Do you know the Motorola Razr? Sure you do. It's cool. It's sleek. It comes in cool colours. Well, I should correct those statements. It was cool. It was sleek. It did come in cool colours. I guess you could argue that it still is and still does but that would be missing the point.
What I am trying to say is, "What's next?" Motorola has announced double-digit cuts to its workforce over the next year. One wonders where the next cool phone is in a post-Razr market that will turn things around for them. Motorola certainly rode the wave while they could, as many other companies would and have, but that wave has crashed into the beach.
Every new product or service arrives in the market based on the expenditure of blood and sweat by numerous people but is anyone keeping in mind what should come next? I know many companies schedule subsequent product releases and updates but how formalized is their innovation process? Just how full is their innovation funnel? What are they doing to create an ongoing list of actionable ideas?
In a report from Boston Consulting, the authors talk about three types of innovation - incremental, expansionary and breakthrough. Regardless of the type of innovation being considered, I am asking about the preceding process, or lack thereof, companies are using to stay on track and, hopefully, ahead of their competition.
Salespeople use a funnel to forecast their sales. Can we apply a similar methodology to innovation? What if we set a goal of 4 actionable ideas per year (one per quarter)? How many ideas have to be listed initially? What criteria will be used to qualify those ideas and create a shorter list of qualified ideas? Can we then take the qualified ideas and run them through the business case process in order to come up with actionable ideas that withstood the process and appear viable?
I ask all these questions from the interest in what might be in your innovation funnel and what you are doing to ensure that actionable ideas come about as a result of your efforts.
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
More Innovation Through Collaboration With Filmmakers
In a recent New York Times article, Denise Caruso wrote about the AFI and its Digital Content Lab.
The article offers further proof of the value of collaboration by people from different disciplines, in this case film and digital media, and how that collaboration helps media companies increase the value if existing assets and/or create valuable new ones.
I found the Lab's model or mandate quite interesting. Corporate sponsorship enables them to solve a company's problem while having no rights to the end result. More than one company benefits because the Lab chooses projects from applicants that will serve more than one company.
While not exactly the same, Digifest is another example of different disciplines collaborating but not just on media problems. I had the opportunity to participate in a charrette intended to assist a member of the UN's Habitat organization working in Asia on reconstruction projects after the Tsunami. It was a fascinating afternoon and it certainly gave me new insights into unforeseen or surprising human factor issues that can arise in the midst of trying to advise and assist people.
The article offers further proof of the value of collaboration by people from different disciplines, in this case film and digital media, and how that collaboration helps media companies increase the value if existing assets and/or create valuable new ones.
I found the Lab's model or mandate quite interesting. Corporate sponsorship enables them to solve a company's problem while having no rights to the end result. More than one company benefits because the Lab chooses projects from applicants that will serve more than one company.
While not exactly the same, Digifest is another example of different disciplines collaborating but not just on media problems. I had the opportunity to participate in a charrette intended to assist a member of the UN's Habitat organization working in Asia on reconstruction projects after the Tsunami. It was a fascinating afternoon and it certainly gave me new insights into unforeseen or surprising human factor issues that can arise in the midst of trying to advise and assist people.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Cinéma Vérité
According to Parlez-vous.com, Realism is the artistic attempt to recreate life as it is in the context of an artistic medium.
Cinéma Vérité, literally film truth, was a style of film making developed by French film directors in the 1960’s. Filming was done with unobtrusive cameras so the subjects of the film would forget the presence of the camera and just be themselves. The filmmakers goal was to show life as it really is using the film as his or her artistic medium (see Parlez-vous.com.
What do Realism and Cinéma Vérité have to do with innovation? Well, they should be considered when it comes to observing people and interactions between them and people, things and environments. If people know they are being observed then their behaviour is affected. Practitioners of Cinéma Vérité sometimes resorted to using empty cameras for weeks in advance of the commencement of shooting in order for the people being documented to forget about their presence. No matter how long such an effort may have lasted, the presence of the camera can never be forgotten completely nor can the behaviour of the observed be completely trusted as natural.
Having said that, it is still one of the best methods of understanding people in the daily lives. It just can't be taken as absolute truth.
Many of us have seen or heard the results of focus groups used to determine consumer needs and solicit input/feedback. Some have resorted to in-home user parties to mitigate the clinical feel of focus groups. Others have shifted to observations of people in the environment where the behaviour to be observed naturally occurs. To extend that effort, the observations are tied to impressions given from those same people. This helps to link the explicit with the implicit.
No matter the method of observation, we can't forget if people know they are being observed then their natural tendencies will be affected to some degree.
Cinéma Vérité, literally film truth, was a style of film making developed by French film directors in the 1960’s. Filming was done with unobtrusive cameras so the subjects of the film would forget the presence of the camera and just be themselves. The filmmakers goal was to show life as it really is using the film as his or her artistic medium (see Parlez-vous.com.
