Robert Rosenfeld - Founder, CEO
Robert Rosenfeld, recognized as a world leader in the field of innovation, is driven by his passion and belief that innovation is the very lifeblood of every organization. He is firmly convinced that the most critical success factor to nurturing and sustaining that which is new lies in an organization's ability to release the potential of its people. For over 25 years Bob has dedicated himself to creating environments which foster the creative, innovative spirit and has developed proprietary approaches and tools that unleash an organization's potential to innovate.
Early in his career as a photographic scientist at the Eastman Kodak Company, Bob recognized that innovation begins with an idea, and ideas are originated and developed by people. A new idea becomes an innovation only by realizing a quantifiable gain. In order to accomplish this, the idea must move through a process which may be visible or invisible. While business and technology play a critical role throughout the process, the human element is its animating force. Many organizations understand this concept, but have difficulty putting it into practice.
Bob's ability to identify and understand the dynamics behind innovation led to the creation of the Eastman Kodak Company's Office of Innovation in 1978. This was the first infrastructure of its kind to be successfully implemented inside an organization. It provided Kodak employees with a systematic way to develop their ideas and obtain funding to convert them into business opportunities. He expanded the initial Office of Innovation into a worldwide corporate network, a network that helped to transform ideas into hundreds of millions of dollars in revenues and cost savings for Kodak.
Since 1980, Bob has had a long and productive association with CCL, the Center for Creative Leadership in Greensboro, North Carolina. Over 25 years ago, he co-founded AMI, the Association for Managers of Innovation, which was begun under the auspices of CCL and continues to this day. He designed and taught two courses at CCL dealing with Innovation and Effecting Change. More recently in May 2006, Bob was named "Innovator in Residence" at CCL because of his innovation experience that spans working with large and small entrepreneurial companies, Government Agencies, and Not-For-Profit companies to build social capital in our communities.
In 1988, Bob founded Idea Connection Systems, a company dedicated to releasing an organization's creative potential. While this applies to products and services, it also affects an organization's people and culture. He noted that while innovation is a critical component to a company's vitality, sustaining innovation was more important. Idea Connections, therefore, focuses on three areas: innovation leadership and culture; innovation inclusion and diversity; and innovation systems. Today his company serves public, private and international clients, including many Fortune 200 companies, such as: BP Amoco, Aventis, Bausch & Lomb, the Eastman Kodak Company, ExxonMobil, Frito-Lay, General Mills, the General Motors Corporation, Hallmark Cards, Praxair Technology, the Quaker Oats Company, Raytheon, and the Xerox Corporation. Idea Connections has also worked extensively with regional and national governmental agencies.
Bob's new book, Making the Invisible Visible: The Human Principles for Sustaining Innovation, integrates his years of learning about the importance of the human element in sustaining innovation. Bob has also presented his concepts to numerous organizations and with his company is actively involved in applied research. His contributions have been documented in many books including Managing Innovation in The New Millennium edited by S. S. George (2002); Positive Turbulence by Dr. Stanley S. Gryskiewicz (1999), Managing with the Wisdom of Love by Dorothy Marcic (1997), Corporate Creativity by Alan G. Robinson and Sam Stern (1997), When Giants Learn to Dance by Rosabeth Moss Kanter (1989), The Pursuit of Innovation by George Freedman (1988) and The Creative Edge by William C. Miller (1987). Many of these books have been translated into multiple languages. He has had many articles published and has also been granted numerous patents and research disclosures.
In 2001, Bob served on Mayor William A. Johnson's Commission on Race and Ethnicity. The Commission was charged by the Mayor to address issues of race in the Rochester, New York community. Teamed with a diverse group of business and community leaders, Bob spearheaded the development of Mosaic Partnerships, an innovative process for breaking down barriers between races. The design and development of the process was led by an Idea Connections team, and was implemented for the City of Rochester as "Biracial Partnerships for Community Progress." This ongoing Rochester program enjoys an overwhelmingly positive response from the community as it continues to work toward bringing about the genesis of a prejudice-free community by 2010. It has received wide attention, attracting the interest of other municipalities, like Greensboro, North Carolina, corporations, and educational institutions across the country.
Bob currently serves on the boards of many local and national organizations, including the Green Acre Advisory Council, Cornell Cooperative Extension, Odyssey of Humanity, and Diversified Technologies Resources, Inc. He is also a founding member of the Association for Managers of Innovation and has served on the Creativity International Advisory Board.
Bob and his wife Debbie have seven children and live in Rochester, New York.
PUBLICATIONS
"Making the Invisible Visible: The Human Principles for Sustaining
Innovation", by Robert Rosenfeld with John Kolstoe (Xlibris,
2005)
"Fostering Innovation: Commitment Behavior and the New Corporate Covenant"
by Robert Rosenfeld, Managing Innovation in the New Millennium
edited by S. S. George, The ICFAI University, 2002
"Unausgesprochene Geheimnisse der Innovation" by R.B. Rosenfeld and
Michael Seebacher. Die Kraft aus der Basis im Unternehmen,
Wirtschafts Politische Blatter 5, 1997.
"How Corporate Universities Can Spark and Sustain Innovation" by R.B.
