GUEST POST from Paul Sloane

Sometimes the biggest resistance to innovation comes from the person who should benefit most from it – the customer. Customers can be very conservative. When you come along with an unorthodox new product or service they are often initially unimpressed. Why should the buyer take a risk with your unproven new gizmo? He knows that new products often have bugs and he does not want to be the guinea pig on which you experiment. He is familiar with the current method – why should he change?

Who would want to be the first customer for a fax machine or indeed for a telephone? It seems ridiculous now but selling the first few telephones must have been really difficult. And how about laser eye treatment? How would you find the first person to try it when there was a safe alternative in a pair of spectacles?

This is understandable and needs careful handling. Your sales people will doubtless be adept at explaining the benefits of your new products but the customer is right to be sceptical. You need to find ways to reassure him and to mitigate his risk.

At the same time you need early adopters so that you can get some traction in the market, customer feedback and positive references for your innovation. So acknowledge the client’s concerns and put offers in place to allay them. You cannot just use your standard terms and conditions for a radical new product. You have to be innovative in your sales approach too. For example you could:

• Allow them a free trial of the new product
• Continue to provide the old service so that they can go back to it at any time.
• Offer a money back guarantee.
• Provide a special service level that gives them immediate access to your top support experts.
• Agree joint service level agreements.
• Stress the payback and benefits they will receive and even make payment dependent on their being achieved.
• Promise to arrange a positive PR result for them in the trade press if the trial succeeds.

Above all you must choose the right early customers. Some people love new technology and others hate it. Select the best early adopters from among your top clients. Appeal to their sense of pioneering adventure. Stress the prestige that goes with early success – for both of you. Make sure that they share in the recognition of a successful launch. If all goes well then ask them for a testimonial. You can help them be seen as an industry leader in trade journal stories and at conferences. You are in it together and it must be a win/win for both parties.

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GUEST POST from Paul Sloane

MBA students are taught to treat business in a rational, scientific way. They analyze situations, develop financial models, critically examine management decisions and logically examine different scenarios. When they emerge from the hallowed halls of academia, they are often surprised to find that businesses run much less on logic and much more on emotion. It is not cold, intelligent analysis that drives most organizations forward. Emotional energy is often the real engine behind successful people and organisations.

Sure it helps to be analytical, intelligent and rational – but what makes people like Richard Branson, Bill Gates or Steve Jobs great business leaders is not their undoubted intelligence but their passion and commitment to their cause.

One of the richest men in Britain is Felix Dennis, who made his fortune in publishing. In 1971 he was jailed for publishing an obscene political cartoon but he was acquitted on appeal. His success started with Kung-Fu Monthly in 1974. In the 1980s he published a string of successful computer magazines. His publishing empire now spans IT, motoring, gambling and men’s magazines. A recent innovation was The Week – a brief summary of all the best articles from the press each week. In his book, “How to Get Rich”, he describes how he ignores conventional wisdom and sound advice from his directors, lawyers and accountants. He goes with his gut instincts instead. Time and again he trusted his intuition in making tough business decisions about innovative ventures.

Luc Mayrand, Concept Designer at Disney says, “If you find your logic is talking you out of a good idea, question the logic first, then question the idea. This is entertainment; logic is less important than the impact of the story and design.”

There are many famous examples where eminent people used logic and analysis to trash an innovative idea which subsequently succeeded. Western Union turned down the telephone because they saw no need for people to chat to one another. IBM turned down Xerography when it was offered to them by its inventor Chester Carlson. Decca Records turned down the Beatles and so on.

Logic and analysis can always find fault with innovative ideas. Use these tools but use them warily. If your intuition tells you that you have a great idea then pursue it a little while longer.

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GUEST POST from Paul Sloane

Ten great ways to boost your personal creativity

by Paul Sloane

Let’s say you are wrestling with a tough issue – maybe at work, at home, with your children or in your social life. You have been stuck for a while and you can’t seem to make a breakthrough. You want to come up with some really creative ideas. What can you do? Here are ten great practical ways to boost your inventiveness and to crack the problem:

1. Ask why, why?

• Ask, “why has this issue arisen?” Come up with six different reasons and for each of them ask, “why did this happen?” Keep asking why for each cause. This helps you to better understand the different reasons why this is a problem and so in turn you will see different possible solutions.

