Посты с тэгом: innovation

Innovation Prosthetic

Published date: July 5, 2010 в 3:00 am

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An innovation tool is a cognitive prosthetic that helps individuals and groups overcome their human limitations to innovate more capably.  Just as an artificial limb or hearing aid compensates and augments a missing or impaired part of the body, a thinking tool does the same – it compensates and augments for a variety of cognitive deficiencies in all humans.

Yet there is an aversion to using a structured tool to be creative:

  • The Arts:  Musicians, poets, and graphic artists shun the idea of using a standard tool or template because it makes them appear less creative to their fans and the public.  But consider Paul McCartney who sold more albums in the U.S. than anyone.  In his biography, he confided:  “As usual, for these co-written things, John often had just the first verse, which was always enough:  it was the direction, it was the signpost and it was the inspiration for the whole song.  I hate the word but it was the template.”  Listen carefully to artist, Jackson Pollock, describe his approach:

    • The Sciences:  People in deep scientific fields such as pharmaceuticals and nano-technology are skeptical of thinking tools because it diminishes their sense of intellect and brainpower.  Given their heavy emphasis on research and discovery, this is not surprising.  They default to the Scientific Method.  But consider a rather successful scientist named Albert Einstein.  He used a thinking tool called mental simulation to discover the special theory of relativity.  He imagined traveling through space next to a beam of light:

    • The Corporations:  High achievers resist the use of structured techniques because it makes them appear weak to their intra-firm rivals.  Executives prefer to use their intuition.  They trust it because it has gotten them far. But more executives are recognizing the value of educating their intuition by using patterns and thinking tools to augment their experience.  They use a prosthetic:


For practitioners, using an innovation prosthetic is a no brainer.

Brand Man

Published date: June 14, 2010 в 3:00 am

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The role of brand manager may be the most difficult yet rewarding of all marketing jobs.  It defines much of what marketing is about.  The brand manager is multifaceted and works at several levels in a company. Duties are varied and challenging. Brand managers see the product being created and manage through all of the product’s journey. Brand manager is the most important person to have around when a new product is being created or even when an old product needs to be re-launched.

How has the role changed over the years, and what is the role’s impact on new product or service innovation?  Here is the first job description for a brand manager.  It’s from an internal memo dated May 13, 1931 that I got it from Ed Rider, head archivist at P&G’s Heritage Center, a corporate museum that documents the history of the company and its brands.

It is titled, “Brand Man:”

Research Priorities for Innovation

Published date: May 10, 2010 в 2:00 am

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The Marketing Science Institute announced its research priorities for 2010 to 2012.  The priorities are based on input from member company trustees and academic thought leaders. Topics are selected based on importance to marketers, need for more
research-based knowledge, potential for achieving a more powerful conceptualization of a topic or issue, and the extent to which the topic can benefit from MSI’s capabilities in fostering collaboration between practitioners and academics.

There are eight research priorities, and one of them is focused on innovation:

Kill Your Innovation Champion

Published date: April 5, 2010 в 2:00 am

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Here are five things companies need to do to develop the organizational structure, culture, and incentives to encourage successful innovation:
1.  Kill Your Innovation Champion:  It seems like a great idea to establish an “innovation champion” – responsible and accountable for driving innovation within the organization.  In reality, it stifles innovation.  Assigning a champion lets everyone off the hook.  Why innovate when we have our “champion” to do it ?   A study by the Association of Innovation Managers found that when companies assign innovation champions and establish separate funding, it threatens the R&D and the commercial departments.  “This kind of sponsorship opens the door for subtle forms of sabotage if the established business units believe that the innovation funding is inhibiting their ability to accomplish short-term objectives and take care of current customers. Without involvement, the commercial arm of an organization can also claim no responsibility for success or be blamed for failure.”  Instead of relying champions, a better approach is to encourage “innovation
subversives.”
If you won’t kill your champion, no worry – they will go away on their own.  The study also looked at what puts innovation managers at risk.  Of the 15 innovation champions in the study, 10 left their organizations and became consultants, 4 joined smaller or start-up companies, and 1 retired.  None returned to a Fortune 500 company.
2.  Don’t Give Credit for Good Ideas:   Tanya Menon from the University of Chicago describes the paradox of an external idea being viewed as “tempting” while the exact same idea, coming from an internal source, is considered “tainted.”

