Innovation Tips
Éideas to help you foster collaborative
innovation
==============================================
InnovationÑcreating
new valueÑalways carries some measure of risk. If the innovation is a significant
one, the risk may also be quite significant. Market tests, surveys and focus
groups may not accurately assess the introduction of something truly new. A new
concept must often be introduced to prospective users and tried before reliable
information about it can be learned and applied.
When
Ford introduced their new Edsel in the 1950Õs, after conducting exhaustive
market research, they were confident that they were creating a great success.
It flopped. When Chrysler introduced the LeBaron convertible, they built a
prototype and Lee Iacoca drove it back and forth to work for a while. When
people stopped him on the highway wanting to know where he bought that Ògreat
carÓ, they put it in production. It was a runaway success. Ford relied on
market research; Chrysler built a prototype. Ford jumped in with both feet;
Chrysler put their toes in the water. Both took on great risk; but one took a
bath while the other took a load off its debt structure.
Entrepreneurs
are often thought of as risk takersÑthey bet the farm; they put it all on red.
Yet research suggests that successful entrepreneurs are often not big risk
takers. In fact, they do all they can to contain risk.
One
way to contain risk, as Chrysler demonstrated through the introduction of the
LeBaron convertible, is through prototypesÑpilot projects used to test a new
idea. Focus groups, surveys, personal interviews and systems thinking all have
their important place. But for the introduction of a truly new idea, there are
few substitutes for prototypes. A prototype can quickly pinpoint the successes
and trouble spots in a new idea and it can test the idea without betting the
farm or restructuring the whole organization. Out of these often playful or
rough pilot projects, seriously effective new processes, products and
approaches emerge.
Prototypes test the water
before committing huge organizational resources. They create the space for
creative thinking to occur before the project becomes an unwieldy behemoth.
Many
of the worldÕs most successful innovators thrive on prototypes: Hewlett
Packard, 3M, and Southwest Airlines to name a few. Companies less inclined to
use prototypes often fall behind. Their inability to successfully test ideas
with prototypes has often been at the root of their decline in market
prominence.
ProtoypesÑpilot
projects to test an ideaÑgenerate invaluable knowledge for effective
innovators. Those organizations that innovate through prototypes are among the
most likely to thrive.
__________________________________________
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