2. Sleep on it

• Ponder the issue and all its aspects for some time and then put it out of your mind. Get a good night’s sleep. The subconscious mind goes to work and often you come up with great ideas the next day.

3. Talk it over with someone who has nothing to do with the situation

• They will often ask basic questions or make seemingly silly suggestions that prompt good ideas. Two heads are better than one but people who are too close to the issue will often come up with the same ideas as you, so try an outsider.

4. Ask how some celebrity would tackle the issue

• What would Steve Jobs do? Or Bob Geldof, or Richard Branson, or Salvador Dali or Margaret Thatcher or Madonna or Sherlock Holmes? Take each individual’s approach to its extremes and it will likely give you some radical solutions.

5. Pick up any object at random and say to yourself

• “This item contains the key to solving the problem.” Then force some ideas. Try this with several different objects and you will have a selection of radical and inventive ideas.

6. Use similes

• Try to think of a different problem in another walk of life that is like your problem. Say you want your staff at work to try new ways of working. You might imagine that this is like getting your children to eat vegetables. List various methods you might use with your children to encourage or persuade them to try vegetables. Then go through the list and then see if any of the ideas can be converted into things you can try at work.

7. Imagine an ideal solution in a world where there are no constraints

• (e.g. you can use any resource you want) Now work back from that ideal and challenge each of the constraints that is holding you back from achieving it. Many of the obstacles can be overcome when you take this approach.

8. Open a dictionary and take any noun at random

• Write down six attributes of that noun – so for tree you might write – root, branch, family, apple, trunk and tall. Then force some links between the word or its attributes and the problem in order to come up with fresh ideas. You will be surprised at how well this works – for individuals or in a group.

9. Ponder the issue and then go for a walk around an art gallery or museum

• The range of external stimuli will help you conceive plenty of new ideas.

10. Draw a picture of the situation showing the people and the issues in simple cartoon style

• Put it up on the wall and then imagine how the story could develop. Think of it as a cartoon strip. Many people’s brains work better in images than in words or numbers so this can lead to fantastic ideas.

These methods work for individuals and for groups. Try them and see what suits you best. Above all keep reminding yourself – there are some great solutions for my problem – I haven’t found the right one yet but I will!

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GUEST POST from Paul Sloane

Can quality and creativity cohabit in the same house or are they natural enemies? Can a quality process be applied to innovation?

Let’s start with the first question. Quality involves the removal of unwanted variations, the enforcement of strict standards and controls, the application of best practice and the elimination of waste and errors. Creativity and innovation involve exploring many radical and unorthodox ideas, deliberately deviating from existing standards and controls, experimenting with prototypes and devoting resources to projects which are likely to fail.

So at first glance quality and creativity look to be at odds. One is striving for the elimination of variation and error while the other is crying out for both. They are surely two opposing philosophies requiring very different mindsets and attitudes. Can they co-exist? The answer is that they can and they must. Every successful organisation has to solve the paradox of how to achieve at the same time great quality and great creativity leading to successful innovations.

Why Quality is Not Enough

The natural tendency for business managers is to focus on improving efficiency and refining the current processes because it is clear that “we can do things better.” Improving quality and efficiency is important but it is not enough. If you were making horse drawn carriages then it did not matter how much you improved quality because automobiles were going to put you out of business. If you were making gas lamps and you focused on better production, it did not help because electric lights were going to make your lamps obsolete.

If you were making LP records then it did not matter how much time you spent in quality improvement programs because CDs were going to wipe you out. And if you were making typewriters then it did not help however much you improved the mechanical operations because electronic word processors were going to destroy your business. The message is that the right innovation can always beat efficiency. You have to improve what you are doing but you also have to find entirely new and better ways to do it.

Doing what we do now only better is not enough. If you do what you always did then you will get what you always got. You have to do something different to get different results. You have to do something significantly smarter to get significantly better results.

Successful businesses combine brilliant innovation with constant improvement and focus on quality. Think of a great rock group where one member composes a terrific new song. They then need perfect co-ordination, timing, rhythm and production to turn the creative idea into a hit. It is no good innovating if you cannot deliver a quality product or service to your client.

