With the economy experiencing dark times, a lot of companies are focused on innovation right now. Everyone wants to know where that next “Big Idea” is and how to make it happen. I wish I could tell you there was a quick way, some software, or even better, a RainMaker who could come in and make it all happen regardless of whatever the rest of your company is doing. Alas, capitalizing on innovation takes more than just funding and a dedicated project team, especially if it is something you want to do more than once or twice. What sustainable innovation really takes is the right processes bolstered by the right culture. My recent experience at the World Innovation Forum confirmed and supported what I have been teaching and facilitating about finding opportunities to innovate. It requires different types of thinking, searching for the “job to be done” as Clayton Christensen put it, rather than the typical customer-specific segmentation. I’ve actually been using his “milkshake” story for a couple of years now – I think I got it from an old HBR article. Diversity of thought and experience is crucial as well. Most new innovations come from making connections between disparate ideas and industries. Take for example biomimicry, the study of nature to find new products. That’s how the idea for Velcro came about – burrs sticking to someone’s clothes. There’s even a non-glue adhesive being made after studying how Gecko’s walk up walls. Opportunities to “Get Sparked” are often right in front of your eyes if you care to notice them. Turning on the right filters, though, can take effort.
Once you have a lot of ideas the next challenging step is getting out of what I call “Shiny Penny Hell(TM)”. This requires separating the ideas from the opportunities and then ranking them according to some criteria you’ve established for moving forward. We spend 6 months doing this in our ACTiVATE class but the time this takes depends on the resources available to focus on it.
Last week, I was fortunate to be one a several “Official Bloggers” for the World Innovation Forum. Since then I’ve written several blogs on the great sessions and information I got there. What I haven’t shared, yet, is how much fun I had. I really saw the power of Twitter first hand! Let me explain…
There was a special section at the event reserved as the “Blogger’s Hub“, which was sponsored by Pitney Bowes. They had tables, power, and wireless internet ready (mostly, anyway) and waiting for us. Our job during the event was to capture the essence of what was being said on stage through our “tweets” – 140 character micro-blog posts and to take notes for sharing our insights later on our blogs.
Those of you who know me, know that my participating in a marathon is about as far away from possibility as my starring in a Broadway musical. I am sadly tone deaf and do not like to run, much less for more than necessary for mere survival.
But last week, as a result of participating as one of the official bloggers for the World Innovation Forum, I was asked to participate in an innovation marathon called 24 Hours of Innovation. Running from 4 a.m. EDT May 15th to 4 a.m. May 16, 24 Hours of Innovation is sponsored by the Board for Innovation. The Board is dedicated to providing a global platform for innovation. According to the Board’s Web site, this will be a “non-stop, online marathon of innovation initiatives from around the world.”
Day 1 of the World Innovation Forum in New York City has been a whirlwind. Very much like drinking from a fire hose.
First up: Paul Saffo, technology forecaster from Stanford, provided an engaging start to the day with his insight into why now is an ideal time for innovation. The economic outlook is uncertain. According to Saffo, uncertainty is good. If everything was certain, he reasons, there would be no opportunity.
And I learned a new word: biomimetrics. That’s the practice of taking ideas from nature and turning them into new products. Saffo was talking about a new compound for glue-less adhesives derived from researching the feet of wall-climbing geckos. Makes me think about what other ideas nature might have to share with us!
With the economy experiencing dark times, a lot of companies are focused on innovation right now. Everyone wants to know where that next “Big Idea” is and how to make it happen. I wish I could tell you there was a quick way, some software, or even better, a RainMaker who could come in and make it all happen regardless of whatever the rest of your company is doing. Alas, capitalizing on innovation takes more than just funding and a dedicated project team, especially if it is something you want to do more than once or twice. What sustainable innovation really takes is the right processes bolstered by the right culture. My recent experience at the World Innovation Forum confirmed and supported what I have been teaching and facilitating about finding opportunities to innovate. It requires different types of thinking, searching for the “job to be done” as Clayton Christensen put it, rather than the typical customer-specific segmentation. I’ve actually been using his “milkshake” story for a couple of years now – I think I got it from an old HBR article. Diversity of thought and experience is crucial as well. Most new innovations come from making connections between disparate ideas and industries. Take for example biomimicry, the study of nature to find new products. That’s how the idea for Velcro came about – burrs sticking to someone’s clothes. There’s even a non-glue adhesive being made after studying how Gecko’s walk up walls. Opportunities to “Get Sparked” are often right in front of your eyes if you care to notice them. Turning on the right filters, though, can take effort. 
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