For the second December in a row, my final speaking engagement of the year took me to Abu Dhabi to appear at the Etisalat “Eye on Government” Conference. This prestigious annual event, under the patronage of His Royal Highness Sheikh Saif Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, UAE Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, assembles some of the country’s leading officials from government, the military and public services. My keynote speech on “The Knowledge Economy: Challenges and Opportunities” directly followed an address by His Excellency Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansouri, UAE Minister of Economy. Quite apart from the event itself, which was hosted at the Fairmont Bab Al Bahar Hotel, Abu Dhabi, it was fantastic to tank up on some last sunshine before heading into Europe’s cold, snowy winter for the holidays. My thanks again to Mariam Mohamed Rashid, Etisalat’s Director Government Development Programs, for inviting me back to speak at the company’s main conference of the year. And so… my speaking agenda for 2010 comes to a close. Wishing you all the very best for 2011!

To kick off my new joint venture with Imaginatik – the innovation management solutions provider – I agreed to speak at their Innovation Leaders Forum in Chicago, one a series of events the company hosts each year across North America. As the name suggests, these forums are designed to bring together innovation leaders from some of the world’s largest organizations to discuss best practice in the field, and to present Imaginatik’s latest offerings in collaborative software. My speech on “Making Innovation Happen” outlined the basics of the “Four Lenses of Innovation” – the systematic approach to insight generation and ideation described in my book Innovation to the Core. Fellow speakers included the excellent Julie Anixter, Chief Innovation Officer at Maga Design in Washington D.C., who worked for 5 years with Tom Peters (and it shows!!). Well done to Luis Solis, Imaginatik’s President for North America, and the rest of the Imaginatik team for hosting a really high energy event. The next Innovation Leaders Forum is scheduled for February 2011 in NYC. See you there!

Following my multiple innovation masterclasses a few months earlier in San Jose for Grupo Pellas, I was invited back to this beautiful country by BCR (Banco de Costa Rica) to do the keynote speech at their annual VIP customer event. Hosted at the Herradura hotel, the gala evening event brought together over 300 key customers of this leading bank and gave me the opportunity to speak for 60 minutes on “Winning in the Innovation Economy”. It seems the financial services industry has finally shaken off its malaise from the economic crisis and is once again embracing the power of innovation for generating new growth opportunities. A big thank you to Jorge Venegas of Seminarium for setting up this special engagement.

It’s always great to be asked back a second time to speak for a trusted client. In this case, it was Cognis – the specialty chemistry company that has truly made innovation its core strategy. I am honored to be the only keynote speaker to have appeared twice at Cognis’s annual Innovation Awards event, which has been hosted for years at the Finanzkaufhaus in Düsseldorf, Germany. What made this occasion particularly special is that it was the tenth anniversary of the awards event itself, as well as the last time that Cognis would be celebrating as an independent company due to its imminent acquisition by the world’s leading chemical company, BASF. My one-hour keynote speech on “Innovation to the Core” highlighted the value of a culture of creativity – which has been a major driving force for Cognis’s success, and has led to hundreds of incredible innovations over the past decade. My thanks once again to Susanne Marell, Vice President Corporate Communications and Mareike Klein, Corporate Communications Manager, for making me feel so much at home in this amazing corporate culture. I wish the Cognis team every success in their new relationship with BASF.

Few major cities can rival Madrid when it comes to both historic and contemporary influence. I’m always glad to be back, and this trip was no exception. My host on this occasion was Telefónica – the third largest telecom provider in the world – perhaps best known internationally for its Movistar mobile phone brand. They had invited me to their Madrid headquarters to give the keynote speech at “Movilforum 2010” – their annual conference for the ICT developer community, which has more than 120 participating companies in Spain alone, as well as thousands of associates. My speech on “Winning in the Innovation Economy” fitted neatly into the conference theme this year, which was “Let’s Talk About Innovation”. It was also great to meet up with some of Telefónica’s technology partners, who were presenting some cool new applications on more than 30 stands (particularly Vexia – the advanced vehicle navigation system), as well as to get a tour of the company’s impressive innovation center. My thanks to José María Palomares and his team for organizing a terrific event and for making me feel so welcome on the Telefónica campus.

In the second quarter, Turkey tied with China as the world’s fastest-growing economy. And Istanbul is definitely the world’s most fashionable new financial center, with Turkey’s banking sector driving much of the country’s success. I was delighted to be back on the Bosphorus, at the fabulous Four Seasons hotel, to speak at the 9th Senior Executives Program of Dallah Albaraka Group – the Saudi-based international conglomerate that is one of the top privately-owned enterprises in the Middle East. My two 90-minute sessions on “Making Innovation Happen” made up the final morning of the program, following directly on from Ken Blanchard’s sessions the previous day. The event was attended by the all the senior leaders of the group, representing industries like banking, real estate, communication, media and healthcare, among others. I enjoyed it immensely, along with Istanbul’s legendary hospitality and flair, and my dinner at the spectacular Ulus 29 restaurant after the event was a memorable highlight.

