Great innovation means getting off the calf path

GREAT INNOVATION MEANS

GETTING OFF THE CALF-PATH

Presented to

January 15, 2014

Thomas Kayser

[email protected]

Back around 1890 or so, Sam Walter Foss

wrote a poem “The Calf Path” which started

out like this . . .

One day, through the primeval wood,

A calf walked home, as good calves should;

But made a trail all bent askew,

A crooked trail, as all calves do.

Since then three hundred years have fled,

And I infer the calf is dead.

But still he left behind his trail,

And thereby hangs my moral tale . . .

The poem’s final verses provide

the moral of the story . . .

Each day a hundred thousand rout

Followed the zigzag calf about

And o'er his crooked journey went

The traffic of a continent.

A hundred thousand men were led,

By one calf near three centuries dead.

They followed still his crooked way,

And lost one hundred years a day;

For thus such reverence is lent,

To well established precedent.

For men are prone to go it blind

Along the calf-paths of the mind,

And work away from sun to sun,

To do what other men have done.

They follow in the beaten track,

In and out, and forth and back,

And still the same course they pursue,

To keep the path that others do.

They keep the path a sacred groove,

Along which all their lives do move.

Ah, many things this tale might teach—

But I am not ordained to preach.

NOWTHE STORY OF

THE GRAPHITE WIDGET MARKET

GRAPHITE WIDGETS SHOWN BELOW

THE STORY OF THE GRAPHITE WIDGET MARKET:

Three companies owned the market

place

Each with roughly a 33% share

These were old line, firmly entrenched

companies

A number of smaller firms fought over

the crumbs

GC Company


GC Company FC Company



GF Company


THE STORY OF THE GRAPHITE WIDGET

MARKET:

Even though the market had grown over time, each

company’s internal technologies, work

processes, organization structures, management

style, etc. all constrained their ability to breakout

and dominate the graphite widget market

AND, AT THE SAME TIME . . .

Customers were becoming more and more

disenchanted with all three producers


MARKET:

Due to their internal inefficiencies and constraints,

each company could only develop a “survival”

operating strategy . . .

NOT A “WINNING” ONE


GC

Company


GC

Company

FC

Company


GC

Company

FC

Company

GF

Company


ICE Company


ENTER THE ICE COMPANY

GF Company


MARKET:

Although new to the marketplace, the ICE

company had a different internal way of doing

business and a more compelling operating

strategy . . .

THEY HAD A “WINNING” STRATEGY

AND WERE READY TO DISRUPT THE GRAPHITE

WIDGET MARKET


MARKET:

The ICE company harnessed and integrated its

resources at all levels and figured out how to be . . .


MARKET:

In less than 9 months the graphite widget

market looked like this . . .


GC Company 3%Market Share FC Company 3%

Market Share

ICE Company 90%Market Share

GF Company 4%Market Share


MARKET:

The moral of this story is, the ICE company

through its relentless pursuit of . . .


Innovation


Innovation

and

Collaboration


Innovation

and

Collaboration

and

Execution


MARKET:

. . . was able to hit the winning business

success trifecta of producing products and

services that were . . .


MARKET:



services that were . . . Good


MARKET:




and

Fast


MARKET:




and

Fast

and

Cheap

A WORD OF WARNING FROM FORTUNE MAGAZINE

WARNING FROM FORTUNE

Regardless of the products and services

that you sell, your customers are

unyielding in their expectations of you:

> Their demands are lengthening.

> Their patience is shrinking


Regardless of the products and services that you sell, your

customers are unyielding in their expectations of you:



Huge shifts in the global economy have

given them the power to:

> Command exactly what they want

> The way they want it

> When they want it

> At a price that makes you cringe


Regardless of the products and services that you sell, your

customers are unyielding in their expectations of you:



Huge shifts in the global economy have given them the power

to:

> Command exactly what they want

> The way they want it

> When they want it

> At a price that makes you cringe

If you can’t meet these demands your

competitors will; then you’ll be an also-

ran, fighting for the leftover scraps of

business on the slippery slope to oblivion!

END OF PART 1

While different; they are absolutely linked . . .

Over 40 years ago Harvard

professor, Theodore Levitt, clarified

the difference between Creativity and

Innovation with a definition that is still

relevant today.

He noted . . .

CREATIVITY

is thinking up new things

CREATIVITY

is thinking up new things

INNOVATION

is doing new things

CREATVITY (THINKING UP NEW) MUST

INTERSECT WITH INNOVATION (DOING

NEW) BECAUSE . . .