“In a business era that celebrates anything creative, novel, or that demonstrates leadership, “borrowing” or “copying” knowledge from internal colleagues is often not a career-enhancing strategy. Employees may rightly fear that acknowledging the superiority of an internal rival’s ideas would display deference and undermine their own status.
By contrast, the act of incorporating ideas from outside firms is not seen as merely copying, but rather as vigilance, benchmarking, and stealing the thunder of a competitor. An external threat inflames fears about group survival, but does not elicit direct and personal threats to one’s competence or organizational status. As a result, learning from an outside competitor can be much less psychologically painful than learning from a colleague who is a direct rival for promotions and other rewards.”

3.  Fire the Lone Innovator:  Innovation is a team sport.  Keith Sawyer in his book, Group Genius highlights one of the most significant aspects of successful innovation – that groups of people are likely to be more creative than individuals working on their own.  A properly facilitated approach with a carefully selected “dream team” of employees yields innovation sooner, better, and bolder than the lone genius.
4.  Teach Innovation:  Innovation is a skill, not a gift.  It can be taught using structured innovation processes and templates.  Many universities offer courses and programs to learn innovation.  It is unacceptable that a corporation seeking growth through innovation would not have its employees properly trained in the skill of innovating.
5.  Build Innovation Muscle:  The best companies see innovation as an ongoing capability, not a one time event.  These companies work hard to build muscle around this capability so they can deploy it when they need it, where they need it, tackling their hardest problems.  Companies do this to keep up with the ever changing landscape both inside and outside the firm.  What does it mean to build innovation muscle?  I think of it as the number of people trained, the frequency of using an innovation method, and the percentage of internal departments that have an innovation capability.  Call it an Innovation Muscle Index:  N (number of trained employees) x F (number of formal ideation events per year using a method) x P (percent of company departments with at least one employee trained in an effective innovation method).   Innovation Muscle Index = N x F x P .

The LAB: Innovating an Aquarium Using S.I.T. (February 2010)

Published date: February 20, 2010 в 3:31 pm

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 There are a 183 million pet fish in the United States, more than double the number of dogs.  Fourteen million U.S. households
have fish.  During the past decade, the pet fish category grew by more than 20% making it one of the fastest growing in the industry.  For this month’s LAB, we will apply the corporate innovation method, S.I.T., to the mainstay of fish keeping – the aquarium.

Here are five unique aquarium concepts invented by one of my graduate students, Janette Douglas, at the University of Cincinnati as part of her final exam in “Applied Marketing Innovation.”  For the this exam, each student was given a product randomly.  They had three hours to create new-to-the-world concepts and demonstrate proficiency using each of the templates.

To use the S.I.T. method, Janette starts with a component list:

  1. glass panels
  2. lid
  3. bottom of tank
  4. fish
  5. gravel
  6. plants
  7. filter
  8. water

Here are her ideas:

1.  SUBTRACTION (remove an essential component):  Remove the fish.  Make the tank a “plant only” tank.  The benefits are: lower maintenance, lower cost, more flexibility, and more room in the tank.  The target audience is people who enjoy the peaceful nature of an aquarium but don’t want the responsibility of taking care of an animal.  (DREW’S NOTE: this idea actually exists today, especially for a niche of aquarium owners who “aquascape“.

2.  TASK UNIFICATION (assign an additional job to an existing resource):  Assign the gravel the additional job of regulating water temperature. The benefits are: no need to monitor water temperature as it is self-regulated, easy to add fresh water without having to worry about temperature, and less expensive as you do not need a separate water heater.  Target audience is people who tend to make frequent changes to their home’s temperature or people who live in climates with extreme temperature changes.  Feasibility is a question mark – not sure if this technology exists or could be developed.

Double Tank 3.  MULTIPLICATION (make copies of a component but with a qualitative change):  Multiply the filter but change direction of flow – instead of filtering waste out, the second filter adds components to the water.  The benefits are: easy to add vitamins and other useful chemicals making it easier to control water quality.  Target audience is people who have exotic fish that require specific water conditions.

4.  DIVISION (physically or functionally cut the product or component):  Cut the glass in half. This creates two separate spaces in the aquarium to support two separate marine environments side-by-side.  Target audience is people who want to enjoy fresh and saltwater tanks.  It could also be used by
marine biologists who want to use two separate tanks to do research (manipulate one side and compare results to the other).  (DREW’S NOTE: this product exists).