PMC Sierra is one of the world’s premier providers of semiconductor solutions for Internet infrastructures, with offices in North America, Europe, Israel and Asia. As a venue for the company’s Global Sales Conference this year, they chose Shenzhen, China, and I was honored to address the organization at their gala dinner celebration on the final evening with a one-hour keynote on “Winning in the Innovation Economy”. This trip also gave me the opportunity to spend another day or two in Beijing, which meant I could have dinner with my dear friends, John and Doris Naisbitt, who practically live at the Ritz Carlton for much of the year. Shenzhen was characteristically sunny and warm, and it was nice to cross over into Hong Kong on my last day which was as breathtaking as ever.

My four-week speaking tour of South America ended with a real finale in Lima, Peru, where I addressed around 300 senior executives at the Seminarium Strategy Summit 2010. The event, which was brilliantly organized by Anne Bayly and her highly professional team at Seminarium, was a real highlight of the trip. My visit to Peru also involved a number of media appearances, including press, TV and radio interviews. And then there was the food! After the event, I had the great fortune of being invited to meet Gastón Acurio, the famous Peruvian chef, restaurant owner and TV celebrity, who gave me a personal tour of Lima’s annual “Mistura” food festival, where I saw literally a thousand varieties of potato and experienced authentic local cuisine. Culinary visits on this trip included La Mar, Gaston’s excellent fish restaurant (he recently opened another one in San Francisco), and the unforgettable Huaca Pucllana, next to an ancient pyramid.

How can I begin to describe the incredible week I spent in Managua, Nicaragua? Six back-to-back events on six consecutive days, for a range of different companies and industries. The schedule nearly killed me, but the results were worth every effort. My friends at Pellas Group – the Central American conglomerate (see article below) – invited me to come and spend a day with each of their companies (agriculture/energy, rum, healthcare, car dealerships, insurance), to support them in driving innovation to the core of their businesses. The events were extremely dynamic, with lots of breakout sessions and interaction with the executives, and we got real commitments to organizational change. On Saturday morning, an extra event was scheduled with the Vivian Pellas Hospital Burn Unit for Children, to innovate around their funding operations, which I found really moving. My deep thanks to Ricardo Bolaños, OD Corporate Director, for an amazing week, including our tours of Nicaragua – the land of volcanoes – by helicopter, car and boat (great Sunday brunch in Granada!), as well as his assistants Marinelisa and Maria, who were an absolutely fantastic support.

Earlier this year, I did a two-Day Executive Retreat in Cancun, Mexico, for the Pellas Group – one of the largest and most diversified business conglomerates of Central America. The Group is involved in the financial, agribusiness, energy, rum, manufacturing, real estate, tourism, health, and retail industries in Central America, Panama, Mexico, and the United States. As a follow-up to the retreat, the Group’s Chairman, Mr. Carlos Pellas, invited me to spend a week and a half with his various companies, starting in San Jose, Costa Rica, and continuing on to Managua, Nicaragua (see article above). The two masterclass events in San Jose were with BAC Credomatic, the Group’s financial services company; and GBM, the region's largest IBM distributor, integrator and solution provider. I also enjoyed my stay at the magnificent InterContinental Hotel & Club Tower, which was an excellent venue for the first event. The second event, with GBM, was hosted at the beautiful hacienda-like Marriott, near San Jose.

My second appearance for Seminarium on this trip (see below) was the CEO Top Management Summit in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The program was similar to the event in Colombia a few days earlier, and again I did a “double act” with Professor Richard D’Aveni of Tuck business school, sharing two sessions each at the conference. My two 90-minute sessions were entitled “Making Innovation Happen” and “Innovation to the Core”. Brazil was buzzing with business growth, as ever. And, to coincide with the event, I was happy to see my latest article published in the Harvard Business Review, which was focused on Brazilian Innovation Champions. The timing could not have been better!

My four-week speaking tour of South and Central America this year took me to five countries, and comprised eleven events in total (see also articles above). The tour kicked off with Seminarium’s CEO Top Management Summit in Bogota, Colombia, which attracted senior executives from many of Colombia’s leading companies. The event was an excellent platform for me to outline exactly how an organization can build and manage a deeply embedded corporate innovation capability. My speaker colleague on the program was Professor Richard D’Aveni of Tuck business school, whose presentations were focused on the challenge of “hypercompetition”. Congratulations to Seminarium for organizing these excellent management conferences, and my sincere thanks for inviting me to speak at three events in three different countries on this tour.