What do Realism and Cinéma Vérité have to do with innovation? Well, they should be considered when it comes to observing people and interactions between them and people, things and environments. If people know they are being observed then their behaviour is affected. Practitioners of Cinéma Vérité sometimes resorted to using empty cameras for weeks in advance of the commencement of shooting in order for the people being documented to forget about their presence. No matter how long such an effort may have lasted, the presence of the camera can never be forgotten completely nor can the behaviour of the observed be completely trusted as natural.
Having said that, it is still one of the best methods of understanding people in the daily lives. It just can't be taken as absolute truth.
Many of us have seen or heard the results of focus groups used to determine consumer needs and solicit input/feedback. Some have resorted to in-home user parties to mitigate the clinical feel of focus groups. Others have shifted to observations of people in the environment where the behaviour to be observed naturally occurs. To extend that effort, the observations are tied to impressions given from those same people. This helps to link the explicit with the implicit.
No matter the method of observation, we can't forget if people know they are being observed then their natural tendencies will be affected to some degree.
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Internal or External Innovative Forces
I remember having coffee with a telecom executive and posing the question of how they innovate within his organization. His first response was to say "That's a difficult question."
I then brought up the article OFFICE SPACE: ARMCHAIR M.B.A.; Tension Headaches In The Corner Office which discusses the same issue and how McKinsey & Company consults with companies struggling with the corporate equivalent of writer's block.
Like so many other executives, he faced the same issues of garnering internal alignment while quashing competing internal mandates. However, he held the power to endorse the initiative whether it be internal or via an external consultant. Without that critical executive sponsorship, the competing mandates will win and alignment will never materialize.
This is not a new idea but one worth reiterating. What was also interesting from the article was the idea that companies are facing unexpected external competitors as in the case where telecom and media companies are fighting off competitors that are blurring the lines between the two sectors.
I then brought up the article OFFICE SPACE: ARMCHAIR M.B.A.; Tension Headaches In The Corner Office which discusses the same issue and how McKinsey & Company consults with companies struggling with the corporate equivalent of writer's block.
Like so many other executives, he faced the same issues of garnering internal alignment while quashing competing internal mandates. However, he held the power to endorse the initiative whether it be internal or via an external consultant. Without that critical executive sponsorship, the competing mandates will win and alignment will never materialize.
This is not a new idea but one worth reiterating. What was also interesting from the article was the idea that companies are facing unexpected external competitors as in the case where telecom and media companies are fighting off competitors that are blurring the lines between the two sectors.
Cannibalization
I happened to be sitting in a marketing training session last fall along with marketing people from a variety of consumer groups. Several people talked about "soft launching" some new offerings.
What was interesting was the number of people who defended this approach as a means to avoid cannibalizing their existing customer base. I can appreciate their concern to avoid erosion of their customer base but if they are not pushing new, forward-looking services then their competitors will be more than happy to do so.
Yes, the risk of short-term losses exists but isn't taking revenue from one pocket and putting it into another within the same company better than losing revenue to a competitor altogether? If the corporate structure endorses competition among its divisions then this problem could be exacerbated and the risk of being blindsided by competitors will become all the more likely.
This is exactly the kind of "either-or" situation Roger Martin, Dean of the Joseph L. Rotman School of Management, discusses in his Harvard Business Review article, How Successful Leaders Think. In the article, Martin suggests that leaders who apply integrative thinking devise an entirely new solution or third option rather than choosing between two competing ideas when trying to resolve question of strategy.
What was interesting was the number of people who defended this approach as a means to avoid cannibalizing their existing customer base. I can appreciate their concern to avoid erosion of their customer base but if they are not pushing new, forward-looking services then their competitors will be more than happy to do so.
Yes, the risk of short-term losses exists but isn't taking revenue from one pocket and putting it into another within the same company better than losing revenue to a competitor altogether? If the corporate structure endorses competition among its divisions then this problem could be exacerbated and the risk of being blindsided by competitors will become all the more likely.
This is exactly the kind of "either-or" situation Roger Martin, Dean of the Joseph L. Rotman School of Management, discusses in his Harvard Business Review article, How Successful Leaders Think. In the article, Martin suggests that leaders who apply integrative thinking devise an entirely new solution or third option rather than choosing between two competing ideas when trying to resolve question of strategy.
Friday, July 13, 2007
The iPhone Up Close
As a Canadian, I am going to have to wait for the iPhone to come to Canada before I can consider purchasing one. However, I didn't have to wait to admire one up close.
I was recently travelling in the US and met a women who had waited four hours at an obscure AT & T store to get one of the thirty phones they had in stock. Most of everything I have read or seen led me to believe that the iPhone would be truly remarkable. Having had the opportunity to play with one and navigate through the various screens and applications, I have to say that it is more than remarkable-IT IS SPECTACULAR!
