Bob Rosenfeld’s new book, Making the Invisible Visible: The Human Principles for Sustaining Innovation, integrates his 30 years of real life experience implementing innovation systems and processes in major corporations worldwide.  Early in his career as a photographic scientist at the Eastman Kodak Company, Bob recognized that innovation begins with an idea, that ideas are originated and developed only by people, and as important as technology and business systems are to creating something new, the human element is the animating force behind it all!  Many organizations understand this concept, but few know how to put it into practice.  The human principles that underlie innovation are often invisible to management.  Yet implementing these human principles is critical for turning ideas into a quantifiable gain . . . if there is no gain, there is no innovation!   

Bob created the world’s first “Office of Innovation” while working for Eastman Kodak.  It was the first infrastructure of its kind to be successfully implemented worldwide in a major corporation that provided employees with a systematic way to develop their ideas which ranged from incremental to breakthrough, and then obtain funding to convert them into business opportunities.  He created a network that helped to transform employee’s ideas into over $2 billion (current dollars) for Kodak.

In 1988, Bob founded Idea Connection Systems, a company dedicated to releasing an organization’s creative potential. While this applies to the “creation of new” meaning new products and services, it also applies to an organization’s culture, systems, and structure. He noted that while innovation is a critical component to a company’s vitality, sustaining innovation was more important.  His company focuses on three areas:  innovation leadership and culture; innovation inclusion and leveraging difference; and innovation systems. Over the years, his company has served hundreds of public, private and international clients including many Fortune 200 companies such as: BP Amoco, Aventis, Bausch & Lomb, Eastman Kodak, ExxonMobil, Frito-Lay, General Mills, General Motors, Hallmark Cards, Praxair Technology, Quaker Oats Company, Raytheon, and Xerox. They have also worked extensively with regional and national governmental agencies. 

Bob was recently named the “Innovator in Residence” at CCL, the Center for Creative Leadership in Greensboro, North Carolina.  He is the first to hold this position.  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 has designed and taught several courses at CCL including his most recent offering titled “Workshop On Innovation” that is based on the human principles for sustaining innovation as outlined in his new book.   

Bob’s 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. 
Bob and his wife Debbie have seven children and live in Rochester, New York, USA.