As part my ongoing consulting relationship with Mars in the GCC region, I was back in Dubai for a special two-day engagement, including an advanced innovation training day for the company’s innovation ambassadors. The training day covered detailed use of the “Four Lenses of Innovation”, the insight generation and ideation methodology I have employed with companies in 50 countries around the world. All in all, the program covered 16 exercises and included 5 breakout sessions for practical work with the lenses, with a view to helping the ambassadors train other colleagues in the “Four Lenses”. Quite an intensive day! Thankfully, the whole initiative was piloted by Mr. Cedric Bachellerie, the newly appointed Innovation Capability Manager at Mars GCC, whose leadership and guidance at the event was indispensable.

Talking to famously innovative companies is something I always approach with both excitement and humility. What was refreshing (pardon the pun) about this engagement with Coca-Cola is that they embraced my 2-hour presentation plus Q&A in exactly the same spirit. I was honored to conduct an executive summit on innovation with a top team of leaders from Coca-Cola’s Latin American division – based in San Jose, Costa Rica – which is responsible for Coke’s business in 31 geographic markets throughout the region. The meeting, via video conference, was also widened out to include participants in Colombia and Venezuela, who joined us for the event. My thanks to Daniel Ramirez and Ileana Gamboa of Coca-Cola for inviting me to speak to this experienced and dynamic group, which I enjoyed greatly.

Helsinki seems to be turning into a second home. It’s been one of the most frequent destinations for my speeches over the past few years, and I’m always happy to be back. This time I was greeted by a rare heat wave, which taught me surprisingly that Finnish people actually do own t-shirts and shorts (something I never really imagined!). The occasion was an international management summit organized by Fiskars Group – the 360-year-old Finnish company that is known around the world for its home, garden and outdoors products. I was honored to deliver a 90-minute keynote address on “Strategies for the Innovation Economy” to the organization’s global leaders, followed by a lively 15 minutes Q&A, all of which took place at the firm’s historic headquarters building. In the meantime, I’ve also become a big fan of Fiskars’ innovative garden products (they truly make gardening chores a lot easier and much more enjoyable). Thanks to Max Alfthan, Chief Strategy Officer of Fiskars Group, as well as Patrik Ekman of SpeakersForum, for setting up this important engagement.

I somehow managed to miss the major air trouble with Iceland’s volcanic ash cloud, and thankfully made it with only a minor delay to the fabulous Fairmont Mayakoba resort in Cancun, Mexico. That’s where I was due to deliver a two-day innovation masterclass for Grupo Pellas – one of the leading business conglomerates in Latin America (with financial, industrial and commercial companies employing over 125,000 people). Their annual executive retreat, which brought together 120 senior leaders from right across the group, presented an excellent platform for driving innovation forward in all of the Grupo Pellas companies. I especially enjoyed meeting Carlos Pellas, the group’s Chairman, as well as other members of the remarkable Pellas family, who together provide an inspiring example of entrepreneurial and visionary leadership. It was also a great pleasure to work with Ricardo Bolaños, OD Corporate Director and mastermind of the whole event, along with his trusted colleague Marinelisa Sáenz Gutiérrez, who managed everything so calmly, efficiently (and flexibly!) at all times.

After a successful event in Munich (see below), I was driven to a beautiful lake in the Bavarian Alps called the TegernSee, where Arthur D. Little had invited me to speak at their Global Directors Meeting. The annual meeting, hosted at the excellent Hotel Überfahrt, brought together the company’s senior leaders from all over the world and offered the perfect opportunity to discuss its future growth strategy. My one-hour speech, just before dinner, was focused on “Strategies for the Innovation Economy”. Once again, the weather was breathtaking, and I had time to take a refreshing walk around the lake before I was due to speak. Dinner was amazing, too, where we got to savor the culinary delights of one of Germany’s most innovative celebrity chefs, Christian Jürgens. Special thanks to Michael Träm, Arthur D. Little’s Global CEO, and Marie Jerusalem, Global Director Human Resources, for asking me to come and address the company.

Consulting giant Accenture picked the perfect week to host their “German Innovation Forum” event in Munich, in association with leading business magazine WirtschaftsWoche. After months of dreary weather, the sun was out in full force in the Bavarian capital, making it feel more like the Italian Riviera. I was pleased to open the event – which took place at the iconic Bayerischer Hof hotel – with a one-hour keynote speech on “Making Innovation Happen”. Directly following the Forum was a ceremony to officially award this year’s winners of the prestigious “German Innovation Prize”, which sent an important signal to the country’s business community. I also enjoyed dinner the evening before at the hotel’s open-air rooftop restaurant, where the temperature was pleasant enough to sit out for hours and watch the sun set in glorious colors over the city. This was truly Munich at its best! My congratulations to Frank Riemensperger, Accenture’s Managing Director for Austria, Switzerland and Germany, for organizing an outstanding innovation event.

