Innovation @ TEDx NASA

This past Friday I had 6 minutes to share a message about innovation with the world at TEDx NASA.  It was a fantastic event with 29 speakers, authors, musicians, aerospace engineers, a neuroscientist and more.  1,700 people were in attendance and it is reported that nearly 100,000 people watched via video streaming on the internet.

Given that my typical speech is 45 minutes long, preparing a 6 minute presentation was a bit of a challenge and required me to script it out to make sure I did not go over my allotted time.  Below is what I prepared.  Within the next two weeks, I will be able to share the actual video footage – where I am sure I said something completely different.

TITLE: SOMETIMES EVEN ROCKET SCIENCE ISN’T ROCKET SCIENCE

It’s not rocket science.

We hear people use that expression to describe something that’s not that complex. And although I would never suggest that aerospace challenges are simple, sometimes, even rocket science isn’t rocket science. What I mean by that is sometimes the most creative solutions to aerospace challenges can be found outside the realm of rocket science.

The issue is, you are experts. And your expertise might be the very thing that is preventing you from finding the most creative solutions.

Let me explain why with a simple example.

Think about a time when you lost your keys. After searching everywhere, upon finding them, what did you inevitably say to yourself? “Can you believe it? They were in the last place I looked!” Well of course, who finds something and continues to look for it?

The same thing is true when looking for a solution to a problem. Once your brain finds a solution, it stops looking. And the greater the level of your expertise, the quicker you find a solution. Unfortunately, your idea may not be new, innovative, or the best solution.

The key is to look outside your domain of expertise and to assume that someone else has already solved your problem. Because the odds are, someone HAS solved your problem. So, if you are working on an aerospace challenge, the solution may in fact not be rocket science.

Let me give you a few simple examples.

A high margin item for office supply companies is selling refilled toner cartridges. The challenge is however, very few customers return the used cartridge. During a brainstorming session designed to find creative solutions to this dilemma, I asked the question, “Who else has solved this problem? Who sends you something and is guaranteed that you will send it back?” The first response was the IRS. But the next response was NetFlix. They send you a DVD. You can keep it as long as you want. When you are done you return it and get another one. We investigated and implemented a NetFlix style subscription model for toner cartridges. This worked out great for the company, because they had a 100% return rate on empty cartridges. And customers love it because they never run out of toner and they get great discounts.

It’s not rocket science. Someone else solved this problem.

Or consider engineers who have been searching for better ways to locate and seal cracks in gas pipelines. This is a pressing issue for the industry. Then, one day, while a Scottish engineer was working on this issue, he got a paper cut. Unlike most people who would be annoyed, he was thrilled. What he realized is that his finger is like a cracked gas pipeline. By making a connection between capillaries and a pipeline, he was able to quickly develop an inert coagulation ingredient that would seals these cracks.

The solution wasn’t rocket science. Someone else, in this case the human body, had already solved this problem.

Or consider a snack food manufacturer that wanted to find a way of reducing the amount of fat in their potato chips. The best solution wasn’t found in their laboratory. In fact, the solution wasn’t found in any laboratory. The person who discovered the best solution had no experience with food production. He was a musician. He knew that sound vibrations travel through solid objects and that if an object is light enough it, too, will vibrate. The solution was to place speakers above the conveyor belt and use loud music to literally shake the fat out of chips.

Clearly, this was not rocket science.

Quite often the most creative solutions arise when you assume that someone else has already found a solution. When you look outside your domain of expertise.

Or, as 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.”

When you become masterful at connecting dots you find new and creative solutions.

That’s the wonderful thing about this conference. They could have put 20 aerospace engineers on the stage. But instead they brought in artists, musicians, authors and neuroscientists. This is a chance for you to connect the dots. To learn from unrelated disciplines. If you have 100 aerospace engineers working on a challenge, the value of adding the 101st would be incremental. But adding a biologist, a neurologist, a nano-technologist, or a musician, may lead to a breakthrough.

[at this point I show a picture and tell a funny story…but you’ll have to wait for the video for that]

It is about making connections. It is about connecting the dots. It is about looking outside of your domain of expertise.

You are all experts. And you are admired for your deep understanding of complex technical issues. Having said that, sometimes, the key to creative thinking is to recognize the best solutions aren’t always rocket science.

GCLS Quotes – Day 1

I am in NYC participating as a delegate in the Global Creative Leadership Summit led by the Louis Blouin Foundation. Attending are 100 fascinating people ranging from Prime Ministers to business leaders.

Over the course of 3 days there are a number of conversations on topics related to improving the world.

Here are some of the interesting tid bits I picked up over the first day. Everything here is a paraphrase rather than a direct quote. And please forgive any inaccuracies.