Organizing for Innovation

Successful organizations plan for innovation and allocate resources to it. They have innovation panels that hold reviews of all their products, services, processes, methods and routes to market. These reviews fulfill the following purposes:

1. They identify outmoded and aging products and processes and schedule them for replacement. These organizations recognize that everything in business has a life cycle and the end of a life cycle has to be anticipated so that replacements can be planned. Even systems that are running successfully and profitably today must be examined to see if it is time to supersede them with something better. It is much better to obsolete your own products with superior versions than to find that the competition have beaten you to it.
2. They set targets and deadlines in each area and department for the generation of new initiatives in order to replace the items selected as outworn. The general rule is that three new initiatives should be started for each new process needed. A one in three success rate for trials of new products is a good batting average so it is best to generate a large list of ideas and then whittle down to at least three to be prototyped. Each innovation project should have a project plan with a deadline for customer feedback and a planned date for a go/no go decision.
3. They measure progress against targets for individual projects and for the organization as a whole. They monitor key metrics including how many new products or processes have been implemented in the last year, what proportion of revenues are coming from new products or services, how many new launches are scheduled for the coming period and so on. They also try to assess more subjective parameters such as who is seen as the innovative leader in the industry and how do we compare to our competitors in innovation in the marketplace.
4. They systematically search for sources of new ideas from trends in the technology and the industry, from unexpected successes in the marketplace, from customer feedback and from input from employees at all levels.
5. They apply gating processes to projects and prototypes to check that they meet their milestones. They ensure that projects pass marketing, technology and financial hurdles in order to progress and have additional financial and development resources released to them.

Integration or Separation?

Should innovation prototypes for new businesses, products or services be given to existing departments to manage and develop or should they put into special incubator units? It is generally much more effective to put them into special units which are focused on innovation. Peter Drucker explains why as follows:

“Innovative efforts should never report to line managers charged with responsibility for ongoing operations. The new project is an infant and will remain one for the foreseeable future, and infants belong in the nursery. Executives in charge of existing businesses or products will have neither the time nor understanding for the infant project.”

When in 1995 General Motors wanted to create a new business based on in-car voice activated communication, OnStar, they appointed Chet Huber, a maverick within GM. He put together his own multi-disciplinary team with over half his staff coming from outside GM. Huber showed it was possible to innovate inside a large company like GM. By 2002, OnStar had over 2 million subscribers and was standard inside Acura, Audi, Lexus and Subaru as well as GM cars. Huber believes that radical innovation can happen inside big companies if you build a team that respects insiders and listens to outsiders.

IBM did the same when they had small “skunkworks” teams compete to develop the Personal Computer. Don Estridge and a team of 12 engineers in Boca Raton in Florida in just 18 months built a prototype, gained approval and launched the project which redefined the market and set the new standard for PCs.

The Innovation Process

How can you establish an innovation process in your business? Here is a simple checklist.

1. Diagnose the Current Situation

• First you need to find out what is impeding innovation today. Could it be a lack of vision or a complacent culture, or perhaps a difficult approval processes for new ideas?

2. Set Goals

• Set suitable goals, objectives and measures so that you can calibrate progress. The sorts of goals you choose will depend on your circumstances. They should be quant
  ifiable and have timescales. Examples might be: five major new products launched within the next year, 20 prototypes tested with customers, two new routes to market or a new logistics methods implemented to reduce inventories by 30%.

3. Design and Train

• Design an innovation program to involve staff at all levels. It will address the issues raised in the Innovation Audit and it will set in place the activities to achieve the goals. Train leaders and innovation champions throughout the company in the tools and techniques needed to make innovation a natural part of the organization’s activities.

4. Run Innovation Programs

• Implement innovation programs designed to achieve the goals. These might typically include: building a company intranet site to support all innovation activities, running ideas campaigns for individuals and teams, identifying internal and external sources of ideas, and establishing idea evaluation and implementation systems

5. Evaluate and Implement

• As the ideas flow in from the Innovation Programs they need to be promptly evaluated against clear criteria. An innovation funnel is established. The most promising ideas enter the funnel and receive detailed analysis and support. Some then go through to be prototyped. Soon innovative products, methods, processes and partnerships are moving from trials to full implementation.