Everyone brings back memories from Vegas (yeh, I know what you’re thinking). My most vivid memory as a speaker comes from a couple of years back, when I had to give a speech here directly after Bill Clinton (ouch). This time I was in town to deliver a keynote speech for Visonic – a leading international player in the world of electronic security systems. The event was hosted at the fabulous Encore Las Vegas, the sister resort of the Wynn (the two hotels collectively hold more Forbes five-star awards than any other casino-resort in the world, which is pretty wow). Yet beyond all the glitter and glamor, what really impressed me was Visonic’s own innovation prowess, and I took some time to get acquainted with the company’s cutting-edge security products. Congratulations to Bill Lyon, Ronnie Nir, and Laila Arad-Allan of Visonic for delivering the innovation goods at this event, and for putting on a topnotch show. Great stuff!

As an Englishman, it felt strange and somewhat humbling to be in Dresden just one week after the 65th anniversary of the infamous allied firebombing at the end of World War II. Just the thought of that terrifying night back in February 1945 is enough to make me sweat. However, my job was not to dwell on the past but rather to focus on how a company can shape its own future in the Innovation Economy. I was invited to conduct a half-day masterclass for the international management of Monier Group– one of the world’s leading suppliers of quality roofing materials. The 80-person audience encompassed about 15 language groups, all of whom worked extremely well together to generate new strategic growth opportunities for the company using the “Four Lenses of Innovation”. My thanks to Nicole Pichin, Group Communications Director of Monier Group, for organizing the event so professionally, and kudos to CEO Pepyn Rene Dinandt for creating a company culture that sees such great innovation potential in something as seemingly mundane as roofing tiles.

After my two speaking engagements with Mars GCC last year in Dubai, the company decided it was time to officially launch the new innovation process to all of the company’s regional associates. This event took place at The Address – the spectacular new hotel that just opened at the Dubai Marina Yacht Club – and was attended by over 300 Mars GCC associates. I was invited to make a 75-minute keynote speech to the audience before lunch, and then to conduct a half-day innovation masterclass in the afternoon with all of the participants as an introduction to “The Four Lenses of Innovation”. That meant facilitating the discovery work of around 30 teams – the largest number I have handled so far – to address some of the company’s key innovation challenges, but the output of the group was fantastic and it was great to see so many people with so much passion for business creativity. Again, it was a pleasure to work with Lama El Khaldi and Samir Moftah of Mars GCC to design another successful event in Dubai, and I look forward to watching the company embed innovation as an enterprise capability throughout 2010.

The new company to watch in generic pharmaceuticals is definitely Alvogen (it’s headed up by the same winning team that previously took Actavis from nowhere to being one of the world’s leading players). This is a company with audaciously ambitious goals and basically all the industry expertise it needs to achieve them. I was invited to talk to Alvogen’s excellent global leadership group at a special event hosted in Key Largo, Florida, at the exclusive Ocean Reef Club. My two-hour pre-dinner speech on “Rethinking the Future” was the conclusion to a day-long meeting that set the company’s strategic direction for the coming five years. It was especially nice to meet up again with my friend Joe Miller, previously at Bayer Healthcare, who was directly responsible for arranging this speaking engagement, and who I’m sure will play an important role in Alvogen’s future. On another note, Key Largo gave me a very welcome break from Europe’s ongoing snowstorms, and the Florida crab cakes were truly awesome!

My first speaking engagement in 2010 took me back to China, this time to Qingdao on the southern tip of China’s Shandong Peninsula. The occasion was a major event organized by Haier – the world’s second largest home appliances brand – which they call their Annual Science Conference. I was honored to deliver two speeches at the event, one in the morning just before Haier’s legendary CEO Mr. Zhang Ruimin addressed the audience, and the other a two-hour keynote presentation in the afternoon on “Innovation to the Core”. My visit also included a private executive session with CEO Mr. Zhang Ruimin as well as the company’s President Ms. Yang Mianmian, and on the following morning I conducted a half-day innovation masterclass for 60 people from Haier technical R&D. My deep thanks to Mr. Taoming Wang and Mr. Donghui Teng, of Haier Group Corporate Strategy & Technology Department, for inviting me to come and speak to this remarkable company, as well as for giving me a sneak preview of some of Haier’s forthcoming product and service innovations.

If 2009 started out with bleak predictions of economic austerity, it certainly ended in style. For my last speaking engagement of the year, I was honored to address around 250 of Abu Dhabi’s distinguished leaders (including government VIPs) at the $3 billion Emirates Palace, which is reputed to be the most expensive hotel ever built. The event itself was organized by Etisalat – the region’s largest telecom operator – in association with the Abu Dhabi Ministry of Interior, under the patronage of His Highness General Sheikh Saif Bin Zayed Al Nahayan, the Deputy Prime Minister. My assignment was to open the conference with a 50-minute keynote speech on “Visionary Leadership”, which was actually the theme of the whole event. I enjoyed the occasion very much, as well as my last few days of serious sunshine before heading back into Europe’s cold winter snowstorms. My thanks to Ms. Mariam Mohamed K Rashid, Senior Manager at Etisalat Academy, as well as Camil El Khoury, Chief Vision Officer at Ideas Group, for helping me bring 2009 to a successful close.

