Innovation Cartoons

Please feel free to use these cartoons in your presentations, university courses, books etc, for free, as long as you drop me a line to let me know what you have planned (telliott at timoelliott dot com),

Top cartoon page here, including links to analytics cartoons,  more analytics cartoons, yet more analytics cartoons and artificial intelligence cartoons,  marketing cartoonssocial cartoonsinnovation cartoons, sustainability cartoons, other cartoons.

Too much jargon! Are you “pushing the envelope”?

Everybody wants innovation — but not necessarily the consequences that go with them

yes to innovation no to change

It’s easy to give up on innovation after the first setbacks:innovation no tried that once

It’s important not to be too busy to think about innovation…too-busy-for-innovationBecause your competition isn’t going to stand still.

Undermined-business-model-innovation

It’s also easy to kill off any enthusiasm for employee innovation with too much bureaucracy and barriers

Killing innovation

When you are ready for innovation, you have to think out of the box — which can be hard!

It's hard to think out of the boxA change of scenery can help:

you know what you need? a change of air

Design thinking is a great tool to get around the problems you see in your business:

time-for-a-design-thinking-workshop

IT agility is very important

Working-on-our-it-agility

But before you start changing the game, make sure you know what game you’re playing:

Game-Changer

The complexity of your existing systems can get in the way of innovation

innovation-vs-complexity

Over time, your organization may have built up complex systems that no longer make sense (except to those who feel their jobs are threatened?!)

Cloud technology may help you innovate with more agility… cloud agility

In order to innovate, you have to “fail fast, fail forward”Failure-to-innovate

Innovators have to learn that having a good idea isn’t enough — you can’t just hand it over to somebody else to execute, you have to push it yourself:

I-have-to-push-my-idea-rock

But smart companies will put processes in place to help pioneers move their innovations forward:

Rock-uphill

At the end of the day, innovation is hard work — but it’s worth it!

Kite-off-the-ground2

Personal cloud solutions are all the rage…

oh-thats-just-my-personal-cloud

Alexa, what’s the next big breakthrough in computer interfaces?!

How about — bear with me here — we actually try to change something?!

Do you have problems thinking outside the box?

Unauthorized drone usage? You’re suspended!

Fed up with talk about digital disruption? You’re not the only one!

enough-about-disruption-already-608x365.gif

Top executive tip — promise what you can’t deliver!

Beware of executives reading airline magazines!

You have to “skate to where the puck will be” — or do you?!

Why is so much “innovation” just so… small-minded?

Hey, it’s really important for all of us to embrace change! (you go first!)

Agility vs consistency?

Innovation in large organizations can be hard work…

Innovation is hard to do on a silo-by-silo basis!

Go be an innovation hero! And make sure you fulfill all these KPIs…

Are you a thought leader?!

It seems like some folks will go out of their way to reject innovation. Which is the better excuse? “Yes, but will it scale?” or “I’ll need an ROI case”?!

Innovation backlog is a big problem…

Culture eats technology for breakfast!

Ageism in technology? Nice try, Grandpa!

Diversity is good. Ageism is bad. Both old and young have much to bring — it’s not supposed to be a contest!

What innovation looks like in most organizations, sadly…

Trying to win over the audience… and failing.

Is your spaghetti code getting in the way of innovation? Here’s how it’s made…

When it comes to innovation, it’s important to see the big picture!

When it comes to innovation, some decisions are harder than others!

You know where your custom code should go…

Invest in ground-breaking technology!

And, again, it’s important to embrace change rather than resisting it. But this is what change looks like to most people… 

Are you waiting to go to the cloud? This could be the big sign you’ve been waiting for!

A big sign in the sky saying "cloud"

Here’s a common enough problem in modern organizations when it comes to innovation:

Cartoon: I've tried doing nothing and now I'm out of ideas...

You don’t want to be the CEO or CIO that got left behind when everybody else innovated:

An unhappy cloudless CEO surrounded by papers and filing cabinets

Still looking after your own computer infrastructure? It might be time to swap it for some cloud innovation!

Business man wants to swap his infrastructure for some cloud innovation and agility

If you’re looking to innovate in your organization, it’s important to meet in the right place…

A cartoon of a woman inviting people into the "Room for Improvement"

If you’re in charge of technology, it’s important to be able to talk the language of business, or you may get ignored!

Cartoon of a CIO talking to a business crowd using jargon they don't care about

Are you SURE you want to be on the cutting edge of innovation?!

