Fresh off the virtual presses is a special report on innovation from The Economist.Β My colleague – and founder of Innovaro – Tim Jones was interviewed for the section and shares an insight on innovation in the mobile industry in Africa.
At the moment the whole report is available as a free download here.Β First glance looks damn interesting, with a plethora of bloggable insights… (stay tuned)
Bruce Nussbaum has a great quote on his blog which – in the field of innovation – resonated strongly with me.
“Blogging is intellectual prototyping.” Roger Martin, dean of the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto.
The HBR is publishing excerpts from Gary Hamels latest book. It’s an interesting read, especially when he starts discussing management innovation.
Not all types of innovation are created equal. When focused on big, chunky problems, management innovation possesses a unique capacity to create difficult-to-duplicate advantages. Why? Become some heresies are more heretical than others. You, for example, would probably find it easier to adjust your fashion preferences than to transpose your religious beliefs. Similarly, most executives find it easier to acknowledge the merits of a disruptive business model than to abandon the core tenets of their bedrock management beliefs.
This discussion leads naturally to how you break paradigms. In my experience across a number of sectors this is extremely hard to do. As Gary points out, it’s akin to challenging religious beliefs. However once you do change a management system, the results can be very powerful – a conversation with Ricardo Semler would be proof of that.
You can’t tell people to change a paradigm, especially when they are not even aware that they are stuck on one. If you take the view that most people in senior management are intelligent and capable of learning, then you have to lead them on a path of discovery. First hand exposure to new business models, discussions with people outside their sector and experiential learning are all methods that I’ve found very effective. It’s possible to kick start the thinking in a three day event (just don’t call it an ‘off-site’), and then support it over a longer period. Once you see the changes starting, it’s extremely rewarding (on many fronts).
Over at Endless Innovation Dominic points out that GE, “the very company that gave birth to the light bulb is scaling back its light bulb business,” as energy efficient bulbs take over.
Dominic points out that as a symbol of innovation, the light bulb is completely overused, and I thoroughly agree. He poses the question – if GE is killing the lightbulb what is the new symbol of innovation?
Here’s my suggestion – the Daffodial.
Now those of you who aren’t thinking – “Damn – that’s brilliant!” , are probably saying “What the hell??”
It’s quite simple really – there’s so many parallels between innovation and daffodials :
Slightly off topic, but worth noting an article in the recent issue of Technology Review. It’s an extract from the autobiography of James Watson.
Never be the brightest person in a room
Getting out of intellectual ruts more often than not requires unexpected intellectual jousts. Nothing can replace the company of others who have the background to catch errors in your reasoning or provide facts that may either prove or disprove your argument of the moment. And the sharper those around you, the sharper you will become. It’s contrary to human, and especially to human male, nature, but being the top dog in the pack can work against greater accomplishments.
Radiohead is conducting an interesting experiment in business model innovation. While musicians are known to be creative, their contracts with the more conservative parts of the music industry generally stop them innovating their way out of business. As it is not currently tied to a record label, the band is not bound by the same rules, and has decided that not only can fans download their new album online, but they can also decide how much they should pay for it. A spokesman for the band said :
“Although the idea is that you can decide what you want to pay, most people are deciding on a normal retail price with very few trying to buy it for a penny.”
How would your customers react if you made the same offer to them?
UPDATE : IFTF has more here.
Just back from London where I did the usual trick of trying to see as many friends/contacts/colleagues as possible in the shortest space of time. Over a coffee Dave Nicholson – one of the founders of zopa – mentioned about a banking blog that he reads called BankerVision.
It’s written by James Gardner, Head of Innovation at Lloyds. He has written a range of thoughtful postings about the financial services industry. However most interesting to me is the fact that he’s doing this from the viewpoint of a UK bank which I’ve always viewed as being ultra-conservative.
Watch with interest..
This morning I stopped past a supermarket on the way to work. I found a clear aisle and decided there was something I needed to do.
Trolley boarding.
(OK, so I just made this term up. So now it needs an explanation.
it’s when you put one foot on the back bar, and use the other one to push it along and trying to keep it going in a straight line. As a recreational activity it will never make it to the Olympics. Let’s face it, it would never even make it as some cult underground sport, unlike extreme ironing.)
I got some funny looks. Disapproving looks from people who were being far too serious. It reminded me of the relevance of experimentation in innovation.
Play is an important part of creativity.
Creativity is a vital part of innovation.
Which leads me to this quote (source unknown) :
We do not stop playing because we age.
We age because we stop playing.
Next time you’re in the supermarket, put one foot on the back bar of your trolley…
I did a presentation a couple of weeks ago in Sydney in which I made reference to innovators breaking paradigms. Often paradigm change is bought about by people who are free to challenge the status quo.
To illustrate, here’s a great example from New Scientist.
“Barry Marshall studied medicine at the University of Western Australia. In 1981, while working at the Royal Perth Hospital, he met pathologist Robin Warren and they began investigating bacteria Warren had observed in stomach biopsies. They later found out that these bacteria, Helicobacter pylori, caused stomach ulcers and cancer. Warren and Marshall were awarded the Nobel prize in physiology or medicine in 2005.”
Why did you discover this, not the specialists?
Many people built careers on researching ulcers, but they were barking up the wrong tree. It was much better for us to be coming from a position of ignorance. We didn’t have a plan to find a cure for ulcers – we were simply trying find out what these bacteria were. If people don’t have an investment in the existing paradigm, they are free to invent a new one. There is a lot of inertia in research. People running major research projects can’t suddenly change tack and move the whole lab into another area.”
BusinessWeek has a fascinating insight into the old, new and then the new-old (stay with me here) cultures around innovation at 3M. If you are familiar with the story of the company that bought you Art Fry and the Post-It, this is still worth a read and looks at Six Sigma vs free thinking.
Or, to put it another way – “How Six Sigma Black Belts Beat up all the free thinking and peace loving innovators.” And before you comment – I know – it would make such a catchy film title.
Thanks Bruce.