My final speaking trip of the year took me first to Cairo to conduct a two-day public masterclass on “Strategy Innovation” for Egypt’s top business leaders, then on to Abu Dhabi for a high-profile keynote speech (see article above). The event in Cairo was magnificently organized by HCCA – Human Capital Capability Academy – who have previously hosted top business thinkers like Ram Charan and Dave Ulrich. In all, close to 300 delegates from a wide range of industries attended the masterclass, which was hosted on December 13th and 14th at the Intercontinental City Stars hotel. The event received a lot of positive media publicity in Eygpt, and in addition to various magazine and newspaper interviews I was delighted to make a 45-minute live appearance on Nile TV. Thankfully, my friendly HCCA hosts also managed to fit a visit to the Pyramids and the Egyptian Museum into my schedule, for which I was very grateful (see picture). My thanks go primarily to Mr. Mohammed Soliman, founder and principal partner of HCCA, for his excellent marketing and management of this event, along with his brilliant team led by Ms. Afnan El Sayed, HCCA Executive Manager. Special thanks also to Mr. Ahmed Shawky, who leads HCCA’s Alexandria office, for the unforgettable sightseeing tour and for taking care of me so well in Cairo.

China simply blows me away! Each time I come back to the Middle Kingdom, it seems like everything is even bigger and better than before. This time I was invited to Guangzhou, South China, to deliver the opening keynote speech at Volkswagen’s Digital Marketing Conference 2009, which coincided with “Auto Guangzhou” – the city’s international mega motor show. My 60-minute speech was focused on the need for marketing innovation in a world where all media are going digital and where social networks are now bigger than nations (especially in China!). My fellow speakers included representatives from some of today’s leading Chinese web services, like Tencent, Sohu and TaoBao, who were truly inspiring. A big thank you to Alistair Nicholas of AC Capital in Beijing for arranging my appearance at this event, and to Shao Jing of Volkswagen Group China for her highly professional organization of the entire conference. Before returning home, I stopped off in Beijing to do some press interviews for the Chinese version of “Innovation to the Core” – http://bit.ly/6c3TXV

On Thursday 19th November 2009, distinguished leaders from the private and public sector in Cyprus gathered for the annual Leadership and Innovation Conference in Nicosia, the island’s capital. Jointly hosted by the Cyprus Institute of Management (CIIM) and KPMG Academy, the event brought together a wide spectrum of both business people and directors of large, public authorities. Its theme: “Leadership and Innovation in Uncertain Times”. I was honored to give a 90-minute keynote speech in the afternoon on how to drive growth and strategic renewal by building a deep capability for innovation. It was also great to fly in to the brand new airport at Larmaca, which had only opened the day before! And of course I enjoyed Cypriot food, wine and hospitality throughout my stay. My thanks to Marios Siathas, Head of Executive Education at CIIM, for inviting me to speak at this event, and special thanks to my friend and fellow speaker Costas Markides of London Business School for setting up this engagement. Being from Cyprus anyway, Costas was playing a home game!

It felt good to be back in sunny Dubai, this time to conduct a two-day innovation masterclass for Mars – the global manufacturer of chocolate, pet food and other food products. Hosted at the Le Royal Meridien Beach Resort & Spa, the event was part of the company’s annual Leadership Forum for the GCC region (one the top five global markets for Mars), which brought together 80 top managers from across the local organization. More importantly, my masterclass was planned as a catalyst for the broad-based innovation embedment program being led by General Manager Ahmed Bayoumi. From what I can see, this bold program – which has the full commitment of the senior leadership team – is set to supercharge Mars GCC’s performance over the coming years. My deep thanks go to Lama El Khaldi, Learning and Development Manager at Mars GCC, for inviting me to come and conduct what turned out to be a highly productive masterclass, and for taking such great care of both the event itself and of my stay in Dubai. It’s such a joy to work with true professionals!

They call it “Incredible India”, and for many good reasons. Here’s another superlative statistic to add to the rest: Accenture, the consulting and IT services giant, somehow managed to turn a 200-person Indian team in 2001 into a 40,000-person powerhouse today. In fact, India is now the largest country in Accenture’s global enterprise, and the local organization is still hiring between 2000 and 3000 new people every month! I was therefore especially honored to conduct a one-day innovation masterclass for Accenture India’s 130 top executives at their annual leadership development event in Bangalore. Hosted at Kempinski’s breathtaking Leela Palace hotel, with its lush subtropical gardens, the seminar gave me an excellent opportunity to help the leadership group focus on writing the next chapter in their Indian success story. My special thanks, once again, to Camille Mirshokrai, Accenture’s global director of Leadership Development, for inviting me back to talk to the company after we teamed up for a similar event in Beijing, China, earlier this year. And hats off to the Accenture India team – in particular Vidya Dhareshwar, Leadership Development Lead, and Unmesh Pawar, Vice President HR – for organizing every single detail of this seminar so professionally from start to finish.