Cartoon of a robot with swords, on the cutting edge of innovation!

I mean, this is always an option, right?

Cartoon about innovation: "Actually, I'd rather do nothing"

If you’re moving your on-premise systems to the cloud, it’s important to have a clean core…

Cartoon of two workmen cleaning a gigantic apple core: "In order to be successful in the cloud, the team knew they needed a clean core"

Comments

42 responses to “Innovation Cartoons”

  1. Dr Satish bhavankar Avatar
    Dr Satish bhavankar

    Dear timo,We are ngo fostering innovation and Enterprenership in schools and universities. Can we use your cartoons as medium to communicate?.

  2. Haakon H. Ferkingstad Avatar
    Haakon H. Ferkingstad

    Hi Timo,

    Great cartoon, I really love them. May I use some of them in a presentation to illustrate the different sides of Innovation and the challenges?

  3. Sudipta Avatar
    Sudipta

    Hey Timo,
    Great cartoons and quite inspiring. Can we use it for communicating about Importance of Innovation to other functions in my organization? This would be very effective.

    Kind Regards,
    Sudipta

    1. Timo Elliott Avatar

      Psudipta, please go ahead!

  4. Hassan Wasfi Avatar
    Hassan Wasfi

    Hello Timo,

    Can I please use one of the cartoons for my innovation blog assignment?

    Regards,

    Hassan

    1. Timo Elliott Avatar

      Hassan, yes please go ahead!

  5. Barbara Laurenceau Avatar
    Barbara Laurenceau

    Hi Timo,
    Congratulations on your cartoons, they are so good! May I have the permission to use them for my doctorate research on open business models for innovation ?
    And please continue to produce more & more !
    Best
    barbara

    1. Timo Elliott Avatar

      Barbara, yes, please go ahead!

  6. Affy K Avatar
    Affy K

    Hi Tom,

    Thanks for making these free – I’m using one of these for my interview tomorrow on Tech grad start ups.

    I will let you know the outcome if its good!

    1. Timo Elliott Avatar

      I hope it worked out!

  7. Nomita Sharma Avatar
    Nomita Sharma

    Hi Tim, I plan to use cartoons in my academic presentation…They are great…Thanks…

    1. Timo Elliott Avatar

      Nomita, thanks for letting me know – good luck with your presentation!

  8. Thorleif Jansen Avatar
    Thorleif Jansen

    Hi Timo! Thanks for great cartoons, which illustrate very well plenty of personal experiences from working with innovation. May I use some of your cartoons in LinkedIn or blog posts?

  9. Hari Ananto Avatar
    Hari Ananto

    Hi Timo,

    You have great cartoons and some are related to my articles. I would like to use it my Linked In post with your name in it.
    Please consider my request

    Regards,
    Hari

  10. lorena Avatar
    lorena

    Hi Timo

    I am going to present to an internal job position at my company in the innovation department, and in my presentation I would love to use some of your cartoons. Is going to be internal. I of course put your credit.

  11. Elli de Ryckman de Betz Avatar
    Elli de Ryckman de Betz

    Hi Timo, I work in a NFP in Sydney. We have been divided into working groups to come up with ideas on how to implement a ‘culture of innovation’ and my group are presenting to the rest of the department in a few weeks. I’m so pleased I came across your cartoons! They really hit the nail on the head – particularly the one about being too busy to innovate, and ‘we tried that once’. I’m sure these are common objections in all teams trying to implement these changes and it’s something I’m sure a few of us feel – a little light humour is always a great way to address those kinds of objections. I would love to use them in my presentation, with your permission. Elli.

    1. Timo Elliott Avatar

      Elli, please go ahead, and best of luck…

      1. Mairead Conroy Avatar

        Hi Timo

        I work for an NGO in Ireland and am also in the throes of an academic course on frontline management. I would love to use 1 of your cartoons (What innovation? Can’t you see I’m too busy?!) in a reflective piece I am writing for my course. Is that alright with you?

        Regards
        Mairead Conroy

  12. Alexandru Matei Avatar
    Alexandru Matei

    Dear Timo,
    Congratulations for these cartoons! 
    I would like to use one of them in a presentation about Cultural and Natural Heritage and Smart Specialisation. I am working in the non-for profit sector and the presentation is also a non-for profit activity.

