovation into the DNA of your corporation. Interestingly they cover a systematic process for generating compelling insights. I wonder if it bears any similarity to the way I do it. I’ll have to buy it and find out.