When I flew in to Santiago from São Paulo, Brazil, it was too late in the evening – and too dark – to see anything of the Andes mountains. What a difference when I woke up next morning and peered out of my hotel bedroom window! If you haven’t experienced it already, the view is absolutely breathtaking – like some giant tsunami of rock that’s about to roll over the city. I was in Santiago, Chile, to give a 90-minute keynote speech on “Innovation to the Core” at the CEO Management Summit 2009, organized by Seminarium. The event, which was attended by 400 senior executives from Chile’s major companies, gave me an excellent platform to introduce the concept of “all-the-time, everywhere” innovation to the country’s corporate leaders. Their enthusiastic response indicates that there’s a widespread readiness to embrace the new innovation challenge. After the conference, I was honored to meet up with some of the members of Santiago’s “Innovation Club”, and I finished off the evening with dinner at one of the city’s best restaurants, where the fresh fish and Chilean wine were simply excellent. My special thanks to Cristina González of Seminarium for her support with the big event, and to Manuel Velasquez, my speaker agent in South America, for everything else.

The second of my two speaking engagements on this trip to São Paulo was a 45-minute keynote speech to kick-off the 3rd Brazilian Congress of Innovation. And given that we were in soccer-crazy Brazil, the phrase “kick-off” has a special meaning. Where else in the world does a major business conference open with a giant, multi-colored soccer ball on the stage, which transforms into a group of gyrating samba dancers, who clear the way for a former national soccer player to give the event his blessing? The Congress of Innovation, which was attended by around 600 business people, was organized by the National Federation of Industry (CNI), and hosted at the São Paulo World Trade Center. I was honored to share the stage at this event, for the first time, with fellow speaker and innovation champion Nancy Tennant of Whirpool (see article below). I was also impressed with CNI’s use of social media tools like Twitter and Facebook for PR during the course of the program. Following my speech I did a couple of quick TV interviews, and then it was straight back to São Paulo/Guarulhos international airport for the next stop on my South American speaking tour – Santiago Chile.

After the summer break, it was great to be back in Brazil for two speaking engagements in São Paulo (see also above). The first event was a book launch and public seminar organized by my Brazilian publisher, Campus/Elsevier, and co-sponsored by Harvard Business Review, Natura, and Serasa Experian. After a seriously delayed overnight flight from Europe, a hurried drive into São Paulo (including a scary car crash!), and a half hour at the hotel to change into my suit, I was whisked straight off for the day’s activities. In the spirit of “Just in Time” delivery, I arrived at the auditorium at Serasa Experian’s headquarters and within minutes was up on the stage. My 90-minute speech on “Innovation: Priority No. 1”, followed by Q&A with the audience and a book-signing session, was attended by around 200 Brazilian business leaders. In line with the title of my lecture, the Portuguese language version of “Innovation to the Core” is called “Inovação: Prioridade nº 1”. Special thanks to Marco Pace of Campus/Elsevier for helping me make a success of this event. In the evening, I was delighted to have dinner with one of my true innovation heroes, Nancy Tennant of Whirlpool, who was responsible for the company’s now-famous innovation embedment program, along with Whirlpool’s director of global innovation, Moises Norena.

My last speaking engagement before the summer break was an innovation masterclass organized by “Invest Northern Ireland” – the region’s economic development agency, which is supported by the European Union. I was honored to take up the baton from last year’s speaker, Dr Kjell A. Nordström, with a 75-minute keynote speech, entitled “Rethinking your Business Strategy”, followed by a lively Q&A session with local business leaders. The event was hosted in Belfast’s historic Grand Opera House in the city center, which was the victim of several devastating IRA bomb attacks in the 1990s, but which has become an iconic symbol of Belfast’s regeneration. I stayed overnight just a few steps away at the famous Europa Hotel, which has the remarkable accolade of being “the most frequently bombed hotel in the world.” Thankfully, things have been quiet for many years now, and I somehow felt comfortable sleeping next to the suite where President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary safely stayed back in 1995. I was also, of course, charmed by the Irish hospitality, the great food and the Guinness!