Rosenfeld. Corporate University Review, Vol. 5, No.5, September/October
1997.
"Building the Bedrock for Innovation" by R.B. Rosenfeld. Innovation
on My Mind, www.Innovating.com, Issue IX, 1996.
"Technology Transfer: The Integration of Technology, Business Acumen,
and Human Dynamics" by R.B. Rosenfeld, M. Winger-Bearskin, D. DeMarco,
and M. Golia. Presented at a 1993 conference held at Carnegie-Mellon
University.
"Entrepreneurs: Who Are They and How Do We Find Them? A KAI study"
by R.B. Rosenfeld, M. Winger-Bearskin, D. DeMarco, and C.L. Braun.
Discovering Creativity, edited by S.S. Gryskiewicz, 1993.
"Delineating Entrepreneur Styles: Application of Adaption-Innovation
Subscales" by R.B. Rosenfeld, M. Winger-Bearskin, D. Marcic, and C.L.
Braun. Psychological Reports, August, 1992.
"Adaptors and Innovators: Partners and Opposites - a revolutionary theory
with practical implications for agents of change" by R.B. Rosenfeld,
M. Dubras, M. Winger-Bearskin, and C.L. Braun. In M. McDonald Edition
of Forging Revolutionary Partnership: Organizational Development
Network 1990 Conference proceedings (pp. 277- 283). Portland,
Oregon: Organizational Development Network.
* "Principles of Consultation Applied to the Process of Innovation
in a Corporate Environment" by R.B. Rosenfeld and M. Winger-Bearskin.
The Journal of Baha'i Studies, Vol. 3, No. 1, 1990.
"Facilitating Innovation in Large Organizations" by R.B. Rosenfeld
and J.C. Servo. A chapter of Innovation and Creativity at Work
by Farr and West, 1990.
"KAI Subscale Scores" by R.B. Rosenfeld and M. Winger-Bearskin. Paper
presented at the 1st European Conference on Creativity and Innovation,
the Netherlands, December 1989.
† "Innovation Through Investment in People: The Consideration of Creative
Styles" by R.B. Rosenfeld. Presented at the Second Creativity, Innovation
and Entrepreneurship Symposium, U.S. Small Business Administration,
March 1985. Became a chapter of Key Issues in Creativity, Innovation
and Entrepreneurship by B.G. Whiting and G. T. Solomon, 1989.
"The First Step to Implementing New and Better Ideas" by R.B. Rosenfeld
and J.C. Servo. Intrapreneurial Excellence, November 1985.
* "Business and Creativity: Making Ideas Connect" by R.B. Rosenfeld
and J. C. Servo. The Futurist, Vol. XVIII, No. 4, 1984. Chosen
for their Special Section on Creativity.
"The Innovation Center" by R.B. Rosenfeld. Presented at the Creativity
and Innovation in Bureaucracy Symposium, Washington, D.C., 1983.
"The Development and Philosophy of the Photographic Divisions' Office
of Innovation (PDOI) System" by R.B. Rosenfeld. Selected Readings
in Creativity, Volume II, edited by S.S. Gryskiewicz, J.T. Shields,
and W.H. Drath, 1982.
† "Idea Evaluation in a Large Industrial Organization: The Photographic
Divisions" Office of Innovation, Proceedings - Creativity Week IV,
Center for Creative Leadership, 1981.
PATENTS AND RESEARCH DISCLOSURES
"Ultrasonographic Elements Containing Multiple Layers and Processes
for Their Use" by R.B. Rosenfeld, Bacon, Raleigh. U.S. 4,269,914,
May 1981.
"Ultrasonic Imaging" Disclosed Anonymously; Research Disclosure
Vol. 201, Item 201, Jan. 1981.
"Ultrasonography: Exposure Apparatus" by R.B. Rosenfeld. U.S. 4,232,555,
Nov. 1980 (European Patent 18, 269, Jap 55/142,336)
"Ultrasonography: Imaging of Internally Fogged Silver Halide Elements"
by R.B. Rosenfeld. U.S. 4,228,230, Oct. 1980. (European Patent 13,652,
Jap 55/096,943)
"Ultrasonography" by R.B. Rosenfeld. U.S. 4,223,082, Sept. 1980. (JA
54/000,618; W. Ger 2,806,517; Bel. 864,089, Ne 7,801,872; Fra. 2,381,343)
"Chemical Sensitization of Non Aqueous Poly (Vinyl Acetal) Peptized
Silver Halide Emulsion" by R. B. Rosenfeld. Research Disclosure Vol.
148, Item 14879, Aug. 1976.
"Non-Silver Halide Photosensitive System" by R.B. Rosenfeld, Goff,
Solberg, Lincoln. Research Disclosure Vol. 141, Item 14132, Jan. 1976.
"Direct-Positive Photothermographic Materials" by R.B. Rosenfeld,
Solberg, Thatcher. Research Disclosure Vol. 139, Item 13944, Nov.
1975.
"Reversible Print-Out Photographic Material" by R.B. Rosenfeld. Research
Disclosure Vol. 121, Item 12144, May 1974.
* Award-winning publication.
† Reproduced in more than one publication.