I am a reformed Crackberry addict and if the iPhone can cross the chasm between consumer toy to enterprise device then RIM should be very worried. Motorola has already been left in Apple's wake as a computer company showed a mobile phone company what a truly cool phone could be. Motorola relied on the Razr for much too long and was caught with little, if anything, in their innovation funnel.
I was recently travelling in the US and met a women who had waited four hours at an obscure AT & T store to get one of the thirty phones they had in stock. Most of everything I have read or seen led me to believe that the iPhone would be truly remarkable. Having had the opportunity to play with one and navigate through the various screens and applications, I have to say that it is more than remarkable-IT IS SPECTACULAR!
I am a reformed Crackberry addict and if the iPhone can cross the chasm between consumer toy to enterprise device then RIM should be very worried. Motorola has already been left in Apple's wake as a computer company showed a mobile phone company what a truly cool phone could be. Motorola relied on the Razr for much too long and was caught with little, if anything, in their innovation funnel.
NASA Gets Help From Amateurs
In 2004, NASA started the Centennial Challenges to solicit ideas from the public in a variety of categories.
The Amateur Future of Space Travel in the New York Times Sunday Magazine was a fascinating account of how Peter K. Homer, an out-of-work director of a local community center in Maine, came up with the winning solution to NASA's space glove problem. Reading about Homer's "aha moment" in the middle of the night will make believers of all of us that solutions can come from anywhere at anytime. It was Homer's past experience sewing sails that provided the necessary insight to overcome the problem of providing strength while maintaining dexterity.
Innocentive is another example of companies looking beyond their corporate walls for solutions to their innovation problems by applying an open source or open collaboration strategy. Casting their lines out to a population of solvers has led to solutions to numerous problems and financial rewards for the solvers.
The Amateur Future of Space Travel in the New York Times Sunday Magazine was a fascinating account of how Peter K. Homer, an out-of-work director of a local community center in Maine, came up with the winning solution to NASA's space glove problem. Reading about Homer's "aha moment" in the middle of the night will make believers of all of us that solutions can come from anywhere at anytime. It was Homer's past experience sewing sails that provided the necessary insight to overcome the problem of providing strength while maintaining dexterity.
Innocentive is another example of companies looking beyond their corporate walls for solutions to their innovation problems by applying an open source or open collaboration strategy. Casting their lines out to a population of solvers has led to solutions to numerous problems and financial rewards for the solvers.
Designing Interactions
Bill Moggridge, one of the founders of IDEO and designer of the first laptop computer (the GRiD Compass, 1981) spoke as part of the Design Thinking Series at the Rotman School of Management.
Moggridge presented from Designing Interactions
and discussed some of the projects IDEO has worked on and the need for interdiscplinary teams as you move up the hierarchy of complexity but he also strongly urged people to "forget [their] discipline when [they] are in the project room." This serves to free people from relying solely on their usual way of thinking and enables a more open compilation of ideas among collaborators.
For more about the book and to see some of the supporting interviews, please see the Designing Interactions Site.
Moggridge presented from Designing Interactions
and discussed some of the projects IDEO has worked on and the need for interdiscplinary teams as you move up the hierarchy of complexity but he also strongly urged people to "forget [their] discipline when [they] are in the project room." This serves to free people from relying solely on their usual way of thinking and enables a more open compilation of ideas among collaborators.For more about the book and to see some of the supporting interviews, please see the Designing Interactions Site.
Else/Where Mapping and New Opportunity Development
Recently at the Rotman School of Management, I had the opportunity to hear Janet Abrams of the University of Minnesota Design Institute discuss Using Maps to Make Arguments and Processes Visible. She presented ideas from Else/Where: Mapping: New Cartographies of Networks and Territories
or see Else/Where: Mapping
One of the notable maps was from They Rule which discusses a small group of powerful Americans in business referred to as the Magnificent Seven because of the number of network linkages they possess via board seats and other business ties.
Abrams also said something that really resonated with me which was "Innovation [should come] from the spaces between disciplines." This certainly provides further validation of the need to draw on different perspectives in order to innovate and change strategy.
Another of the Rotman Design Thinking Presentations was by Dev Patnaik from Jump Associates of San Mateo, California. His presentation was entitles New Opportunity Development - Emerge, Reframe, Connect.
Dev talked about Jump and their staff of "peripheral visionaries" and corporate misfits. It's always good to hear about cultures that endorse people who think differently.