    Of course I will indicate your name and website on the slide. 
    Best,Alex

    1. Timo Elliott Avatar

      Alex, sounds like a great cause! Please go ahead…

  13. Janine Avatar

    Hi Timo, the Cartoons are great – I just took the one referring to the innovation process for an internal Newsletter – THX

  14. Liselle Avatar
    Liselle

    Hi Timo,
    I’d love to use your cartoons for an internal learning piece on innovation that I’m creating for our staff.
    Thanks
    Liselle

  15. Fabio Avatar

    Hi Timo,
    I would like to use some cartoon in a presentation about innovation culture.
    Thanks in advance
    Best
    Fabio

    1. Timo Elliott Avatar

      Fabio,

      I’m honored, please go ahead, and good luck with the innovation presentation (culture is the hard part! I find that you can potentially get people to think about it more seriously by getting them to think about people not as passive “users” of technology, but incredibly powerful “human sensors/computers” that add value every time they add data… make sure people are a fundamental part of the future solution — innovation is something you do WITH people, not AT them!)

      Regards,
      Timo

  16. Carolin Avatar
    Carolin

    Hi Timo,

    I love your cartoons and would like to use some them for my presentation at university. Since my topic is about “innovative work behavior”, some of your cartoons fit quite well. It is not commercial and will not be shared in public, since it is only for academic purposes. I will give full credit to you and your website. Is that okay for you?

    Best,
    Carolin

    1. Timo Elliott Avatar

      Carolin, thank you for letting me know, and good luck with your presentations… the hardest part about any “technology innovation” is people: culture, organization, process, incentives, etc. — organizations should spend as much time on these things as they do on the technology (but they never do!).

  17. Val Avatar

    Hi Timo,

    I would like to use one of these cartoons when I teach a leadership course about challenging the process. I will give full credit to you and your website.

  18. Taj Avatar
    Taj

    Hello Timo,

    Putting together a deck for my team’s weekly meeting – would love to use some of your cartoons.

    1. Timo Elliott Avatar

      Taj, please go ahead

  19. Lena Avatar
    Lena

    Hello Timo

    May I use some of your cartoons to inspire my coworkers in our internal Yammer feed?

  20. Ramon de la Torre Avatar
    Ramon de la Torre

    Hello Tim,

    I have an internal meeting next week and I find great some of your images to illustrate and reinforce the message I want to give them.

    Thanks,

    Ramon

  21. Christine Avatar
    Christine

    Hello Tim,

    We have an internal workshop working on an innovative ship with clean energy. I would like to use one of your innovation cartoons.

    Thank you!

    Best regards
    Christine

    1. Timo Elliott Avatar

      Christine, please go ahead. Good luck with the ship!

  22. Ben Avatar

    Hello Timo,

    I’d much like to use one of your images in a personal LinkedIn post about innovation and change. I will give full credit, tag back etc.

    1. Timo Elliott Avatar

      Ben,

      I’m honored — please go ahead!

      Regards,
      Timo

  23. Eli Y. Kling Avatar
    Eli Y. Kling

    Love your work (used one or two 😉 )

    If you have the time and the will, I wold be happy to try and inspire you for cartoons about machine learning and AI.
    You can find me on https://uk.linkedin.com/in/elikling

  24. Susan Marshall Avatar
    Susan Marshall

    Hi Timo,

    As others have expressed, these are brilliant cartoons that we would like to use for presentation purposes within our organization, to illustrate the common pitfalls and help promote a more innovative culture. What is the process for requesting permission for such use?

    Thank you,
    Susan

    1. Timo Elliott Avatar

      Susan,

      Delighted to be able to help! Please go ahead…

      Regards,
      Timo

  25. melike oya Avatar
    melike oya

    Hello Timo,

    These cartoons are great! May I use some of them (by giving reference to your website) for an internal team meeting ? This is not commercial.

    Regards

  26. Martina Lubrano Avatar
    Martina Lubrano

    Hello Timo,

    I hope you’re well.

    Would it be possible to use these cartoons internally?

    Thanks,

    Martina

  27. Helmut Riethmüller Avatar
    Helmut Riethmüller

    Hello Timo,

    may I use some of these cartoons for an internal team meeting ? This is not commercial.

  28. Lena Birdus Avatar
    Lena Birdus

    Hello Timo,
    These cartoons are a great and I would like to use some on our internal company website. The use is non-commercial and meant to inspire more innovation in our company.
    I will of course give credit to you. May I have your permission?
    Regards,
    Lena

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