Louise Blouin

• We had a value crisis, not a financial crisis. That is, there was a crisis and values
• Cyber weapons and bio weapons are our biggest threat. Bio weapons could lead to a September 11 type catastrophe every month.
• A problem of our neighbors is our problem
• If you get big bonuses when things go well, you should give money back to the company when things go wrong. We need to increase the level of accountability

Michael Chertoff, Former Secretary of Homeland Security

• Barriers to do damage have dropped
• We need to establish accountabilities (e.g., Libya with the Lockerbie bombing or Somalia with piracy)
• Bio terrorism and cyber terrorism are the greatest threats
• Global response needs to be one step at a time to demonstrate positive outcomes. Tackling things that are too big don’t move us forward.

Luis Moreno-Ocampo – Chief Prosecutor, International Criminal Court

• The challenge is how to improve global governance in places where there is no government.
• Another challenge is that we need global agreements that take into consideration local needs

Pasqual Lamy – Director General, World Trade Organization

• Investing in health care will help global trade in the long run. Because if jobs are lost due to trade, at least people have health coverage.
• There is a clash between the international and domestic agenda (e.g., cotton subsidies)

Dr. Dominique Strauss-Kahn – Managing Director, International Monetary Fund

• Peace and economic stability are intertwined. Peace is needed for growth. And growth is needed for peace.
• Expects economic recovery in 1st half of 2010. Growth will resume. But the social crisis (e.g., lost jobs) will last longer.
• 90 million people went back into poverty due to the economic crisis – mostly from Africa.
• Economic instability could lead to wars. And wars lead to economic disaster. 1 year of civil war costs on average 2.5% of GDP
• Avoiding war is the key to economic stability

Prime Minister of Netherlands Jan Peter Balkenende

• Prosperity at any price and soft living contributed to our current situation
• The crisis can be a catalyst for change if we change the culture. Self interests hurt the system.
• We must end the “get rich quick” theory of life

Stanley Bergman, Chairman of the Board and CEO, Henry Schein

• 13,000 employees participate are involved in an intrapreneurship culture.
• Philanthropy is a big part of the company’s philosophy

John Copelyn, CEO, Hosken Consolidated Investments

• To create innovation, you need a long term vision and a vision beyond your own wallet

Mark Angelson, Chairman, MidOcean Partners

• This was not a depression. It was a deleveraging
• We need to move to more preventative measures such as paying for wellness rather than sickness
• The growth areas are: 1) Healthcare, 2) Clean Tech, 3) Rebuilding infrastructure

Ali Velshi, Chief Business Correspondent, CNN

• He described the cause of the recession to a group of kids as follows… It was caused by consuming less than was made and spending more than was earned.

Lex Fenwick, CEO, Bloomberg Ventures

• New employment will come from new businesses rather than existing businesses
• Employees are afraid to bring new ideas.  This stifles innovation.
• He added that “private education” is another growth opportunity area

Ted Turner, CNN Founder and philanthropist

• I read the Economist (and it sounds like that is his primary source of news)
• I drive a Prius
• If I could run CNN and the Cartoon Network at same time, Congress can deal with health care and climate change at same time

Other distinguished guests included:

• H.E. Shaukat Aziz, Former Prime Minister of Pakistan
• President Michelle Bachelet of Chile

For other quotes, go to the GCLS Twitter feed

To learn more about the event, go to the Global Creative Leadership Summit website.

My session is Friday morning…

Weight of Soft Drinks Shipped > Weight of Cars Shipped

Last week I had a fantastic meeting with the CEO of a mid-sized energy company. We had a number of fascinating conversations ranging from Personality Poker, Open Innovation, and alternative energy.

In the meeting, I was drinking my “caffeine in a can” – a diet cola.

The CEO pointed at my soft drink and said that it was one of the worst energy hogs.

He pointed out that years ago, Coke was sold as syrup (in fact, it was originally sold for medicinal purposes). The carbonated water was added at the point of sale (e.g., the pharmacy or soda shop). Less energy was expended in the packaging process. Less material was used for the packaging itself. But more importantly, less energy was used in shipping.

After doing some digging, I found that, according to one website, 500ml of syrup makes the equivalent of 12 liters. That means that a can of cola contains <5% syrup and over 95% carbonated water. According to one study, nearly 300 billion liters of soft drinks are sold a year. Hoovers research shows that only 35% of that is from fountain sales.

Ok, so let’s do some math.

