One of the business innovation workshops I conducted in New York City featured cognitive scientist Donald Norman as a guest speaker. Norman is a leading expert in “user-centered design” and author of The Design of Everyday Things. The workshop was attended by 40 mid- and top-level managers from numerous divisions of a Fortune 200 company.

The goal of this off-site innovation meeting was to provoke some of the company’s most promising professionals to look at things a little differently – in fact, we wanted them to look at everything differently.

Every day of our lives, we are bombarded by tens of thousands of visual and operational stimuli. The door handle we use to open the closet, the street sign we see to make the correct turn, the faucet we use to turn on the water in the restroom, the ink pen we use to sign a letter — and on and on.

Given the sheer volume of this stimuli, it’s no wonder that we give little thought to 99% of what we see, touch, and feel every day. But maybe your brain is paying more attention than you think.

Whether on an individual stimulus basis or in a cumulative way, your brain responds more positively to objects that are pleasing to the eye – even everyday objects. Whether it’s a company logo, a product, an online service, or a routine internal process or form, a user’s reaction to all of these things is real, no matter how subtle.

Your product division may want a customer or potential customer to enjoy the use and visual attributes of a given product. Your sales department may want a customer to have a positive user experience with an online tool or service. And your human resource department may want employees to respond favorably to this year’s new health benefit based on smart and attractive design elements.

Innovation is not only reserved for the once-a-year or once-in-a-lifetime breakthroughs. Innovation can and should occur every day across every part of your company – from the most obvious anchor product of the company to the most subtle and routine business process.

It’s the cumulative effect of these innovations and the associated attention to detail and design that will separate good companies from the best companies.

Companies should make it a point to encourage employees to seek out every opportunity to improve a product, service, or process – and should seek to arm them with the tools, training and incentives to do so.

In the end, making everyday things and how they are designed and used a priority within your company may very well lead to extraordinary things.

In October, the Wall Street Journal announced the winners of its 2011 Innovation Awards.

Compared to previous years, winners this year included big company names such as IBM, Novartis, Intel, and Abbott Labs. Start-up companies have traditionally dominated the stage for the innovation awards, but not this year.

A team of Wall Street Journal editors and reporters chose this year’s winners from among 605 applications from companies, organizations, and individuals in 31 countries. A total of 35 winners and runners-up were chosen in 16 categories.

Novartis won in the Health-Care IT category for a project that tracks medical supplies in Africa. IBM took home a bronze award for its supercomputer system, Watson, which defeated two grand champions this year on Jeopardy!

It’s refreshing to see award-winning innovation coming out of large, mature companies. It shows that old dogs can learn new tricks that can serve to excite employees, customers, and shareholders.

Whether your company is large or small, you should look for ways this coming year to unleash an innovative spirit among your employees focused on a critical objective, such as a new or improved product or service.

You’ll find that the journey to get there will pay dividends for your company even if you don’t bring home the gold, silver or bronze.

I usually devote my attention on this blog to business innovation, and how corporations should promote and nurture creativity in the workplace to improve products, services, and processes.

On this election eve, I would like to ask tomorrow’s newly elected federal officials, and those returning to office to make it a priority to improve our campaign process over the next two years.

It’s clear that many Americans are angry about the economy. That’s understandable. But if they’re like me, they are also angry at the sad state of our political campaign process and how the most innovative country on the planet chooses to elect its political leaders.

First, there are the never ending attack ads. This year, they have somehow found a way to reach a new low. Then, there are the round-the-clock campaign calls to my home phone, many times made by a computer that I can’t even tell to not call me again. And then there’s the offensive amount of money that candidates and other groups are spending this year to trash each other.

We make it a point teach children how to behave and the need to be civil to one another, and yet we subject them to months of bad behavior by adults running for public office. No wonder kids grow up not wanting to enter public service. And it’s no wonder why kids show less and less respect for each other and for adults. Politicians blame video games and television. It’s hard not to place at least some of the blame on the politicians themselves.

I love this country, and I’ll put our Constitution and our system of government up against any other in the world. But there must be a better way for a civilized nation to be more civil when it comes to how we elect our leaders.

So tomorrow, when I cast my vote, I’ll be asking our public officials to put their heads together and seek to improve our broken political campaign system.

That’s innovation I could vote for. But I’m not holding my breath. I’m already dreading 2012.

Today wrapped up the third annual World Science Festival in New York City, June 2-6, which called on attendees to “Rethink Science.”

I visited today’s events in the historic Washington Square Park to find hundreds of kids and adults actively participating in the “World Science Festival’s Youth and Family Street Fair.”

Despite the 90-degree temperatures, kids of all ages swarmed today’s numerous exhibits, live events, and demonstrations in the park that showcased the magic of science. Of course, the park’s fountain was also a main attraction as it helped to cool down both children and adults, who seemed to be having a wonderful June Sunday afternoon.

Over the four-day period, the festival showcased “40 unique programs in scientific disciplines ranging from astronomy, physics and genetics to neuroscience, robotics and mathematics.” Efforts were made to also “integrate traditional arts disciplines – dance, theatre, music and the visual arts – to underscore that science is everywhere.”

