1. Do team members understand the team’s vision, mission, goals, values and expectations?

2. Are team members aware of potential threats and opportunities?

3. Are team meetings productive and worthwhile?

4. Is communication between all members effective?

5. Are team members clear on what needs to be done?

6. Do team members cooperate and support each other?

7. Is the team continually improving and innovating?

Innovation is everywhere. Want to understand it better? Just look around.

Frito-Lay got headline attention when it announced that 50% of its product line for 2011 will be made from all natural ingredients.

Innovators get our attention.

Secondmarket helps buyers and sellers transact illiquid, restricted, and alternative investments. It is the answer to an obvious and significant need.

Go to Vibram’s Five Fingers running shoes. Once you see them, you’ll most likely think, “Of course! Why hasn’t that been tried before?”

Ski lift technology can use magnets on the back of lift chairs to keep kids snug and safe on the ride up the mountain. The magnet releases the mini skiers at the top. It is a simple idea that makes ski lifts safer.

Ford plans to be the first auto manufacturer to put engine on/off technology in its vehicles. This feature turns vehicles off at stoplights and restarts them when the driver presses the accelerator. It can result in a fuel savings of 4-10%. With gas prices in the daily headlines, this should be well received by car buyers.

My friend Robert Tucker of The Innovation Resource Group believes technology is an essential core competency that every organization and individual must possess for ongoing success. Yet the perception persists that innovation is difficult to do.

Extraordinary innovation is indeed challenging, but anyone can become more innovative.

It begins, like everything, with awareness. It isn’t enough to notice what innovative individuals and companies are doing; ask yourself why they’re doing it and how.

To be strategic, innovation needs to improve or enhance, be valued by the user and be profitable for the provider. Innovation for innovation’s sake might be fun, but few have the time and resources to pursue it.

An easy starting question is: “What do our existing or potential customers want that they’re not getting?” It is easier to meet an existing need than to create a need. That seems to be the question Secondmarket asked.

Another question: “What little change would make a big difference?” Start small, and pick the low hanging fruit. Your colleagues are constantly talking about how much better things would be internally and for customers. Start listening to what they’re saying and act on it.

Here’s a question for the bold: “What innovation would be a game-changer in our market space?” You don’t even have to be the first with the idea if you’re the first to implement it. The idea of on/off engine technology has been bantered for several years. Ford decided to stop considering it and start doing it.

Start paying attention, asking questions and taking strategic action. Treat innovation as s a competitive advantage and opportunity in the coming year.

You begin each week with many demands on your time, but do you design your week for maximum advantage? In this audio blog you’ll learn the five questions that you should ask at the beginning of each week. Your answers will provide you an agenda that will help you improve your business and your life. Listen here: Five Questions

I’m in Kona, Hawaii blogging from the free wifi hot spot at the Kona Brewing Company, one of my favorite haunts here (Wailua Wheat, passion fruit infused, is one of my favorite beers).

Here’s something to consider: the Hilton where I’m staying wants to charge me $12.95 for wifi but for the price of a beer I get it free at the Kona Brewing Company. When are hotel chains going to get a clue?

I rented a car at the hotel from Budget. The single staffer behind the counter was very nice but so slow I considered not renting the car. There was one woman in front of me.  She had signed a contract and been given a set of keys when the Budget employee realized she’d given the renter a better car than her low price merited. “Management will call me on this.  I’m so sorry but I’ll need to give you a different car….” She repeated a version of this at least six time and then spent an additional 10 minutes (on top of the 10 minutes already spent) re-entering data and generating a new contract.

If I were in management I’d have called her on making two other customers (there was a couple behind me) wait inordinately to get their vehicles. The price differential was maybe $10…what is goodwill worth? Yet another example of “companies and employees that don’t get it.”

Yesterday when I flew in I upgraded to first class. United duly marked my single bag “priority.” What does that mean? Often it means the bag comes out no sooner than anybody else’s bag. Mine came out near the end. Here’s the point: if you mark the bag “priority” then give it priority treatment or else don’t mark it! Why create an expectation that you (or your complacent baggage handlers) can’t deliver on?

It is Super Bowl Sunday and I’m afraid I’m going to lose status but I probably won’t watch the game. I grew up a Steelers fan but moved away from the area 30 years ago. I like Kurt Warner of the Cardinals (he’s a strong believer and stand up guy) but otherwise don’t have any vested interest in any team.

Everyone I’ve talked to-friends and business associates-seem envious that I’m in Hawaii. Truth is I’d rather either be home with my family or have them here with me. This is a beautiful place but I’m here on business. I appreciate greatly where I’m at right not, but place divorced from those who matter most isn’t all it could be.

Recently I wrote about the questions leaders could and should be asking about their organizations as they plan for the New Year.

Now let’s focus on the questions you as a leader could and should be asking yourself:

1. What were the biggest lessons of the past year?

2. What evidence do I have of growth in my personal and professional life?

3. What do I need to change? What are the top three things I need to: start doing, do consistently, stop doing or do differently?

4. What are the greatest threats for my future success and what can I do now to avoid or minimize them?

5. Am I clear on my purpose and values?

6. Do I regularly experience fulfillment and meaning in my life?

7. How much time do I spend thinking each day?

8. Am I taking good care of my important relationships?

9. Do I consistently do those things I’m best at and enjoy doing?

10. Do I understand and benefit from the difference between activity and accomplishment?

11. What are my four biggest personal goals for the coming year?

12. What can I do to maintain or improve my physical health?

13. Am I giving adequate attention to the spiritual dimension of my life?

14. Do I still desire to lead?