CREATVITY (THINKING UP NEW) MUST

INTERSECT WITH INNOVATION (DOING

NEW) BECAUSE . . .

CREATIVE IDEAS WITHOUT

COLLABORATIVE INNOVATION AND

EXECUTION ARE JUST A DREAM . . .

. . . AND WHILE IT IS TRUE DREAMS ARE

AN IMPORTANT SOURCE OF CREATIVE

INSPIRATION IN AN ORGANIZATION . . .

. . . AND WHILE IT IS TRUE DREAMS ARE

AN IMPORTANT SOURCE OF CREATIVE

INSPIRATION IN AN ORGANIZATION . . .

DREAMS ALONE, WITHOUT A SOUND

PROCESS FOR TAKING THESE CREATIVE

IDEAS AND “BRINGING THEM TO LIFE” BY

TURNING THEM INTO MARKET

OFFERINGS, ARE OF NO VALUE TO THE

BUSINESS.

IN SUMMARY, AS THOMAS EDISON,

ONE OF THE WORLD’S FOREMOST DREAMERS

AND VISIONARIES TERSELY PROCLAIMED . . .

“VISION

WITHOUT

EXECUTION

IS

HALLUCINATION”

LET’S TAKE A CLOSER LOOK AT

INNOVATION

INNOVATION IS A COLLABORATIVE PROCESS

CONSISTING OF TWO INTERDEPENDENT STAGES .

. .

FIRST IS THE FRONT-END OF INNOVATION

(FRAMING FOR INNOVATION)Problems, needs, or opportunities key to business success

are identified and defined as GAPS between our current

state and our desired future state

(INTERSECTING CREATIVITY WITH

INNOVATION)Ideas to address the GAPS in our selected business

problems, needs, or opportunities are generated

SECOND IS THE BACK-END OF INNOVATION

(EXECUTING)

The best ideas are fully developed and moved into

the marketplace

(GROWING THE BUSINESS)

Value from those ideas—top-line revenue growth

& market share growth—is created

FIRST IS THE FRONT-END OF INNOVATION

(FRAMING FOR INNOVATION)

Problems, needs, or opportunities key to business success are identified and defined as

GAPS between our current state and our desired future state

(INTERSECTING CREATIVITY WITH INNOVATION)

Ideas to address the GAPS in our selected business problems, needs, or opportunities

are generated

BOTTOM LINE, WHEN SUCCESSFULLY EXECUTED .

. .

. . . BECAUSE INNOVATION IS THE PROCESS BY

WHICH GREAT IDEAS ARE DEVELOPED INTO

REAL PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

NINE “BEST PRACTICE” PRINCIPLES FOR FACILITATING

EXCELLENT INNOVATION FROM THE FRONT-END, THROUGHT

THE BACK-END, AND INTO THE MARKETPLACE

PRINCIPLE #1: Innovation depends on how well your

strategy, work

processes, structure, technology, leadership style, and

culture all integrate and reinforce each other.


strategy, work



PRINCIPLE #2: Collaboration at each point along your

innovation chain must be nurtured in order to bring to

bear the diversity of

thoughts, viewpoints, perspectives, and ideas to the

tasks at hand.


strategy, work



PRINCIPLE #2: Collaboration at each point along your

innovation chain must be nurtured in order to bring to

bear the diversity of

thoughts, viewpoints, perspectives, and ideas to the

tasks at hand.

PRINCIPLE #3: Execution is the multiplier of

innovation. [An organization that can execute well on a

few good innovations is more powerful than one that has

lots of great ideas with no way to execute]

PRINCIPLE #4: Teammates at all levels want to

collaborate on “stuff that matters” because they have a

need for achievement, recognition, and personal growth.




PRINCIPLE #5: Teammates at all levels are creative in

some manner. If you give them some freedom to

contribute, and do some creative thinking outside their

boxes, they will amaze you.




PRINCIPLE #5: Teammates at all levels are creative in

some manner. If you give them some freedom to

contribute, and do some creative thinking outside their

boxes, they will amaze you.

PRINCIPLE #6: Communicating the status of projects

along the innovation chain and recognizing wins—no

matter how small—is critical to keeping all teammates

excited about innovation.

PRINCIPLE #7: Culture gets stronger the lower in the

hierarchy you go. A truly innovative culture is owned and

role-modeled by the senior team and gets dramatically

accelerated and amplified by middle management. This

is also true of dictatorial, risk adverse, and punitive

cultures.






cultures.

PRINCIPLE #8: Risk Tolerance allows you to

learn, learn, learn. Even if something fails at

first, learn, adjust, and adapt. If that doesn’t

work, abandon. Failure is to be expected and at times

rewarded.






cultures.

