The Magic of Innovation

In a previous blog entry, I discussed why watching “Pitchmen” (the Discovery TV show) can give you ideas on how to create more marketable solutions.  [Sadly Billy Mays, the show’s co-star, passed away the other day]

It is time to admit another guilty pleasure of mine.  I also like to watch “Magic’s Biggest Secrets Finally Revealed.” For those of you not familiar with the show, there is a “masked magician” who reveals how various magic tricks are done.

I treat this show like 60 minutes of brain teasers.

First, the trick is shown as it is seen by the audience. Then, the magician does the trick again, showing how it is done.

After the trick is first shown, I typically pause the TV (you obviously need TiVo or a DVR for this) and try to figure out how it is done. I develop several theories. I am right about 70% of the time. I find this is a great way to stretch the mind and look for solutions to problems. It is even better than lateral brain teasers. [Read my 10 lateral brain teasers to get you thinking]

What I love about the process of magic is that magicians make the impossible happen. They decide, “Hey I want to slice a woman in half,” and then they find a way to do it without killing the subject.

This is a great lesson for creativity and innovation.

Sometimes we get stuck in the mundane. We get stuck in thinking about reality and what is possible.

But what if you could become masterful at making the seemingly impossible, possible.

What if, instead of solving possible challenges, you started to solve seemingly impossible problems?

What if, instead of looking for realistic solutions to challenges, you were to look for ideas that seemed impractical?

When solving a problem, one of the first questions I ask is, “What are impossible, immoral or illegal solutions?” Of course you don’t stop there. But it stretches your thinking. From there, you can then figure out ways of making these impractical solutions, practical.

The study of magic is itself a creative endeavor. The more you think like a magician, the more you too can make the impossible possible.

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Innovation Lessons from Around the House

Last night I was hungry and decided to make some tuna fish. I opened my refrigerator and found an 18 ounce squeeze bottle of mayonnaise.  As I started to make my meal, I realized that the mayo had expired 6 months ago. I guess I don’t use it very often because the bottle was still 90% full.

After throwing out my expired food, I realized that there is a lot to learn from things we take for granted around the house.  Here are just three thoughts I had this morning…

Fail Cheaply – Although Costco is one of my favorite stores, I rarely buy perishable items there because I can’t predict how much I will use. Sometimes, as is the case with my mayo, buying the smallest size and paying a premium is better than saving money on larger quantities. Smaller quantities result in less space used, less waste when things don’t work out, and lower costs all around. In business, your best bet is to become masterful at creating small, inexpensive and scalable experiments that give you insights into the real world…not just backroom-based predictions. As you gain new insights and become more confident that a new idea will work (i.e., there is greater predictability), then you can ramp up and go for efficiency.

Sell One, Make One – I debated using a different example for this… One situation no one ever wants to be in is sitting on the toilet and running out of toilet paper. The best solution is to always have a spare roll within reach. When the main roll is finished, the spare role is put into the dispenser, and the backup roll is replaced. This is an example of a simple manufacturing technique called “sell one, make one.”  To avoid running out of product, companies often produce large quantities of inventory. But as we saw in the “fail cheaply” example above, this can lead to waste. Items that don’t sell need to be liquidated at significant discounts. In the meantime, the inventory takes up space and hurts your cash flow. Instead, if you get your manufacturing process (or your innovation implementation process) efficient enough, you can make one immediately after you sell one – that is, when you sell one, you make one. You will never run out if demand never exceeds your ability to manufacture.

Lather Rinse But Don’t Repeat – Shampoo bottles are famous for telling you to lather, rinse, and repeat. I have been doing it every morning without thinking. As an experiment, I tried skipping the repeat step. No difference. I even experimented with using less than one pump of shampoo. Same result. Sometimes we take on wasteful activities because we never through to step back and question them. I reduced shampoo usage by 75% without any impact on my hair. From my experience, most companies can reduce wasteful activities simply by questioning what has always been done in the past.

Here’s something to try. Every day, find something interesting around the house…

• It could be the upside-down ketchup bottle (what took them so long to come up with that idea?).
• It could be the laundry detergent that is super concentrated so you use 75% less liquid, meaning less packaging and easier carrying.
• Or maybe it is the Clorox Disinfecting Wipes that impregnate paper towels with cleaning solution to simplify cleaning.

