Constant innovation is the name of the game, but how can this be accomplished within large enterprises? Over the course of three blog posts, we'll share key takeaways from 1871's recent Corporate Innovation Summit which was based on one of 1871 CEO Howard Tullman's favorite truisms: "People don’t change when they see the light; they change when they feel the heat.” Read on for Part 2 of 3. 

Last month, Nirav Amin stood in front of a packed room at the new Apple Michigan Avenue.  “How many of you are entrepreneurs or working on your own business idea?” he asked the crowd. More than half of the room raised their hands. Some had attended each event in the four-part “Accelerate Your Startup Idea” series aimed at educating, guiding, and supporting the Chicago community in pursuit of their entrepreneurial passions, and had finally arrived at this culminating session where they would soon have the opportunity to pitch their business ideas to a panel of judges.

Then it's useless. Sometimes you need to take an indirect approach to find out what your customers really crave. In Japan, Nestlé's coffee business got a jolt by focusing on office behavior, not coffee machines.

As a community that believes in paying it forward, 1871 allocates a cash allotment for each team member to donate to a charity of their choice as a part of their employee benefits. Here on the blog, we'll be highlighting the stories behind our team's giving. This week, meet Laura Clark and Victor Baez.

1871 announced today its participation in Everyone Can Code (ECC), a coding education initiative that brings together Chicago Public Schools, City Colleges of Chicago, One Summer Chicago, the Mayor’s Office, and a number of Chicagoland businesses and nonprofits. The initiative aims to make coding and technology careers more accessible to students from all backgrounds.

1871 joined Transamerica Retirement Solutions and Mesirow Financial to announce a new retirement plan benefit that will soon be available to all 1871 companies and alumni members. The new offering will allow smaller teams and startup companies access to retirement benefits, which is powered by Pinnacle Financial Services, Inc. 

The debate used to be about carrot or stick in coaxing performance out of your people. In a more nuanced business world, setting the tone may be as important as setting the guidelines.

With a network of more than 600 professionals from every industry, the mentor program is the crown jewel of 1871. Every day, mentors dedicate their time and expertise guiding our members from issues ranging from legal to tech and everywhere in between, forming valuable relationships and producing concrete outcomes. This week, we say hello to Kiley Peters, Owner and CEO of  boutique digital marketing agency Brainchild Studios.

Co-creation is the design of new products, services, experiences, or business models in a collaborative environment. It gives everyone a seat at the design table and allows all voices to be heard in a collaborative and interactive space. On Veterans Day 2017, member company AE Marketing Group led a co-creation lab to bring together top marketers in 1871 to help the veteran-led, CPG startup, Rumi Spice.

You need to make sure that your company is moving at the pace of change. That means never being comfortable with the current rate of change--because it keeps getting faster.