5.  ATTRIBUTE DEPENDENCY: (create or break a dependency between internal and external attributes):
The glass panels change (clarity) depending on the oxygen levels in the external air and internal water environment so that adjustments can be made accordingly.  Potential benefits: greater accuracy of water composition in relation to the external air.  Target audience is fish hobbyists or scientists needing to carefully regulate oxygen for specific types of fish or plants.

Janette did a nice job on this final exam even though she is not an aquarium owner.  What I like about this example is that is shows how well people can innovate even when they are not experts in the product or service.  I doubt that a person who had
never seen an aquarium could have generated these ideas.  But with just a general knowledge about the domain, people can innovate routinely using structured innovation methods.

Innovation and Reputation

Published date: February 8, 2010 в 2:00 am

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Reciprocate Sustainable innovation requires structured methods.  But it also requires collaboration and information sharing among colleagues.  Innovation is a team sport – groups produce better results than the lone genius.  So how do you create a more favorable context for collaboration and sharing in your business unit?

Reputation is what matters.  The degree to which a technical worker will share information with a colleague depends on that colleague's reputation for returning the favor.  The rule of reciprocity states that people give back to those in the form they have received from others.  It is a social rule taught by every human society to its members – you give back to those who have given to you.  But the key is: to make the first move.  You have to be seen as someone who gives and shares information with others, and has a reputation for returning the favor when others give to you.

Dr. Prescott Ensign and Dr. Louis Hebert investigated this phenomena by surveying more than 200 pharmaceutical scientists working in the R&D operations of 63 different companies in Canada and the U.S..  They found that technical workers often hold critical information privately without fear of sanction or consequence.  What motivates them to share with others is when they see the other person as likely to give back – the other person has a well-deserved reputation for giving information back to the other person that is meaningful.  The complete results and analysis of the study are described in the book Knowledge Sharing Among Scientists. 

Here are the key findings (from Sloan Management Review, Winter 2010, Vol. 51 No. 2, pp 79-81):

  • Past behavior by individual scientists, and the groups they belong to, influences whether knowledge is shared. 
  • Longer duration of interaction positively influences the flow of information.
  • Quality matters more than quantity of information shared.
  • Pre-existing personal and professional relationships increased the likelihood of knowledge sharing.
  • Individuals who were already obliged to another person were less likely to be helped by that person that someone who was less obligated, not obligated or owed a favor.

Organizations who want to be more innovative need to do two things.  First is co-location of knowledge workers and team building.  Putting people in close proximity to one another and getting them to socialize will make them more likely to have the day-to-day, random encounters where they can share critical tidbits of knowledge and information.  The second is training.  Companies are recognizing a key gap in the skills of influence.  People can be trained how to systematically and ethically influence and align their co-workers.  Six universal principles of persuasion such as Reciprocity are well  described by Dr. Robert Cialdini in his book, Influence: Science and Practice.  Companies are conducting formal training courses in the practice of influence to make their knowledge workers more effective.

For individual innovators:

  • Make the first move.  Share critical information with others even if they have not given anything to you.  Make sure the information is meaningful and customized to that specific individual so that they feel especially obligated to return the favor.
  • When you receive information from others, reciprocate in kind.  Build a reputation as a person who is willing to give back to others who give to you.
  • Develop informal social relationships and networks within – and outside – your work group.
  • Learn the principles of influence and how to deploy them in the workplace and increase the level of knowledge and sharing.

Linking Innovation with Strategy

Published date: January 11, 2010 в 2:00 am

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Innovation that is linked to strategy is seen as more realistic and supportable.  Innovating is efficient because you avoid creating ideas that are out of scope.  Firms struggle with this as Idris Mootee observed in his blog, Innovation Playground:

“The most amazing thing with strategic experience innovation is that it
takes one kind of company and leadership to create the idea and another
kind of company to scale it up and drive industry transformation and we
see it in markets after market.”

Andrew Hinton offered this insight on his blog, Inkblurt:

“We hear the words Strategy and Innovation thrown around a lot, and often we hear them said together. “We need an innovation strategy.” Or perhaps “We need a more innovative strategy” which, of course, is a different animal. But I don’t hear people questioning much exactly what we mean when we say these things. It’s as if we all agree already on what we mean by strategy and innovation, and that they just fit together automatically.”

