Analogy Driven Innovation

photo credit: Peter Emmett

Here is another tip from our “Little Book of BIG Innovation Ideas.”

As adults, when we try to solve a problem, we often ask, “What does this mean?” We try to pull the answer from our knowledge bank, just like finding the solution in an encyclopedia. Solve the problem the way it has been solved in the past. This can be useful, but it provides a limited set of possibilities.

An alternative (and more insightful) way of looking at problems is to ask, “What is this like?” Make connections. Find analogies, metaphors, and associations that fit the problem you are looking to solve. Recombine ideas in new ways.

If you are redesigning a business process, you may want to borrow best practices from a different industry.

South West Airlines did this when it benchmarked an Indianapolis 500 pit crew to improve plane turn-around time. Hospitals gained new insights by studying the check-in process of hotels. An office supply company improved the return of empty toner cartridges by applying NetFlix’s DVD subscription process.

Take it a step further and look to non-business analogies and metaphors. If redesigning a product, ask what the product is really like. If redesigning a computer chip, look to racing circuits, rivers, or anything with a flow. A gas pipeline company developed a new technology for finding and sealing pipeline cracks by mirroring the clotting agents in the human body.

To find solutions from other industries, processes, products, or disciplines, ask the following questions:

• What are the attributes of the problem?
• What is it like?
• Who else addresses a similar problem?
• How could you adapt their solution to your problem?

An example of this was in today’s news. Researchers developed a new adhesive by studying the gecko lizard’s “gravity-defying feet.” This new waterproof bandage is biodegradable, sticks well when wet, and is safe to use inside the body to augment sutures or staples.

Sometimes the best solutions have been around for centuries. We just need to adapt them to our specific needs.

Design Emotion First

Here’s a useful innovation tip.

Designworks, a division of BMW, designs cars and other products such as cell phones, computers, and tractors. Their design process is particularly interesting. Instead of starting with functions and features, they start with emotion.

Designers first meet with company executives, employees, and customers in order to capture the emotion that customers will feel when they use this product. This is done using sketch artists rather than words. Only after everyone agrees on these emotions will the design of the form and style begin.

Use Campaign Driven Innovation

If you have creative people in your organization (and trust me, you do), then you may find yourself with TOO MANY solutions. This is why suggestion boxes (physical or online) do not work.

Therefore you need to move from suggestion boxes (give us your solution to everything) to a campaign-driven approach (we want your best ideas for specific high-priority problems).

Management first determines the most critical issues to be solved, and then they send out the challenge to the organization. This focuses the creative energies of your people on the most critical opportunities. Campaigns are typically time-based and last only a few weeks. This creates a sense of urgency and entices people to contribute. Be sure to implement the best ideas and reward the organization for their contributions.

When issuing campaigns to the organization, here are some simple guidelines for each step of the innovation process:

Step #1: Define Opportunity

• Clarify problem statement
• Define selection criteria
• Seed campaign with obvious solutions
• Define rewards
• Select VP sponsor, campaign owner and evaluation team
• Allocate implementation resources

Step #2: Find Solutions

• Run campaign for 2 or 3 weeks, with 1 week off
• Provide links to creativity toolkits
• Capture the following information:
  o Idea name
  o Description
  o Value
  o Implementation complexity
  o How idea was derived
• Reward contributions

Step #3: Strengthen, Select and Plan

• Evaluate against evaluation
• Create shortlist of 15 – 20 ideas
• Rank shortlist ideas:
  o Platinum: Game change
  o Gold: High impact
  o Silver: Moderate impact or quick win
  o Bronze: Archive

Step #4: Implement

• Commit to implementing at least one silver idea from every campaign
• Assemble task team for ideas requiring additional review (Platinum & Gold)
• Implement top 1-3 ideas selected
• Consider creating a Program Management Office to monitor progress on implementations and the value achieved

Build It, Try It, Fix It

Here is another “innovation tip.” This one is simple, yet incredibly powerful. In fact, I am using this concept right now with this website. But more on that later.

One of the biggest barriers to success is analysis paralysis. It is the belief that studying the marketplace infinitum will yield better results. This is just not true. We can never predict what will happen in the “real” world, no matter how much Customer Relationship Management (CRM) data we have, how many focus groups we conduct, or how many strategy consulting firms we hire.

Rather than using the “analyze, design, build, test, deploy” model, use the “build it, try it, fix it” model – build something, try it out for a while, and learn from your “experiences.” Although some may call these experiences “failures,” I think of them as valuable information about the real world.

The process is simple. Develop a small experiment where the risk associated with failure is limited or controllable (build it). Learn from the results (try it). Adjust the experiment (fix it). Continue to iterate with larger experiments, increasing the scale. Stop pursuing an idea when the experiment suggests a lack of viability or desirability

Example: A clothing manufacturer wanted to venture into retail stores. Rather than developing detailed plans based on years of analysis, they rented empty space in a local mall and set up a trial shop in a matter of weeks. The store was set up with video cameras and other equipment to help analyze the results. Although the store concept “failed,” they learned more during two months of running the experiment than they would have spending a year analyzing the marketplace. They quickly reworked the store and tested out version 2. This continued—with frequent iterations. Over time they increased the size of the experiments until the stores were rolled out on a national level.

How am I using the “build it, try it, fix it” concept with this website? Some of you may have noticed that the tag line has changed a few times over the past several months. This blog was originally titled “Goal-Free Living.” Unfortunately, I found that it limited my ability to incorporate my corporate innovation & creativity work. I also discovered that the “goal-free” name turned off many goal-obsessed organizations.

Next I tried “The Science of High Performance.” The word “science” confused some people. And “high performance” was not quite right. Besides, it was too close to Accenture’s tag line – “High Performance. Delivered.”

My latest tag line is: “Unconventional Thinking for Explosive Business Growth.” This too is an experiment. Although I like this tag line, I am not attached to it. What I like about it is that it focuses on what I enjoy most: getting people to think differently. I renamed my speeches too:

• Unconventional Thinking about Innovation (this is my 24/7 Innovation content)
• Unconventional Thinking about Creativity (this is my SpeedInnovating content)
• Unconventional Thinking about Goals & Performance (this is my Goal-Free Living content)
• Unconventional Thinking about Thinking (this is the content of my TV show)

What do you think? I welcome your comments on my “Unconventional Thinking” brand. I also am interested in examples of where you applied the “build it, try it, fix it” approach and had positive (or negative) results.

Make Everyone Accountable

Here’s another tip from my innovation book… 

Because a few individuals at the top cannot possibly plan all of a company’s activities, give employees a set of rights, responsibilities and rewards that make them accountable for their own actions.

Example: Koch Industries (the largest privately held company in the world) wanted to achieve world-class safety. Rather than have a few safety engineers scour the company, Koch gave this responsibility to all employees, with rewards both for uncovering unsafe conditions and for discovering new ways to conduct business more safely. This initiative resulted in as much as a 50-percent improvement each year in the number and severity of accidents across Koch Industries. Within one year the company had moved from middle of the pack to one of the best safety records in its industries.

The same principle works with innovation. In the beginning it makes sense – in fact, it is necessary – to have an innovation core team. However, after a period of time, innovation should be the responsibility of all individuals and not a centrally controlled or coordinated group. At that time, the innovation core team can be dismantled.

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