PRINCIPLE #8: Risk Tolerance allows you to

learn, learn, learn. Even if something fails at

first, learn, adjust, and adapt. If that doesn’t

work, abandon. Failure is to be expected AND at times

rewarded.

PRINCIPLE #9: Action means fail fast, w/

prototypes, shared with customers. Something ugly

now, shared as a prototype is better than something

slick, guarded in isolation, overly engineered, and useless

later on.

Integrated Business Elements

Risk Tolerance

Action

Communicate and Recognize Successes

Natural Creativity of Teammates

Innovation Culture Role-Modeled at Top

Execution

Collaboration

Desire of Teammates to Do Meaningful Work

END OF PART 2

RULES OF THE GARAGE

1. Believe you can change the world.2. Share your tools, share your ideas.3. Trust and respect your colleagues.4. No politics, check your ego at the garage door.5. “We” always gets the credit.6. The customer defines a job well done.7. Be bold.8. Radical ideas are not bad ideas.9. See differently, think differently.10. Believe that together we can do anything.

DO YOU KNOW WHERE THE TERM

“THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX”

CAME FROM?

CONNECT ALL 9 DOTS WITH FOUR STRAIGHT LINES WITHOUT LIFTING

YOUR PENCIL FROM THE PAPER

CAN YOUCONNECT ALL 9 DOTS WITH THREE STRAIGHT LINES WITHOUT

LIFTING YOUR PENCIL FROM THE PAPER?

I’M GOING TO SHOW YOUA PICTUER FOR 15 SECONDS

WHAT DO YOU SEE?

DON’T SAY ANYTHING!JUST LOOK.

WHAT DID YOU SEE?

LET’S TRY ANOTHER ONE.

WHAT DO YOU SEE?

WHAT DID YOU SEE?

Getting Off the Calf PathRequires You to See

Differently and to Think Differently

It Means Suspending Disbeliefsand

Eliminating the “IDEA KILLERS”

Idea Killers are really death sentences —certain death for any idea or question that challenges the existing way of doing things.

You’ll Never Leave the Calf Path Using…

Now that’s a career threatening

suggestion if I ever heard one…

Dumb question,

next…

Reasons why innovation & creativity wont fly in your organization

Father, why do we follow the same old, tired path everyday…

this path that meanders so strangely…and turns and twists with

no apparent meaning…no rhyme, no reason…why follow it so

blindly, so unquestioningly father?

Good questions son. I never really

thought about it. Just doing what we

cattle have always done. Maybe we

can create an easier, shorter path. Let’s

talk it over tonight.

SCAMPEROff the Calf Path by Asking Questions That Light Up Innovation

SUBSTITUTE

What can I substitute to make an improvement?

What if I swap this for that and see what happens?

How can I substitute the place, time, materials or people?

COMBINE

What materials, features, processes, people, products or

components can I combine?

Where can I build synergy?

ADAPT

What part of the product could I change?

And in exchange for what?

What if I were to change the characteristics of a component?

MODIFYWhat happens if I warp or exaggerate a feature or component?

What will happen if I modify the process in some way?

PUT TO

ANOTHER USE

What other market could I use this product in?

Who or what else might be able to use it?

ELIMINATE

What would happen if I removed a component or part of it?

How else would I achieve the solution w/o the normal way of

doing it?

REVERSE

What if I did it the other way round?

What if I reverse the order it is done or the way it is used?

How would I achieve the opposite effect?

DOING THE OBVIOUS

DOING THE OBVIOUS

FOLLOWING THE CALF-PATH

DOING THE OBVIOUS


NOTHING NEW

DOING THE OBVIOUS


NOTHING NEW

AVERAGE

INSTEAD OFBEING AVERAGE

BE GREAT!

SHOOT FOR.. .

GETTING BEYOND THE OBVIOUS





SEEING,THINKING,AND DOING THINGS DIFFERENTLY




IMPROVING INNOVATION, COLLABORATION, EXECUT

ION




IMPROVING YOUR INNOVATION, COLLABORATION, EXECUT

ION

BRINGING TO MARKET HARD TO IMITATE

OFFERINGS, FASTER, BETTER, CHEAPER THAN YOUR COMPETITION

SO, IN CLOSING—

SEE YOUR POTENTIAL FOR GREATNESS

FOCUS YOURSELF ON IT

SEE YOURSELFAS THE KING OF YOUR MARKETS

JUST LIKE THIS . . .

THANK YOU!!!!!