Earlier this month, the New York Times included an opinion piece on ‘The Rise of the New GroupThink’ written by Susan Cain, author of the forthcoming book Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking.

Great ideas and answers already exist within your company. The trick is how to get at those ideas when you need them most in order to drive innovation and avoid repeating past mistakes.

As we enter the new year, we are seeing signs of improved economic conditions and a continued demand for a ‘return to growth’.  But where to turn for growth remains the question of the day/year.

As 2011 draws to a close, we are taking a look back at our Top Blog Posts for the year – those that turned out to be the most popular amongst your fellow innovators. 

Big Data is here – and its getting Bigger.

In the era of ‘Big Data’, hundreds of millions of devices and computers connect to the Web and create a continuous stream of data on the actions, locations, and conditions of everything from livestock to people. 

In an increasingly complex, information-driven world, businesses and consumers alike struggle to find the information they need in order to make decisions.  For businesses, connecting the right information to the right people at the right time remains a critical challenge.  And it isn’t getting easier.

The Web is fast becoming a titanic, complex entity. By the year 2015, it’s estimated that one zettabyte of content will be added to the web each and every year.  Navigating this sea of information presents more and more of a challenge -- particularly when much of that content is not easily accessed by traditional search engines.

In its  ‘Innovating for the Next Three Billion’ report, Ernst & Young examines the emergence of the global middle class and explores the innovation capabilities that companies must build in order to seize a new market (of unprecedented size).

This week, Reuters published its Top 100 Global Innovators report.  Cutting through all the ‘buzz’ surrounding innovation, this year’s report focuses in on how innovation is measured. Beyond patent filing volume, top innovators, says Reuters, are “companies that invent on a significant scale; are working on developments which are acknowledged as innovative by patent offices across the world, and by their peers; and, whose inventions are so important that they seek global protection for them.”