A liter of soft drink weights approximately 1 kilogram. This means that a liter is over 2.1 pounds of water, and .1 pounds of syrup. At 65% bottle/cans (excluding the 35% fountain sales), this is over 400 billion pounds of carbonated water needlessly shipped with the syrup. Let’s not forget the weight of the cans/bottles. To put this in context, this is the weight of 100 million cars. In 2007, 16 million cars, SUVs and trucks were sold in the US. Every car sold in the United States over the past 6 years weighs less than the weight of the excess water shipped EVERY year with bottled soft drinks.

Enough of the math. I could attempt to calculate the average distance the bottles travel and the amount of fuel required for transportation, but I just don’t have the time. And I suspect you get the idea.

What do you do about it?

• Of course advocates are trying to reduce the amount of soft drinks we consume. But so far nothing points to that being a successful strategy.
• Encourage people to buy and use soda machines. There are several companies that provide this type of product.  You buy the machine, the syrup and the gas cartridges.
• Another option might be to find a solution similar to Crystal Light “On-the Go.” The challenge is adding carbonation to a powder. While eating Pop Rocks Candy the other day, I realized that there must be a way of addressing this.

Of course there are many more possible solutions. But the solution is not the point of this article.

Innovation is about asking better question. It is about surfacing the hidden assumptions. When looking at issues (environmental, business, or personal), sometimes you need to question everything…even the can of soda in your hand.

P.S. Soft drinks account for the largest percentage of the “liquid refreshment beverage” market. This article did not even include the oft-maligned bottled water industry, which is smaller in size. Do you want to know how far your bottled water traveled to go to you? Check out this article.

P.P.S. I am not suggesting we eliminate soft drinks.  My consumption of diet cola – especially first thing in the morning – is one of my guilty pleasures!

What Businesses Can Learn About Innovation from Cultural Anthropology

My good friend, Jeff Salz, is a fantastic speaker and a Doctor of Cultural Anthropology. Lately we have had some fascinating conversations about what businesses can learn about innovation through the study of cultural anthropology.

To get things rolling, I suggested that there were two areas where the innovation world would benefit from his expertise:

1. Studying customers through anthropological means.
2. Learning about organization culture through the study of the history of civilizations.

In this blog entry, I discuss the first point. A future blog entry will address the topic of culture and civilizations.

Anthropological Studies of Your Customers

The traditional way to get customer insight is to do one of the following:

• Focus groups
• Surveys
• Customer analytics

Although these techniques are useful, they have quite a few shortcomings.

In my article on “Why Statistics Kill Innovation,” (pdf) I suggest that if you are crunching numbers, you are probably gathering information from existing customers. This will give you insight into their buying habits, usability behaviors, and other patterns. But most likely you are only gathering data about YOUR customers. As a result you are missing the input of former customers or people who never were customers.

Another reason that these techniques – especially focus groups and surveys – don’t work, is that they tend to test the conscious mind rather than the unconscious mind. For more on this, don’t miss my article on “Are Your Conscious and Unconscious Minds Aligned.” In it I discuss a testing approach called “Implicit Association Testing” that can help test the unconscious mind. However, you can’t always get access to your customers in a way that they can take such a test.

What can you do?

Become Indiana Jones

You can don your Indiana Jones hat and do some anthropological studies.  Where possible, you can observe your customers. By doing this you can find unarticulated needs and wants.

One client of mine decided to do this. They publish text books for students and instruction manuals for teachers and professors. It wasn’t until they started to watch the teachers in the classroom that they developed some interesting  product enhancements. For example, during one anthropological study, the publisher found that teachers lugged several extremely heavy books from class to class.  This led the publisher to create a version of the instruction manuals that could be segmented.  This enabled teachers to carry only the section of the book they needed that week, and not an entire semester’s worth of paper.  Teachers never made this suggestion during surveys and focus groups.

Jeff has another interesting suggestion. He believes that the best way to understand a culture – and the unconscious beliefs – is through the stories people tell. By engaging in storytelling and listening to stories, you can uncover the true culture. These aren’t the typical business-like conversations you have in boardrooms. Rather they are more akin to the stories that you would tell while sitting around a campfire.  Jeff said to me…

Whether Neanderthal, Neolithic or New Yorker, our most important decisions are made on an ‘affective/emotional’ rather than ‘cognitive/objective’ basis. To accurately apprehend the subjective elements that drive and inform a culture – and its decision-making – there is no substitution for personal immersion. The only way to understand people is to learn their language – spoken and unspoken. Break bread, swap tales, share coffee, wine, laughter and sorrow. In the process you will discover the ways you and they are the same. From this ‘sameness’ may come not only the understanding you seek but – if your mind is fresh – a new awareness of yourself and your society as well.

Now is the time to don your fedora and see the world – and your customers – with fresh eyes.

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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