Are You Asking the Right Question?

For many years, I was a loyal BlackBerry fan.  More accurately I was a CrackBerry addict.

A year ago a got a MacBook Pro and six month layer I acquired an iPad.  It felt like I should switch to the iPhone.  But I was not ready for two reasons:

1. I wanted a Verizon phone that could work globally, and the iPhone 4 was North America only.
2. I was wildly concerned about my ability to type on a virtual keyboard.  Previous attempts were disastrous.

When the 4S came out, it addressed my first concern.  But it did not, from my perspective, address the keyboard issue.  Or so I thought.

I was asking for the wrong feature.  Instead of asking for a better keyboard, I should have looked for a better data entry method.

I bought the 4S the day it hit the market.  I turned off Siri, Apple’s voice recognition system, because I did not think it would be valuable.  Man, was I ever wrong!  On a whim, I tried it one day.  And now I dictate many of my emails and text messages through voice recognition.  The accuracy is amazing.  And my speed has been increased significantly.

I also marvel at the fact that I can gain access to so much information without ever going into Google. Will these types of devices be game changers, bypassing the search engine’s revenue generating ads?  I’m not sure; time will tell their full impact.

But for me, it is a game changer.  In one sitting, I dictated four articles; something that I had never been able to do previously.  I realize that there are other voice transcription services (manual and automatic) out there.  However, the convenience of having it built into my phone made it so accessible I could write anytime I was inspired.

When you are innovating, are you striving to make a better keyboard?  Or are you focused on creating a better data entry method?

Asking the right question will lead you down an entirely different path.

Major Licensing Deal Signed

As some of you know, my 2012 business strategy is to license my content in a number of creative ways.

We already licensed Personality Poker in a variety of languages and to a number of trainers.  The Dutch translation is the most recent version and will be available in January.

And, just last week, we signed a major deal with one of the premier training organizations to take my content and convert it into workshops that will be delivered by their certified trainers.  This is exciting news as it will make my content more accessible to more organizations.

More details coming soon.

Why Brainstorming is Stupid

I was recently interviewed for an article on Inc.com.  Due to length restrictions, only part of my interview was included in the article.  Therefore I am giving you the other half here.  But be sure to read the their article first as it sets the stage.

I was asked by Inc.com why brainstorming, as usually practiced, is ineffective.

Personally I am not a huge fan of brainstorming, especially the way most organizations conduct sessions. Here are a few of my concerns, along with some possible solutions:

• Poorly defined challenge: As discussed in the Inc.com article, if you ask the wrong question, you will of course get the wrong answer. Most brainstorming sessions do a poor job of thinking through the challenge. If I were running a session, I would spend a bulk of the time making sure we have the right question. Einstein reputedly said, “If I had an hour to save the world, I would spend 59 minutes defining the problem and 1 minute finding solutions.” From my experience, most companies spend 60 minutes brainstorming issues that are not important.
• Lack of Diversity: Most brainstorming sessions bring in the same people to each and every session. Usually the room is composed of people who are too close to the issue to be objective or even have a new point of view. Innovation only occurs when you have a wide range of perspectives. Therefore, make sure you identify others that have a tangential perspective.– people from different industries or disciplines. This will certainly add value.
• Group Think: When one person throws out a solution, it taints the mindset of everyone else in the room. This causes convergence too early in the process. Instead, consider having everyone jot down his or her individual responses first. Only after that is done, should you have everyone share their thoughts with the group.
• Single Threading: Most brainstorming sessions are done with a leader at the front and only one person speaking at a time. This slows down the process and leads to “social loafing.” In response, some leaders will break everyone into smaller groups. Unfortunately this leads to a lack of cross-pollination. To respond to this issue, I developed a technique modeled after the “Speaker’s Corner” in London’s Hyde Park (described in my Best Practices Are Stupid book). With this method, simultaneous conversations take place with participants moving freely from topic to topic as desired.
• Innovation Event: Brainstorming is typically treated as an event.  Too often it is disconnected from the “reality” of the business and therefore does not convert the ideas into results.  If you think of the event as the start of a process, you have a better chance of creating value.  Before the meeting, get clear on what you will do after the brainstorming session.  Get buy-in early on from the people who will make change happen.  When innovation is a process, it is repeatable and predictable.