Oh, the wonders of modern technology. This June, I was pleased to deliver a 75-minute keynote speech in far away Colombo, Sri Lanka, without going any farther than a local videoconferencing facility in Düsseldorf, Germany. I must admit that, previous to the speech, I had some reservations about not appearing live on stage with direct audience contact, but to my amazement the engagement worked out much better than I expected. Several hundred delegates at the National HR Conference 2009, organized by Sri Lanka’s Institute of Personnel Management, were able to watch me speaking on one large screen while my Powerpoint slides appeared on another. And, at my end, I could see the audience on a plasma TV, along with a copy of my slides, so it was almost like being on stage. Even the Q&A session after my speech felt as if I was there in person. So, all in all, the whole thing went very smoothly indeed. I also got to share the program once again with Professor Julian Birkinshaw of the London Business School, which made it all feel very familiar. A big thank you to my old friend, Gerard Muttukumaru, Founder and Chairman of the Center for Global Leadership, for recommending me to the organizers of this prestigious event.

Just back from Belgrade, Serbia, where I conducted the second in my series of one-day public seminars in the Balkan region (see my report on Skopje, Macedonia, below). Once again organized by my friends at Triple S Learning, this time together with their Serbian operation Swot Learning & Consulting, it was another well-publicized event, with advertisements on national TV, and billboards all over Belgrade. Hosted at the Continental hotel, the conference drew nearly 200 delegates from a wide spectrum of Serbian companies as well as government organizations. The event, called “Strategies for Growth and Profit in Recession”, followed the same format as before with three 90-minute sessions. It also served to launch the Serbian translation of my book “Innovation to the Core” – another one to add to my bookshelf! I was pleased to have several articles and event reports published in the Serbian business press, along with a video interview on Fox TV’s morning news program. Finally, we ended the day in Skadarlija, the old Bohemian quarter of Belgrade, with local food, wine and folk singers – a unique and unforgettable experience.

Beautiful blue skies made Helsinki more welcoming than ever on my recent trip back to the city. I was there for a keynote speech at the annual ICT Forum organized by Elisa Corporation – Finland’s leading telecom service provider – which drew about 400 delegates from both the private and public sectors. My one-hour speech, on “Rethinking ICT for the Innovation Economy” gave me a chance to explain why and how organizations should be using their ICT infrastructure as a global operating system for innovation. The event was preceded in the morning by an exclusive breakfast briefing with an intimate group of senior executives from several large Finnish organizations. This was hosted at Helsinki’s elegant and luxurious Hotel Kamp, which was also a great place for me to spend the night before. My congratulations to Mr. Veli-Matti Mattila, President and CEO of Elisa, for organizing an excellent day of activities that seemed to be highly appreciated by his clients.

Just back from a double-whammy trip to Beijing. My two reasons for being in China: to conduct a one-day innovation masterclass for Accenture’s senior leaders in the Greater China region (incorporating China Mainland, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Macau), and also to launch the Chinese version of my latest book “Innovation to the Core”. The masterclass was part of a two-day Accenture Leadership Development Symposium which brought together over 60 of the company’s senior executives, including global CEO Bill Green. It gave us a chance to do some really innovative thinking around Accenture’s core business in what is clearly one of the world’s most critical market regions. I was very impressed with the whole leadership group, and in particular with Gong Li, Accenture’s chairman in Greater China, whose insights were extremely valuable in my preparation for this event. My special thanks to Camille Mirshokrai, Accenture’s global director of Leadership Development, for inviting me to come and speak to this extremely talented group.

I’ve been to over 40 countries in the last couple of years, but this was actually my first trip to beautiful Malta. I was honored to be the opening keynote speaker at this year’s Motorola Channel Partners Conference, hosted at the Hilton hotel in Portomaso – a magnificent yacht marina in the fashionable district of St Julian’s. The event, which was themed “Our Business 2.0”, brought together industry professionals from over 100 countries. My 75-minute opening keynote on strategy innovation, entitled “Achieving Success in a Volatile Market”, was focused on improving business performance in tough economic times. It was also my great pleasure to share the stage again (after 6 years!) with Costas Markides, Professor of Strategic and International Management at London Business School. I just love the way Costas presents – great humor but with a very hard-hitting core message. My congratulations go to Henrik Asbjorn, Motorola’s VP for the EMEA region, and General Manager for Channel and Growth, for hosting an altogether excellent business event.

My series of one-day public seminars in the Balkan region got off to a great start in Skopje, Macedonia. Organized by the excellent team at Triple S Learning, the event was advertized for weeks on TV, in print and online, and attracted an audience of no less than 350 senior and mid-level managers (not bad for a time of crisis!). I arrived in Skopje to find my portrait all over the city in roadside billboards for the conference, as well as on the cover of the leading business magazine, Kapital. My one-day seminar program on “Strategies for Growth and Profit in Recession” featured three 90-minute sessions, including Q&A, followed by an open press conference and several one-on-one interviews with magazine, radio and TV media. The last interview of the day was broadcast live on the Sitel TV evening news show. Another big highlight of the event: the publication of “Innovation to the Core” in Macedonian, which meant plenty of books to sign! After the conference, I thoroughly enjoyed a traditional Macedonian meal at Lira – Skopje’s most famous restaurant – together with the event’s organizers: Dusko Ugrinoski and Teodor Aleksov, founders of Triple S Learning, along with the excellent event manager Marija Solevska, and some of the country’s leading journalists, including TV news presenter Nataša Mersovska. Next stop on the Balkan tour: Belgrade, Serbia.

