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September 11, 2008
At times complication is necessary. Sometimes complication is even sought. Though at other times big swaths of complicated processes and multiplications of parts can be removed with no ill and much beneficial effect.
What could be eliminated? Are all the parts that have been included necessary? Could multiple parts or steps be combined into one part or step?
What could be made so small as to be insignificant? Could the time it takes to complete a transaction of any kind be reduced to zero? Could the effort required be lessened to an inconsequential level?
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reverse
September 08, 2008
Sometimes looking at an idea backwards will yield new thoughts. Would the part fit better if it was put in the other way? Could the "up" become "down" and the "down" become "up?" Would using a mirror image be helpful?
Sometimes reversing the order of an operation can bring unexpected results. At their Georgetown, Kentucky plant, doors on new cars, after being attached to a body and painted, are removed and placed on a separate line to allow easier installation of dashboards and other interior items into the car and to allow easier installation of parts into the door itself.
What about for service situations? What if instead of providing endless choice of mediocre options, you provided a really phenomenal single (or radically limited) choice? Take fast food, Chipotle has a very limited menu, but the stuff on the menu is all very good. Or take some of the small barbecue joints in the American South - you get barbecue, slaw, toast and sweet tea, and that's it. You want something else, great! But you won't get it there.
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reply to an idea
September 05, 2008
So you have seen an idea proposed in a brainstorm, and might like to reply. To build on that idea you could do any of the following:
Seeking to understand: Restate the idea in your own words, and then ask if that is what they mean.
Share insight and experience: Say "I was involved in an idea much like this (last year, at my former employer, etc.) and it worked well with the following pitfalls. To implement this idea successfully we need to..."
Expand on the idea: Build on the idea submitted, combining it with other, outside ideas.
Caveats: Why you don't want to go there, and for specific reasons. This needs to be employed with restraint to avoid shutting down the whole process.
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Iterative Innovation Development
August 25, 2008
Finding versus developing ideas and innovations. Ideas that are just right for your organization are can often be found outside your organization. You just need to be receptive and search them out a little.
However, most of these found ideas are not ready for immediate use. They must be customized or scaled-up or fine-tuned in some regard. This development process is not trivial nor with out the need for expertise. Research and development resources must still be maintained within your organization to bring these found ideas and concepts to fruition.
As the research and development process can be iterative, so to can the find and develop process. As the development process for found ideas and concepts plays out, there may be times to go back to the outsiders with partially developed concepts for feedback. Then this feedback is incorporated into the next iteration.
Brainstorm exchange provides a venue and a forum for finding these ideas and concepts, and for getting feedback on iterative interim solutions.
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Innovation Questions
August 19, 2008
Following are all questions, just to spur thought about ideas.
What does an idea cost?
What does it cost you and your organization to acquire an idea? Did you find it through internal R&D, and have lots of fixed and building legacy costs, or did you find it external resources and have someone else bear the background costs?
What does it cost to develop an idea? Do you handle all the iterations, scale-ups and fine tuning internally, or do you engage outside partners in development decisions?
What does it cost to produce an idea? Do you handle production in house, investing in infrastructure and personnel, betting on a hit, or do you contract out the production, based on the best available manufacturing ideas and technologies?
What does distribution of an idea cost? Do you distribute your own products, with your own resources, or do you arrange external resources for optimizing logistics.
What does lack of an idea cost?
What does it cost your organization in ROI and market-share for failing to pursue new ideas? Do you and your organization actively pursue ideas both within and from with out? How do you identify those ideas and concepts that you will put into development?
Brainstorm exchange is uniquely suited to helping people and organizations to solicit, capture, rank and optimize ideas. Make us a part of your innovation paradigm.
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Quick Fixes and Strategic Innovation
August 07, 2008
In integrating brainstorm exchange into your innovation program, what type of innovation are you looking for? A quick fix or a structural innovation? What is the difference between a quick fix innovation and a structural innovation?
There is nothing inherently wrong with quick fix innovations. They can work very well, are relatively inexpensive and add value in the short term. Quick fix innovations are typically marketing based. You know you have seen them in the grocery store in the form of splashes on products reading "CRUNCHIER," "NOW WITH ESSENTIAL ANTIOXIDANTS," "LIMITED EDITION" and "NOW WITH OAT BRAN FOR REGULARITY." Quick fixes are easy to bring to market and give your product a bump in recognition . They are also easy to replicate and once competition does respond any incremental gains are probably diminished.
Structural innovations change how you do what you do, can be but are not necessarily costly and shift the competitive environment in ways that are difficult to replicate. Structural innovations often are not marketing based. They typically deal with new ways of accomplishing things on the operations side of your organization. New ways to package, handle, ship, track, develop, log, organize, assemble, and interact are all structural innovations that no one outside your organization need see, but that gives you a strategic advantage.
Brainstorm exchange can help you to elicit both types of innovations. Consumers can often point you in directions that inform your marketing positions. Suppliers and employees can identify new ways of working that will give you a strategic edge. You can control access to your innovations - making them open to all (like all consumers) or restricting them to only those you have explicitly invited (like expert users, suppliers, employees, etc.). Ideas are out there, brainstorm exchange helps you grab them.
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What do you do with ideas?
July 30, 2008
The top organizations make some use of all ideas that come their way.
Suggestions and bug gripes are all ripe areas to look to for ideas for coming product iterations. Maintaining a database of these suggestions and problems assures that none get overlooked when new generations of products are introduced.
A ranking system, that ranks either customer, employee or supplier preferences is a good way to prioritize needs for next generations.
Feedback to collected suggestion and problems can also be used to spur further thought. Pull out ideas randomly from the database and brainstorm using them as the basis for your start.
Using brainstorm exchange allows your organization to brainstorm, collect, rank and further brainstorm ideas that can improve successive generations of your products.
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Accidents
July 25, 2008
What do you do with your accidents? Innovative companies make good use of accidents. They try to re-brand accidents and failures as opportunities for revealing new methods, ideas and practices. Take Post-it notes, Nutrasweet, and Ivory Soap all for expample.
Dr. Spence Silver at 3M was researching methods to improve the acrylate adhesives that 3M uses in many of its tapes. He found an adhesive that has the unique qualities that became the basis for Post-it notes.
Nutrasweet - Aspartame discoverd by Mr. James Schlatter at G.D. Searle & Company, who was doing research with amino acids, trying to develop a treatment for ulcers. He licked his finger in a natural habit to aid in picking up a piece of paper and tasted a sweet attractive flavor.
Ivory soap - the soap that floats - was accidentally discovered when a regular soap batch was left in the mixer too long, incorporating air into the mix.
The take away is to embrace accidents and failures, and to look for ways to profit from them.
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startup weekend columbus
July 20, 2008
Participated in Startup Weekend Columbus. Lots of really great ideas were proposed, and several are being developed. If you get the chance to participate in a startup weekend somewhere, you should.
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Business Week's Story Ideas
July 16, 2008
You (and I) now have a way to submit story ideas to Business Week. Ever have a great idea for a story and no way to get in contact with a reporter? I think this solves that problem. It is great to see a media company embracing a customer-centric approach.
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