One thing I do think women could bring in is a different type of leadership style. One that is more participatory and less dominant…

I believe that a big obstacle for change and transformation within organizations is … gender!!!
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Serious!
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There are to many men managing companies! Men are very good with concentration, with concentrated or focused attention. Because of that, most of managers can only deal with one topic at any moment.
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But organizations need “jongleurs”, people able to deal with the current company (the urgencies), and, at the same time, deal with the desired future for the organization, deal with the managing of the transition from today to the desired future, and still deal with the feedback during the voyage to the future.
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Normally, the presents occupies the whole prime time of attention, and is very hard to put men dealing with 4 comapnies at the same time (today, desired future, transition and feedback)
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Women are more able to deal with dispersed attention.
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P.S. I started a blog recently and would love some feedback!

http://cultureshockbec.blogspot.com/

This (and observation) lead me to the conclusion that a lack of talent in some senior managementteams is a serious blocker of innovation.

1. Innovator – the main obstacle was a combination of risk-aversion and plain old lack of understanding – as if we were talking another language – the company, with a strong R&D subsidiary I was in, was used to innovation around products and services (basically technology-based innovation) – the concept of biz model innovation was just foreign – it was as if I was speaking japanese – it was the unknown – so my job was to explain over and over again, use metaphors, examples, etc. to help then 1st understand what biz model innovation was (not just a different way to generate revenue) and then to buy into applying it to this new innovation (which was a technology-based service);

2. Venture Capitalist: we see few biz model innovations again because most of the entrepreneurs we see are defining innovation around a product/service…some of this is because of history of the region and indigenous industries such as manufacturing (heavy) and biomed/biopharm…they are used to making things and think of those as the 'innovation.' — So our role as venture capitalists is to help them think of new biz models alongside the new 'thing' – how can they bring this new 'thing' to market in a new way (e.g., biz model);

3. Consultant to mid-large cap companies: The main issue I see here is fear which is sometimes the same as risk aversion…there is the perception in executive mgmt that while you don't want a product or service to bomb, the 'risk' to one's reputation isn't as bad as messing up the biz model – the comments I get are along the lines of, if we mess up a product or service, depending on scale and scope, we don't totally risk the brand – we can recover with another product/service, an enhancement, etc., but if we mess up the biz model, we can't recover – there is no going back, it's permanent, expectations have been set or ruined, etc. etc. Trying to convince them to 'pilot' a new biz model with a certain segment, market etc., is difficult because they perceive biz model innovation as all or nothing vs. offering a product/service to a particular market -they don't see it in the same light – yet.

By the way, IBM has a very very interesting study they published recently called "The Enterprise of the Future" – it's part of their Global CEO Study series and it discussed biz model innovation – defines it a bit more specifically – around pg 47 of the document – which is found at: http://www-935.ibm.com/services/us/gbs/bus/html/ceostudy2008.html?&ca=smbGlobalCEOStudy&re=SMBMMFuture

@Alan: thank you for this in depth sharing of your experience. Good material. Great analysis. Very helpful to work with!

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Feedback cycle:
Even once you think you “get it right” in a prototype, the feedback cycle takes a long time. Building a plan to execute the new model, implementing it, and getting a market response take time.

Solutions:
Run it by an unbiased board of advisors.
Do quick financial “sketches”
Compare your “new” business model to others out there, is it a big change for you but less original within the sector? The market?

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Lack of Contextual Knowledge:
A lot of great ideas are out there already, especially outside your sector and area of expertise. Some problems you’re innovating on from scratch, that sector has been hitting for decades.

Solutions:
Think about what sector might have innovated in this area, and what can you borrow from them?
Bounce your ideas of people who work in different sectors with different models.

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Getting stuck on one block:
Within the 9 building blocks, I’ve noticed people tend to get stuck on one block. A lot of people think of business models as “Revenue” opportunities only, or internal structural changes only. Working on one without switching to the other after a while results in incoherent models with weak relations between the blocks.

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Losing the big picture:
In conversation its easy to forget WHY you’re doing this in the first place and try to tie together bits and pieces from all over and calling that a business model. Its easy to screw that one up.

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Arguments:
People like to be right, and I’ve seen that inexperienced business modelers tend to conversationally discuss/argue implementation methods, customers needs, market needs, etc. A decent discussion takes 10 minutes. Using the canvas to explore first only takes a few minutes tops, and leaves you with an artifact to work from.

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Iteration Length:
Professionals know how long to iterate within their field. Those not used to business model innovation tend not to spend enough time exploring an iteration, or far too much time exploring one. You end up with too many weak alternatives, or too few.

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When is it done?:
A classic design issue. You can tweak something forever, but having a team recognize a breakthrough, and then not tweak it to death is difficult. I’ve personally come up with great business ideas, and then accidentally tweaked them away from their core value by continuing to play with them too long. I think this just takes experience.

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Discussion without documentation:
Since documenting business models is hard, its easy to slip into a dicussion without externalizing the ideas to the walls of the room.

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With all that said, as a younge entrepreneur, most of the problems are with the process of working with a group, rather than hierarchical and organizational difficulties. Creating an effient and effective environment to generate and recognize opportunities quickly is what I hope this blog/book is able to help people do.