6. Measure, Communicate, Adapt

• Progress against the goals is measured. Successes are trumpeted. Everyone is kept in the picture regarding developments. The program is adapted and enhanced to make it even more effective and to keep it fresh in people’s minds.

Evaluating Ideas: The Gating Process

Most organizations find that generating ideas is easier than evaluating or implementing them. Once you have a lot of promising ideas you need to evaluate them. In larger organizations with a rich flow of promising ideas a formalized and disciplined approach is called for. According to the Product Development & Management Association (PDMA) best-practices study, 68% of leading U.S. product developers now use some type of gating process to progress and evaluate innovations from conception of the idea through to full launch of a new product. The general principle is shown above in the form of a funnel.

Ideas from all sources flow in at the top of the funnel. They then go through a series of gates. The gating process determines which ideas carry on to the next round and which do not. Typically around two-thirds of the projects fail at each gate. It is sometimes described as a kill or go decision, but the ideas which do not proceed are not killed. They return to the database together with the reasons for the suspension of the idea in case they can be resurrected or recombined with another idea later.

The number of gates will be determined by the complexity of the product and the cost of its development. For a small company there may be one or two go/no go decisions. A company like Glaxo Smith Kline in pharmaceuticals has around 35 gates in its new product development process. New drugs can take seven years to bring to market – the costs, risks and paybacks are enormous. Sony, on the other hand, launches over 1,000 new products a year. The number of ideas entering the funnel must be truly enormous if over 1,000 make it all the way to launch.

The leading process is Stage-Gate, which is a trademark of Bob Cooper and Scott Edgett. Their methodology is well developed and deployed. Promising new product ideas go through a series of stages and gates. The flow is shown below.

Here is how Cooper describes the five key stages of the process following the discovery or idea generation phase:

Stage 1 – Scoping

• A quick and inexpensive assessment of the technical merits of the project and its market prospects.

Stage 2 – Building the Business Case

• This is the critical homework stage – the one that makes or breaks the project. The business case has three main components: product and project definition; project justification; and project plan.

Stage 3 – Development

• Business case plans are translated into concrete deliverables. The manufacturing or operations plan is mapped out, the marketing launch and operating plans are developed, and the test plans for the next stage are defined.

Stage 4 – Testing and Validation

• The purpose of this stage is to provide final and total validation of the entire project: the product itself, the production process, customer acceptance, and the economics of the project.

Stage 5 – Launch

• Full commercialization of the product – the beginning of full production and commercial launch.

Each stage involves team activity. A cross-functional team examines the project using key parameters and gathers information in order to make the decision as to whether the project advances to the next stage or not. The team looks at operational, technical, marketing and financial aspects of the proposal to assess potential risk and reward. The proposal has to clear the hurdles in the gate before proceeding to the next stage. Each stage involves more financial commitment and development than the previous stage so at each gate the hurdles are raised. The idea is to kill off those projects that do meet the gating criteria. As projects pass through the gates they are better understood, there is consequently less risk and more financial and marketing resources can be devoted to them. For a fuller explanation of the process the books and website of Cooper and Edgett are recommended.

Conclusion

The successful organization will focus on quality and innovation; it will juggle efficiency and creativity. Creativity does not mean chaos nor does it mean leaving things to chance. You can put in place processes for idea generation, idea evaluation and proposal implementation. The whole process can be managed on a formal basis while accepting many informal inputs.

What is needed is a total quality approach to the process of innovation.

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GUEST POST from Paul Sloane

The brainstorming session is the most popular group creativity exercise in business. It is quick, easy and it works. But many organizations have become frustrated with brainstorms and have stopped using them. They say this group ideation technique is old-fashioned and no longer effective. But the real reason for their frustration is typically that the brainstorming meetings are not facilitated properly. A well-run brainstorming meeting is fun and energetic. It will generate plenty of good ideas. But a poor session can be frustrating and demotivating. Let’s look at some simple ways to ruin your next brainstorm meeting – so you understand what practices you should avoid.

