Developing products is now also the job of suppliers, partners, and customers. This approach to "distributed cocreation" is followed by manufacturers to ensure that the products meet customer needs and fit supplier and partner capabilities. If you want to begin this approach, say these McKinsey consultants, the first step is to find out where in your organization it's happening now.

Here's a great example of a cocreation solution. Ann Arbor elementary school students need European language classes, but the school district has a tight budget. Solution: partner with UM. Native Spanish- speaking UM students will teach 3rd graders. UM gets to offer foreign language teacher certification, and Ann Arbor pays only $100,000 (10%) of the $1 million costs for the program. Now that's an innovative solution.

There is no industry more competitive than banking. In this brief article, Roland Berger consultants outline business model innovations from Central and Eastern Europe - models that Western banks may want to explore. And to what do the authors attribute the source of these business model innovations? "Stronger client orientation," of course.

Here's another Ann Arbor example. IT development firm Menlo Innovations employs a High- Tech Anthropology® approach to development. The idea is that in order to provide the best solution, you first have to understand the context of a customer's workplace and the problems employees face. See this brief video clip to hear from CEO Richard Sheridan and his unique management approach.

"We are constantly innovating how we innovate," says P&G's CEO A.G. Lafley. Lafley attributes P&G's success to "integrated thinking" and "open innovation." Innovation at P&G starts with a consumer- centric concept and involves people broad and deep both within P&G and among P&G's set of collaborators. In the end, says Lafley, it's "a group of people who gradually learn seamless teamwork."

So, how do you build that group of people Lafley mentions above? Bill Taylor at HarvardBusiness.org says you should hire the right people who are ready to work in your organization's culture of customer engagement. Here Taylor talks about Zappos, an online shoe retailer with a strong following. Zappos actually pays $1,000 to new employees who quit, thereby ensuring that only people truly committed to the Zappos way will get hired. Is your organization ready for this innovation in management to build a team that connects to customers?