Three days. Three speeches. Three different audiences and presentation formats. All at one major event. An engagement like this is never an easy challenge but – hey – it goes with the job. After addressing their global clients in France this January, I was invited by ADP – the leading global provider of IT solutions for HR– to become a firm part of the three-day program at their annual “Meeting of the Minds” conference, hosted this year in Atlanta, Georgia. On Day One, the assignment was to speak for one hour “unplugged” (i.e. without my trusted Powerpoints!) to a group of senior HR executives, then facilitate round-table discussions. Day Two was a 90-minute presentation to clients of ADP’s comprehensive outsourcing services. And Day Three was a 45-minute concluding keynote to about 1000 delegates to wrap up the entire conference. All in all, quite an experience, including the trips ADP organized to Atlanta’s local heroes like CNN and Coca-Cola, not to mention the mega party they hosted at the world’s biggest aquarium. What a show of strength at a time like this! ADP rocks!

It was great to be back with my friends at Bayer Healthcare USA for another highly inclusive innovation event. Hosted at the Westin Governor Morris hotel in the heart of historic Morristown, New Jersey, my 2-day brand innovation workshop gave 80 leaders (from two of the company’s top pharmaceutical product groups) a chance to rethink their brand strategies and business models for future success. When I landed at Newark airport the day before, I have to admit that it looked more like Moscow. A massive late winter snowstorm had grounded hundreds of flights and left about a foot of snow all over the area. Thankfully, though, everybody managed to make it to the event, and a very productive time was had by all. I especially enjoyed the team-building dinner on the first evening, which gave me an opportunity to roll up my sleeves and do some cooking with the seminar participants!

“The View from Here” is a series of annual events hosted by Royal Mail, the UK’s national postal service, aimed at exploring the effects of ‘The Velocity Age’ on the advertising and marketing industry. I was honored to be a panelist in this year’s evening event, which was focused on the role of innovation in today’s and tomorrow’s marketing. The lively debate, chaired by well-known TV presenter Dermot Murnaghan, also featured Sir Richard Needham (formally James Dyson’s right-hand man), and Charles Leadbeater, high-level strategic adviser and author. It was hosted at London’s fashionable Soho Hotel, which was the perfect venue for examining the future of products, services and brands in today’s volatile times. Immediately following the debate, I got a chance to sign a few dozen copies of “Innovation to the Core” for the seminar delegates, which was the perfect way to end the evening.

Following my recent leadership team meeting with Nycomed’s global R&D and Commercial Operations people in Berlingen, Switzerland, the company asked me to conduct an “Innovation War Room” masterclass with their regional office in São Paulo, Brazil. This 3-day event, which involved leaders from a wide range of organizational functions, was designed to generate a whole portfolio of new, game-changing ideas and growth opportunities for the Brazilian market, as well as serve as a platform for embedding innovation as deep, sustainable capability in the firm. Like all my in-company seminars, it featured a series of practical breakout sessions for insight discovery and ideation, which all 50 participants embraced with typical Brazilian passion. It was a delight to feel like “one of the family” for these three unforgettable days, and to witness the incredible creative output and ambitious resolve of the organization.

Another highlight this January was a high level strategic conference in Paris, France, called “Global Meeting of the Minds”. Hosted by ADP – the giant provider of IT and outsourcing solutions for HR and payroll – this prestigious international event took place in the magnificent “Salon Opera” of the Paris Le Grand hotel. It was attended by leaders of large multinational organizations like Apple, Dell, IKEA, Microsoft, PepsiCo, Unilever and Vodafone. I was honored to open the conference with a 60-minute keynote speech on “Innovation to the Core”, followed by a book signing session for the delegates. My thanks to Kirsten Capito, Global Marketing Director of ADP Employer Services International, for inviting me to speak at this event.

Over the past few months, I have been spending more and more time with the pharmaceutical industry. The recurring question I am hearing is ‘How do we innovate around the drug?’, as opposed to just working hard to fill the pipeline with new blockbusters (considering all the time, money and regulatory constraints involved). This January I was very pleased to be invited by Nycomed – the Zurich-based international pharma company – to conduct a half-day innovation masterclass for 30 leaders from R&D and Commercial Operations. Hosted in the picturesque town of Berlingen, Switzerland, the event gave me a chance to outline what it takes to build a deep, sustainable enterprise capability for innovation (in all its forms), and included a breakout session for team-based insight discovery, as well as a book signing session.