Kudos to the Festival’s organizers for dreaming up and executing on this worthy event. It’s too bad that this sort of focus on the importance of science does not occur every week of the year, and in every city and town across our country.

Frankly, it’s the lack of interest of our future generations in science that threatens to knock the United States off its innovation pedestal. And frankly, we cannot lay the blame at our children’s feet. It’s adults who help influence what is important in a child’s life. If we don’t place a high level of importance on science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) — and pursuing careers in these fields — then we can’t expect our kids to follow suit.

American businesses of every stripe and color benefit from home-grown scientific discovery and innovation. As such, I call on business leaders from every corner of the country to work with schools and community officials to find ways to turn up the volume on the wonders of science, and excite kids to become a scientist or engineer.

Then who knows, maybe 10 years from now, the most popular show on our television, computer, or tablet screens will be “America’s Got Scientific Talent” or “Innovating with the Stars.”

You don’t think so? Well, at least I can dream.

I’ve been fascinated by the reports from last week about the British man who spent $750 on a homemade high-altitude balloon and basic camera that captured spectacular photos from space, which NASA spends hundreds of millions of dollars to capture.

Robert Harrison, a 38-year-old father of three and space enthusiast, rigged a $100 Canon pocket digital camera and GPS device inside a polystyrene box tethered to a helium balloon. It was all held together by duct tape. He then sent the contraption up 22 miles above the earth. During its ascent, the camera was set to take 8 still photos and a short video every five minutes.

Once the balloon reached an altitude of 22 miles, it popped (as he had predicted), and a parachute gently brought the two-pound box back to the ground. Harrison then used a GPS locator to track the box, which he found 50 miles from his home in West Yorkshire, England. He then posted his unbelievable photos on Flickr.com, which caused quite a stir in the space and engineering circles.

According to reports, Harrison has launched a total of 12 high-altitude balloons since October 2008 when he started the hobby.

Harrison said that NASA called him to ask “how he did it so cheaply?” He told them: “You just need a little technical know-how. I know nothing about electronics and what I do know, I learned from the Internet.”

Many companies and organizations, like NASA, spend millions each year to accomplish tasks using the same old methods. Why? Because “it’s always been done this way,” and once you set up a system and culture around a certain process, it’s hard to see doing it another way.

What’s needed is a different perspective that helps compel a management team to look at an objective in a new way. This can sometimes come in the form of an outside force, such as a merger or down-sizing. Or, it can come from a new executive, manager or team member brought in from the outside. Or, it can be grown internally through innovative training and a corporate culture that challenges the status quo and incents employees to do so.

Robert Harrison was not frozen in place from years of process inertia. He used fresh thinking and widely available, inexpensive technologies to achieve results that had eluded even the most experienced professionals.

Artists, photographers, and cinematographers know that perspective is critical to their work. Simply put, it can mean the difference between success and failure.

Corporate executives and managers should likewise embrace the importance of perspective in their work, and its impact on more innovative products, services and processes. I’ll bet you $750 it would take your company or organization to new and exciting heights.

Several months ago, I conducted a business innovation workshop in New York City that featured cognitive scientist Donald Norman as a guest speaker. Norman is a leading expert in “user-centered design” and author of The Design of Everyday Things. The workshop was attended by 40 mid- and top-level managers from numerous divisions of a Fortune 200 company.

The goal of this off-site innovation meeting was to provoke some of the company’s most promising professionals to look at things a little differently – in fact, we wanted them to look at everything differently.

Every day of our lives, we are bombarded by tens of thousands of visual and operational stimuli. The door handle we use to open the closet, the street sign we see to make the correct turn, the faucet we use to turn on the water in the restroom, the ink pen we use to sign a letter — and on and on.

Given the sheer volume of this stimuli, it’s no wonder that we give little thought to 99% of what we see, touch, and feel every day. But maybe your brain is paying more attention than you think.

Whether on an individual stimulus basis or in a cumulative way, your brain responds more positively to objects that are pleasing to the eye – even everyday objects. Whether it’s a company logo, a product, an online service, or a routine internal process or form, a user’s reaction to all of these things is real, no matter how subtle.

Your product division may want a customer or potential customer to enjoy the use and visual attributes of a given product. Your sales department may want a customer to have a positive user experience with an online tool or service. And your human resource department may want employees to respond favorably to this year’s new health benefit based on smart and attractive design elements.

Innovation is not only reserved for the once-a-year or once-in-a-lifetime breakthroughs. Innovation can and should occur every day across every part of your company – from the most obvious anchor product of the company to the most subtle and routine business process.

It’s the cumulative effect of these innovations and the associated attention to detail and design that will separate good companies from the best companies.

Companies should make it a point to encourage employees to seek out every opportunity to improve a product, service, or process – and should seek to arm them with the tools, training and incentives to do so.

In the end, making everyday things and how they are designed and used a priority within your company may very well lead to extraordinary things.