There are two approaches to linking innovation and strategy:  Strategy-Informs-Innovation and Innovation-Informs-Strategy.  Here is how:

Proposed Certificate Program in Innovation

Published date: January 4, 2010 в 1:53 pm

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Certificate programs are a way for universities and colleges to offer training that is less intensive and less expensive than traditional degree programs (baccalaureate, masters, doctoral).  They are ideal for working professionals who want advanced training in highly focused areas.  They are ideal for corporations as they are less expensive and a better value than many executive education (one week) programs.

The world of innovation could benefit from such programs.  While many institutions offer courses in creativity and innovation, very few have full degree or certificate programs in this field.  Most of those tend to be technology/venture start-up oriented.  Here are some examples:

Innovation Sighting: Social Innovation Using S.I.T.

Published date: November 30, 2009 в 2:00 am

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How do you get people to be more socially responsible?  Here is an example* that demonstrates the use of Task Unification, a template from the corporate innovation method called S.I.T.:

To use Task Unification, we assign an additional job to an existing resource. Then we work backwards to envision the potential benefits of such a scheme, how it would work, and how to adapt it to make it better. In the example above, we create a statement as follows: "The stairs have the additional job of making people want to use the stairs more." Then we innovate ways to make this happen.  Having the stairs play music as you walk in the form of a piano is novel, useful, and surprising.  It meets all three tests of innovativeness.

Let's turn this around a bit to make the point even more.  Let's create a new statement (our Virtual Product):  "The escalator has the job of making people want to use the stairs more."  Now let's imagine ways to make this happen.  Here is what I came up with:

  • The escalator slows down as more people use it.  As people approach the escalator and see others on it already, they will be less likely to use it.  Perhaps it makes a groaning sound as it slows down (thanks, Amnon!).
  • The escalator has a repeating taped message encouraging people to consider the health benefits of walking the stairs (perhaps by comparing the amount of calories burned by using the stairs instead of the escalator).
  • Put a handicapped sign on the escalator, or perhaps some other indicator that the escalator is for those who are not fully fit.
  • Make something happen at the top of the escalator that people typically want to avoid such as an unpleasant message or homeless person asking for spare change.

Here is another example:  (both of these are from TheFunTheory.com sponsored by Volkswagen):

* Special thanks to Gary Vince from Toronto for sending me these examples.

Academic Focus: University of Michigan

Published date: November 16, 2009 в 2:00 am

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Once you develop the capability to generate ideas, you need a rigorous approach to managing innovation within the context of your company’s culture.  For that, Professor Jeff DeGraff’s Competing Values Framework (CVF) is the best-in-class approach.  CVF describes four organizational cultural styles of managing innovation: Collaborate, Create, Control, and Compete.  Management teams tend to gravitate towards one dominant style, the one that has served them well in the past.  To be a more effective, leaders need to be “ambidextrous.”  Leaders should become adroit at two conflicting values.  “They must develop the ability to oversee teams that work towards opposite goals, integrating them when the timing is right, so that each value can be developed successfully.”
CVF

Here is Jeff’s biography from the University of Michigan website:

“Jeff DeGraff teaches MBA and Executive Education courses on managing creativity, innovation and change. Jeff is also a core faculty member in the University of Michigan Center for Leadership, Change and Innovation. Jeff’s research and writing focuses on change and innovation strategy, organizational competencies and innovation practices, and creativity methods. He is co-author of the books Creativity at Work: Developing the Right Practices to Make Innovation Happen, Leading Innovation: How to Jump Start Your Organization’s Growth Engine and Competing Values Leadership: Creating Value in Organizations. He is the Managing Director of Competing Values, a consulting practice that specializes in helping organizations make change and innovation happen.”
Jeff founded the Innovatrium, an innovation development community that is comprised of leading companies, government agencies, universities, trade associations, top faculty,researchers, students, and best in class growth and innovation experts.  Its mission:
Jeff DeGraff “The mission of Innovatrium is to be to the business practice of innovation what the Juilliard School is to music, bringing together master artists, teachers and students in a collaborative effort to create new ideas, skills and practices. Innovatrium integrates the best of consulting and teaching into action learning.”
I have had the pleasure of working with Jeff and seeing him in action.  I have read his books including “Leading Innovation: How to Jump Start Your Organization’s Growth Engine.”  It is one of the few innovation books that I recommend to colleagues.  Jeff has earned his nickname, The Dean of Innovation.

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