1. Having no clear objectives

• A brainstorming session with a vague or unclear purpose will wander and lose its way. So be sure set a clear objective for your meeting. The purpose of the brainstorming session is to generate many creative ideas to answer a specific goal. It is best to express the goal as a question. A general objective is not helpful. For example, “How can we do better?” is not as good as “How can we double sales in the next 12 months?” However, the question should not be too detailed, or it may close out lateral possibilities. To follow our previous example, “How can we double sales, through existing channels and with the current product set?” is probably too constrained. Once the question has been agreed it is written up clearly for all to see.
• It is worth setting objectives for the number of ideas to be generated and the time to be spent. “We are looking to generate 60 ideas in the next 20 minutes. Then we will whittle them down to 4 or 5 really good ones.” For best results, your brainstorming session should not be too long – between 25 and 35 minutes is generally best.

2. Too homogenous of a group

• If everyone is from the same department, then creativity can be inhibited and you may get “group think.” Choose the members of your group carefully; the best size is somewhere between six and twelve people. Too few people and there are not enough diverse inputs. Too many people and it is hard to control and retain everyone’s commitment. Sprinkle the group with a few outsiders from other areas or even from outside the business – people who can bring some different perspectives and wacky ideas. A good mix of people – varied ages, men and women, works best.

3. Letting the boss act as facilitator

• Beware of having an autocratic boss with his or her team. He or she can inhibit or shape the discussion in undesirable ways, and can often inhibit the group’s creativity. If the boss is present then it is better to have a good independent facilitator – someone who can encourage input from everyone and stop one person from dominating. The worst formula for a brainstorming session is generally the department manager leading the team and acting as scribe and censor at the same time.

4. Allowing early criticism

• The most important rule of brainstorming is to suspend judgment. In order to encourage a wealth of wacky ideas, it is essential that no one is critical, negative or judgmental about an idea. Any idea that is uttered – no matter how stupid – must be written down. The rule about suspending judgment during the idea generation phase is so important that it is worth enforcing rigorously. A good technique is to issue water pistols; anyone who is critical gets squirted.

5. Settling for a few ideas

• Don’t get a handful of ideas and then start analyzing. Quantity is great. The more ideas the better. Brainstorming is one the few activities in life where quantity improves quality. Think of it as a Darwinian process. The more separate ideas that are generated the greater the chance that some will be fit enough to survive. You need stacks of energy and buzz driving lots of wacky ideas. Crazy thoughts that are completely unworkable are often the springboards for other ideas that can be adapted into great new solutions. So keep the crazy ideas coming – you have to kiss a lot of frogs to find one prince!

6. No closure or follow through

• Don’t stop the meeting after generating lots of ideas with a vague promise to follow up. If people see no real outcomes they will become frustrated with the process and lose faith. You should quickly analyze the ideas at the meeting. One of the best ways is to divide the proposals into three categories – promising interesting or reject. If any of the promising ideas are real no-brainers – so good that they should be implemented immediately, then give them to someone as an action item immediately.

You should categorize and collect the ideas. On a separate flipchart, write all the promising and interesting ideas which are marketing ideas, on another chart all the sales ideas, etc. This process of rearranging the ideas can help you see new combinations and possibilities. Some people use Post-It notes at this stage so that they can easily move ideas around.

If you are pressed for time, then an alternative method of selecting the best ideas is to give everyone five points. They can allocate points to their favorite ideas in any way that they want. They can give one point to five separate ideas or all five to one idea. After everyone has voted, total the points and select the best for further action.

Close the meeting by thanking everyone for their input. Mention again one of two of the best, most inventive or funniest ideas. Then see which ideas you can implement – even if they are small things.

People enjoy short, high-energy brainstorms that lead to actions. These meetings can motivate people, improve efficiency and drive innovation.

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GUEST POST from Paul Sloane

CEOs have much more power than they realize. They can patiently create a climate of creativity or they can crush it in a series of subtle comments and gestures. Their actions send powerful signals. Their responses to suggestions and ideas are deciphered by staff as encouragement or rejection.