Although I agree with much of what he presented, I feel especially strong about "reframe" as a concept. Many companies are stuck or complacent and they need to reframe their situation and formulate a new perspective on one or more of the following; themselves, their business, the competition and, in a broader sense, their marketplace in order to become unstuck when it comes to innovation.
or see Else/Where: MappingOne of the notable maps was from They Rule which discusses a small group of powerful Americans in business referred to as the Magnificent Seven because of the number of network linkages they possess via board seats and other business ties.
Abrams also said something that really resonated with me which was "Innovation [should come] from the spaces between disciplines." This certainly provides further validation of the need to draw on different perspectives in order to innovate and change strategy.
Another of the Rotman Design Thinking Presentations was by Dev Patnaik from Jump Associates of San Mateo, California. His presentation was entitles New Opportunity Development - Emerge, Reframe, Connect.
Dev talked about Jump and their staff of "peripheral visionaries" and corporate misfits. It's always good to hear about cultures that endorse people who think differently.
Although I agree with much of what he presented, I feel especially strong about "reframe" as a concept. Many companies are stuck or complacent and they need to reframe their situation and formulate a new perspective on one or more of the following; themselves, their business, the competition and, in a broader sense, their marketplace in order to become unstuck when it comes to innovation.
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Minority Report Becomes Reality
We saw Tom Cruise drag and drop pictures, video and data feeds like a conductor leads an orchestra. Surface or multi-touch computing brings that capability to life. Another great example of this is the iPhone and its buttonless design (see iPhone - A Guided Tour).
The Immagination Challenge
I have had the good fortune to spend some time at the Beal Institute for Strategic Creativity and with its Director, Alexander Manu. Alex is the author of Imagination Challenge, The: Strategic Foresight and Innovation in the Global Economy
and the book serves as a guide for corporations wishing to ignite their own capability to innovate. It is a fascinating and thought-provoking book that would serve leaders and managers well to read and share.
The Beal Institute has many bright people researching and offering insights about the changing technological landscape and what companies and individuals should be considering in conjunction with their thoughts about short and long term strategy.
I have enjoyed my interaction with the institute and the intellectual discussion/debate with its staff. I look forward to continuing our dialogue.
and the book serves as a guide for corporations wishing to ignite their own capability to innovate. It is a fascinating and thought-provoking book that would serve leaders and managers well to read and share.The Beal Institute has many bright people researching and offering insights about the changing technological landscape and what companies and individuals should be considering in conjunction with their thoughts about short and long term strategy.
I have enjoyed my interaction with the institute and the intellectual discussion/debate with its staff. I look forward to continuing our dialogue.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
P and G and Beyond
Articles about innovation and the incorporation of creativity and creative thinkers into everyday business have proliferated over the last year or so. P & G is often the default example of creativity and innovation in a business context. It is my hope from this forum and beyond to find, promote and/or hear about more examples of companies where creativity is flourishing.
FILM; Is a Cinema Studies Degree the New M.B.A.?
When I graduated from business school the market was filled with hype about convergence of the internet, wireless and television. Given my recent completion of the MBA program and my degree in film production, I thought I was poised for success.
Well, it took a while for the hype to become real. It was much like the time it took e-commerce to catch up to the hype. I sure remember that well. I started my e-commerce company in 1995. I was way ahead of the curve. Way too far ahead.
As this convergence began to materialize, I was ecstatic to read FILM; Is a Cinema Studies Degree the New M.B.A.?. My eclectic background being validated.
Well, it took a while for the hype to become real. It was much like the time it took e-commerce to catch up to the hype. I sure remember that well. I started my e-commerce company in 1995. I was way ahead of the curve. Way too far ahead.
As this convergence began to materialize, I was ecstatic to read FILM; Is a Cinema Studies Degree the New M.B.A.?. My eclectic background being validated.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
FilMBA - An Introduction
Greetings!
I have been giving a great deal of thought lately to innovation, business and how creative types like me are deeply in need of a forum to discuss those topics and many others. By that I mean a place to discuss the interplay of the arts, business and innovation founded by someone looking to talk to other corporate misfits who think with both sides of their brain.
It is my understanding that there are over 3000 blogs discussing innovation but I am proud to say that FilMBA is all by itself in the blogosphere.
Initially, this blog may look, feel and read a bit scattered but give it and me some time to find the right voice and feel free to provide your feedback and any other left-field thoughts that come to mind along the way.
More to come...
I have been giving a great deal of thought lately to innovation, business and how creative types like me are deeply in need of a forum to discuss those topics and many others. By that I mean a place to discuss the interplay of the arts, business and innovation founded by someone looking to talk to other corporate misfits who think with both sides of their brain.
It is my understanding that there are over 3000 blogs discussing innovation but I am proud to say that FilMBA is all by itself in the blogosphere.
Initially, this blog may look, feel and read a bit scattered but give it and me some time to find the right voice and feel free to provide your feedback and any other left-field thoughts that come to mind along the way.
More to come...
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