Ok, brainstorming can be effective (and not stupid), if done properly.  Unfortunately most organizations do not take the time to do it right.  Applying the concepts above can hopefully move you in the right direction.

Ideas, Ideas Everywhere…

There’s an old tale that goes…

Water, water, every where, Nor any drop to drink.

Inside of organizations, there’s a corollary…

Ideas, ideas every where, Nor any one can think.

Um, ok, I should stick to my day job.  But the point is, organizations are drowning in a sea of ideas, yet they never take the time to think about what matters most.

The other day I was at an event run by a non-profit.  They have built up a large network of advocates who support the cause.  As I am a good friend with the woman who runs this group, I spent a fair amount of time with her that evening.  As the hours passed, many people gave her their thoughts on how to run the organization.  ”Do more of this…”  ”Do less of that…” “Call your group this….” “Engage these organizations…” “Copy what this non-profit is doing…”

The ideas were all over the map.

I could tell that the organization’s leader was a bit frustrated and confused as there were so many suggestions.

She turned to me and asked what I thought she should do.

Of course, like everyone else, I had my opinion.

I told her, “Stop listening to people’s suggestions.”  I then joking said, “And you should ignore my suggestion too.” (Someone once said to me, “Isn’t telling people that they should not use best practices a best practice?” Hmmm….)

Within any organization, there is never a shortage of ideas.  There is a shortage of good ideas that actually matter and ultimately create real value.

My recommendation to her was:

1. Stop listening to suggestions (and don’t solicit them either).  Everyone wants to give you their two cents…and that’s all their ideas are worth.
2. Get clear on your strategy.  There has been too much focus on day-to-day activities that the business model has not been clearly articulated.  There has been an over-focus on tactics rather than outcomes.
3. Stop copying the best practices of other, similar non-profits; study for-profit organizations.  This will provide new insights.  And it will have you less reliant on sponsorship/donations and will force you to develop a real value proposition.
4. Based on the strategy, identify a series of challenges/opportunities (“How might we…?”).  The strategy defines “what” you want to achieve (outcomes) and “why” (purpose).  The challenges deconstruct the strategy into questions, that when solved, provide the “how”.
5. Ask your network (through email or better yet a private discussion board) for “solutions” to these challenge/opportunities.  Encourage collaboration.
6. Find people who are passionate about moving these opportunities forward and put them in charge of implementation.

A critical issue with so many organizations (especially smaller businesses and non-profits) is that there are so many opportunities and so little focus.  The ideas/needs of the day tend to overshadow the overall strategy.

Get clear on how you make money, how you differentiate yourself, and then define a series of challenges that will help make that strategy a reality.  Focusing on what matters most will accelerate your innovation efforts and reduce your investment.

Happy Holidays.

Making Connections

One of my favorite topics is to discuss how breakthroughs are generated by looking for someone who has solved a similar problem in a different space.

Some examples I talk about in my “Best Practices Are Stupid” books are:

• A company developed a new type of whitening toothpaste by studying the way non-bleach laundry detergent works
• A gas pipeline “sealing” system was developed by studying the way the capillaries in the finger coagulate blood and heal themselves
• An office supply company found a way to get customers to return used toner cartridges by studying Netflix’s DVD service

And there are so many more interesting case studies.

While giving a speech on this recently, a client shared another wonderful example.

The company is in the computer simulation space.  They are able to build incredibly realistic models of what might happen in the real world by creating simulations in the virtual world.

When working for a medical device company that made angioplasty equipment, they wanted to create a computer simulation that would predict how the “balloon” would expand.

Where did they turn for an accurate computer model?

In the past, they worked with car manufacturers and built statistical models that simulated the expansion and contraction of airbags.  This proved to be a wildly accurate way of predicting how a balloon catheter would operate.

When you are working on your next business challenge, ask yourself: “Who else has solved a similar problem.”

In doing so, you might significantly accelerate your innovation effort.

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