Everybody has a jones for something. For me it's
innovation. I don't know that I have ever been as happy in my business life as
when I am shipping a new product that I have designed, or talking about ways to
do things that I know are breaking new grounds. Solving problems is just plain
cool. Creating new opportunities is even better.
When you have had the good fortune to run some companies
that other's consider innovative you get asked "How do you do it" a
lot. I thought I would throw down some of the loonier concepts I use whenever I
am trying to break new ground. BTW - Part of the joy of working with companies like Jobster is that they tend to follow these rules.
1 - Innovation Starts with "And"
2 - Not Just Smart, But Always Focused
Now get a couple of really smart AND creative people in a
room and start asking questions about how to make it happen. The key here (once
again) is "And." You want people who think weird thoughts and come at
the problem from a different angle, so they need to be creative. But you also
need some critical thinking skills in there. In the "jump off a
cliff" scenario you don't need a lot of suggestions like "We'll just
channel the mighty beast within so we can use our gentle hands to fly!"
Interesting dinner party conversation, but not a good way to innovate.
3 - Make Sure You Have the "No But" Critic in the
Room
You need one critic (and preferably only one) in the
room. This is a way to keep from flying off into the ether. But here's a trick
about selecting the right critic: make sure they are a "no, but" type
of critic and not just a "no" critic. What’s the difference?
"No, but" critics continue to add to the dialogue, as in "No, but
what about this way?" The plain "no" critic is just a jerk who
spoils everyone's fun. Everyone at the table has to be about moving forward,
and people who just say "no" want nothing more that the
self-satisfaction of saying they are right when they blow your project up.
Avoid them.
4 - Build Crappy Prototypes Fast
Your job as a team is to decide what prototype you are
going to make and how to make it as crappy as possible. Prototype? Don't you
mean descriptive document? No. Hell no. The last thing you want to do is
constrain your idea by the limitation of your vocabulary and neuro-linguistic
pathways. You want to covert raw energy into form, and only a prototype can do
that. This is one of the reasons that ongoing advances in software technology are
so exciting: the gap between vision and use is shrinking. Same with hardware
(3D printers) and biotech (simulation and modeling). And what about the
"crappy" part? Perfectionism has no place in innovation. Innovation
is like hoping you'll find a gold coin at the bottom of a pile of manure - you
don't know whether it's worth the dig until you are covered in the stuff. You
quite literally want to guard against getting the prototype right. You want to
get it usable, as fast as possible (there is usually a tactile or sense-driven
aspect to "usable" at this stage of the game - touch it, see it,
smell it, etc.)
5 - Don't Listen To Customers, Watch Them
Now get your idea in front of a potential customer.
Always get in front of the customer as fast as possible. But the most important
thing to remember about getting prototypes into a customer's hands is that you
have to ignore everything they say. Customers rarely know what they are talking
about. Instead, watch them. How much time do they spend with your prototype? Do
their eyes light up? You are looking for unguarded moments of joy and
astonishment. When you see those, ask the customer "What just happened
there? What were you looking at?"
6 - If It's Right, Change It
Once you have it right, change it. Seriously. If your
potential customer absolutely loves the color of the thing, change that color
and put it back in their hand. Remember, they don't know what they are talking
about. Challenge it by changing it. If their face appears crestfallen because
of the color change, then keep the color. Otherwise use it as a clue as to what
will get you to the next stage.
7 - Sell it Like you Play It
At this point you are as much in the "sell
phase" as you are in the creation phase. But don't sell it like work. Sell
it like play. You are giving the potential future customer something cool and
fun. You should be excited and so should they. It should be like a break from
the action, not a task they have to fulfill. If your prototype doesn't generate
any "fun factor" it probably sucks.
8 - Iterate 'Till You Drop
Just keep on going. Iterate the hell out of thing. One of
the reasons that I am so excited about the future is that the tools to reduce
the cost of iteration are continually improving in flexibility and scope.
9 - Appoint One Person Bad Cop and Follow Their Command
But at the end of the day, you have to ship something to
really have been "innovative." (Real innovators ship.) So have one
person responsible for calling it quits. Make sure everyone agrees up front to
that person. And then when they say "Ship it" make sure everyone does
it.
10 - Innovation Is About Learning, not Genius
Finally, the most important thing to remember is that
most of innovation is learning, not inspiration. It's like going to the dance
with the man (or woman) of your dreams, dancing like a fool with everyone in
the place and then leaving with someone better. Organizations that continuously
deliver great innovations to market are always in the process of learning. It
may be great inspiration or genius that got them to the party in the first
place, but they stay because they are never satisfied with their present state
of ignorance. And every company (including vaunted product companies like
Apple) has more that they don't know then they do. Digging yourself out of that hole
one innovation experience at a time is the key to keeping the engine running.
Great list - to go along with number #4, just remember that if you have to eat s**t, don't nibble.
Dive right into building what's in your head even if at first it stinks (been there done that) or else you will just have a lot of written in notebooks and empty pockets. Well, that can still happen anyway if your idea is a flop but you will have some great stories!
Mark
Posted by: Mark Newman | April 04, 2006 at 10:35 AM