There might not be something as an original idea
You probably know the saying "We stand on the shoulders of giants" most famously quoted by Isaac Newton. This was most illustrated by blackout-poem artist Austin Kleon who thought he found an original artistic format, but was able to trace it back to the fifteen hundreds. So his motto and the title of his book are now "Steal like an artist". That is not an original title either, as you may remember Pablo Picasso say something similar. We all know that breakthrough ideas don't really come from the lone genius who has a Eureka! moment, but rather from the clash and intersection of many idea embryos who's time has come. It is what Frans Johanssen tells in his book "The Medici Effect" as he stresses the importance of a diverse environment where these ideas can intersect and build upon each other. Too bad that we do have a reward system for innovation that assumes the latter (patents).
But where do these non-original breakthrough ideas come from? Probably from people asking the fundamental questions.
Creative people ask the obvious and annoying questions
This edition of the Creativity World Forum had at least three speakers that showcased the art of asking fundamental questions. One of the quotes I collected was "Afterwords, any breakthrough idea seems obvious." That holds true for the breakthrough questions that lead to these breakthrough ideas as well. If you ask the world experts on transportation about the car of the future, they would all have a driver. Ricardo Semler asks "why would the car of the future have a driver?". Design artist Daan Roosegaarde asks "Why does everyone focus on the car, why would we not innovate the road?". Steven Levitt build a career out of asking freaky questions. I don't know if there is something like "An Inconvenient Question", but asking these in hindsight obvious questions is the spark of breakthrough ideas.
Users are the biggest R&D department in the world
The line above says it all, really. We should not underestimate or ignore the tremendous creative potential of our customers as they are the biggest R&D department in the world. Marion Debruyne states that users DO know what they want (even Apple users, I guess...) and that 6% of people tweak the products they buy. The maker movement does testify a lot of people like to create.
The rise of the sharing economy
Not only is user-driven innovation on the rise, also the sharing economy is according to ZipCar's CEO Robin Chase. Airbnb became the largest player in the hotel business in no time. It is all about business models to sell excess capacity.
Success is more random than we want to believe
We so like to believe that our superior logic (our superior idea generation, our superior questions) lead to creativity and innovation, but reality might be much more random than we care to admit. Frans Johanssen claims that since everyone has access to logic, that is not the determining factor. Especially not when the rules of the game can change. So enter experiments. So enter plain old luck. So enter surprise. He says the point of strategy is not to find the answer, but to get you to act. "Success comes from practice, not talent" as another speaker said.
Innovation happens slower than we think - that is why we can see glimpses of the future
As fast as our world seems to turn, innovation does take its time. The foundations of the Internet date from late 60ies. For the past years most TEDx meetings, creativity forums or futurist blogs talk about 3D printing and while that technology has the potential to fundamentally disrupt production as we know it, it is still not mainstream - but getting closer year by year. Because there is an elapsed time between the idea, its prototype and its mainstream manifestation it becomes possible to preview the future. One of the exhibitions of the CWF was the nanosupermarket. It displays made-up products that could one day become reality based on nanotechnology. (Examples include a bottle of wine that can take on any taste, clothes and paint that can change color, and a belt that generates energy from your body fat etc.) The site is also meant for us to see what is coming and what we (don't) want with that so we avoid sleepwalking into the future.
The most common response to a new idea is "yes, but..."
We all know this to be true. Daan Roosegaarde got so fed up with it, he invented this 'yes, but' chair that uses voice recognition to give you a mild shock when uttering those two words. No, it is not for sale by my knowledge.
It takes all kinds
The overarching insight that I left the forum with is the same as three years ago: it takes all kinds of people and work to get innovation done from idea to realization. Three years ago Malcolm Gladwell called them the dreamers, the doers and the tweakers. Most models identify three or four stages or profiles involved in successful innovation. So I've been 'model hopping'. In one of my programs at work I've used the FourSight tool: clarify, ideate, develop, implement. At CWF Creax was testing its new tool INNDUCE which distinguishes in ideator, champion and implementer. Another book works around the model of analysis, ideation, implementation and anchoring. So whether it is three or four types, or a combination of these models, the same stands out: successful innovation from idea to value requires more than only the idea guys, the tweaking guys or the business guys. It takes the whole lot.
To end with here is the most poetic visual of the entire CWF: one of Studio Roosegaarde's projects.
No comments:
Post a Comment