I have been spending a lot of time with clients and friends lately who are working or interested in the field of innovation and a few common themes came up. The most common ones are innovative ideas are often immeditealy obscured by curretn business concerns, organization solios and narrow visions. I was showing my clients how different companies approach and show them how we approach it. They were surprised to see that the "what" is very similiar and the "how" is so different. The difference lies in the fact that many treat innovation exercises or efforts as either a series of brainstorming sessions and some creative ideas bouncing around or they see it as another way adding some brainstorning to just business planning. Or some treat it as a stage-gate exercise. Ok let me make that clear. Brainstorming DOES NOT equal innovaiton. Innovaiton IS NOT business planning. The surprise element is when I show them how "Design Thinking" can be used to drive innovation. That's when they open their eyes. Also my slides are pretty.
Whether we are talking about radical innovatio or incremental innovation, there are a number of things that could get us into the wrong paths. I called them "innovaiton traps". Here are the top five:
The Product Extension Trap - Starting your innovation through a "product develoment" lens and starting early on creating stage gate is a sure way to get you inside a box. Don't need that at all even thought that is part of your intent.
The Product Performance Trap - Too often people are obssesed with competing on the performance front and ignore many human elements that are equally important in creating new differentiation. This is where human-Centered Deisgn can be a great tool for innovation. Not spreadsheets and piecharts.
The Commitment Trap - Lack of immitment to make innovation happen is another key problem. Many simply see it as nice-to-have and not commiting enough energy and resource to make it a part of an organization day-to-day activities.
The Valdidation Trap - I have a love and hate thing with this word. As much as validation is key, I often see executives spending unproportional energy in trying to collect data and missed the opportunity to learn and refine early enough. This is seeking improvment in an agile fashion and is more important that looking fo validation. This is where "design thinking" come into play. My company is turning desingers into strategists.
The Boundaries Trap - Innovation doesn't want a box, but it needs boundaries. Settign some boundaries early on helps set context and should not be send as constraints. In fact, it is a pre-condition for effective innovaiton.
Let me know what you think. I'd better be getting back into my meetings. Diagrams by Peter Marks and Mike Tanner.
-