After selecting your innovation, see how that concept could be applied to your business.  Do not look for ways to apply that specific product.  Instead you want to apply the thought process that was used in developing the product.  For example, with the Clorox wipes, where in your business can you combine two distinct items (products or processes) to create something that is simpler and more efficient.

The purpose is not necessarily to find new ideas (although that would be nice).  Rather it is a great way to exercise your creativity muscle.

Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Inc, once said, “Creativity is just having enough dots to connect… connect experiences and synthesize new things. The reason creative people are able to do that is that they’ve had more experiences or have thought more about their experiences than other people.”

Or, in my words, creativity is about “collecting and connecting” dots.

This daily exercise will help you become more observant (collecting dots).  And it will help you become masterful at connecting dots.  All of this will help you become more creative every day.

For more on my perspective on creativity, read my article on “Dot Versus Line” thinking

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Listen to my CODcast

I was recently interviewed for a podcast by Jeff Brainard of “Catch Your Limit Consulting.”  His company uses a fish metaphor, hence the “CODcast” name.  Clever.

In this interview, I discuss the challenges associated with innovation - and tips for success. Enjoy.

Listen to the CODcast

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Small Business Radio Interview

Today I was interviewed on “The Small Business Advocate” with Jim Blasingame. This internet radio show address a wide range of topics of interest, no surprise, to small businesses. This was my 4th time on his show, and I honestly believe that Jim is one of the best interviewers out there.

On this morning’s show, I spoke about Innovation Personality Poker. And in particular, I spoke about how to create high performing innovation teams by getting each person aligned with their innovation strength.  Be sure to listen in…

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What Innovators Can Learn From Poetry

Last night I attended a book launch party to honor Elizabeth Alexander, the poet who spoke at Obama’s inauguration. After some opening remarks, she read her inaugural poem, “Praise Song for the Day.”

After her reading, she took questions from the audience of over 100 people.

The question (and response) that struck a chord with me was when Elizabeth was asked if the inauguration committee gave her any guidelines for her poem. Did it have to be a certain length? Did it have to be around a certain theme?

Elizabeth’s response was an emphatic “No.”

There were no restrictions on the poem’s length. It did not have to fit neatly into a time slot. It did not have to address any particular topic. She could talk about whatever moved her.

The only restriction was how much time she had to write the poem. Obviously it had to be ready by January 20th. She joked that this was the first time she ever had a deadline for one of her poems.

Elizabeth commented that the organizers knew that only the artist could determine the perfect length and the perfect theme. Dictating these parameters would compromise the quality of the finished product. Poetry is a natural expression that emerges best when there are fewer limitations.

Even though a topic was not dictated, I suspect the theme was immediately obvious to her.  It was to capture the historic moment of change within the country.  To honor America and Americans.  And to celebrate the inauguration of her friend, Barack Obama.

Creativity is similar to poetry. If you put too many restrictions on the creative process, you may compromise the quality of the finished product. Creativity often needs time to incubate.  And the best solutions often look different than expected.

But in business, the “theme” is not always as obvious.  Everyone has their own agenda.  One reason creative endeavors fail in business is that they are solving the wrong problem.

Einstein once said, “If I were given one hour to save the planet, I would spend 59 minutes defining the problem and one minute resolving it.” From my personal experience, most people (and organizations) spend 60 minutes finding solutions to problems that don’t matter.  For those of you who have played Personality Poker®, you know this is why the “spades” (the fact-driven, analytical people in your organization) are so important to your success.  They can help define critical themes for the creative “diamonds.”

In business, we are not creating works of art.  Our creative endeavors need to make business sense. They need to be implementable (the domain of the “clubs”) and they ultimately need to serve customers, employees, business partners, and/or shareholders.

Regardless, there is great wisdom in Elizabeth’s response.

You need to give people - all employees - more creative freedom. You need to put fewer restrictions on the creative process. And you need to give employees more latitude to let the best ideas emerge.  In doing this, your innovation efforts may just develop spectacular works of art that move, inspire, and create value for everyone.

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