If you want to crush creativity in your organization and eliminate all the unnecessary bother of innovation then here are ten steps that are guaranteed to succeed. On the other hand, if you want innovation to flourish in your organization, then you should avoid or eliminate these counter-productive processes completely:

1. Criticize

• When you hear a new idea criticize it. Show how smart you are by pointing out some of the weaknesses and flaws which will hold it back. The more experienced you are, the easier it is to find fault with other people’s ideas. Decca Records turned down the Beatles, IBM rejected the photocopying idea which launched Xerox, DEC turned down the spreadsheet and various major publishers turned down the first Harry Potter novel. The same thing is happening in most organizations today. New ideas tend to be partly-formed so it is easy to reject them as “bad.” They diverge from the narrow focus that we have for the business so we discard them. Furthermore, every time somebody comes to you with an idea which you criticize, it discourages the person from wasting your time with more suggestions. It sends a message that new ideas are not welcome and that anyone who volunteers them is risking criticism or ridicule. This is a sure-fire way to crush the creative spirit in your staff.

2. Ban brainstorms

• Treat brainstorming as old-fashioned and passe. All that brainstorms do is throw up lots of new ideas that then have to be rejected. If your organization is not holding frequent brainstorm sessions to find creative solutions then you are not wasting time on new ideas. Instead you are sending a message to staff that their input is not required. If people insist on brainstorm meetings then make them long, rambling and unfocused with lots of criticism of radical ideas.

3. Hoard problems

• The CEO and senior team should shoulder the responsibility for solving all the company’s major problems. Strategic issues are too complicated and high-level for the ordinary staff. After all, if people at the grass-roots knew the strategic challenges the organization faces then they would feel insecure and threatened. Don’t involve staff in serious issues, don’t tell them the big picture and above all don’t challenge them to come up with solutions.

4. Focus on efficiency not innovation

• Focus solely on making the current business model work better. If we concentrate on making the current system work better then we will not waste time on looking for different systems. The current business model is the one that you helped develop and it is obviously the best one for the business. After all, if the makers of horse-drawn carriages had improved quality, they could have stopped automobiles from taking their markets. The same principle applied with makers of slide rules, LP records, typewriters and gas lights.

5. Overwork

• Establish a culture of long hours and hard work. Encourage the belief that hard work alone will solve the problem. We do not need to find a different way of solving a problem — rather we must just work harder at the old way of doing things. Make sure that the working day has no time for learning, fun, lateral thinking, wild ideas or testing of new initiatives.

6. Adhere to the plan

• Plan in great detail and then do not deviate from the plan regardless of circumstances. “We cannot try that idea because it is not in the plan and we have no budget for it.” Keep to the vision that was in the plan and ignore fads like market changes and customer fashions — they will pass.

7. Punish mistakes

• If someone tries an entrepreneurial idea that fails then blame and retribution must follow. Reward success and punish failure. That way we will reinforce the existing way of doing things and discourage dangerous experiments.

8. Don’t look outside

• We understand our business better than outsiders. After all we have been working in it for years. Other industries are fundamentally different and just because something works there does not mean it will work here. Consultants generally are over-priced and tell you things you could have figured out anyway. We need to find the solutions inside the business by working harder.

9. Promote people like you from within

• Promoting from within is a good sign. It helps retain people and they can see a reward for loyalty and hard work. It means we don’t get polluted with heretical ideas from outside. Also if the CEO promotes people like him then he can achieve consistency and succession. It is best to find managers who agree with the CEO and praise him for his acumen and foresight.

10. Don’t waste money on training

• Talent cannot be taught. It is it a rare thing possessed by a handful of gifted individuals. So why waste money trying to turn ducks into swans? Hire good people and let them learn our system. Work them hard and they can emulate the success of the CEO as he leads the company forward into the future.

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GUEST POST from Paul Sloane

How can you ensure that in turbulent times you not only survive the organizational restructuring but actually benefit by it? Most businesses are having to change not once but over and over in order to meet the challenges of recession, competition and technology convergence. Some changes are all about cutting costs, although they may be called something else. Others are about realigning the business to cope with new opportunities. Either way it can be a bloody affair, littered with victims and casualties. How can you maximize your chances in the change maelstrom? One way is to take a positive approach to change and to be seen as an innovative go-getter who will help make the re-organization a success. Here is how:

1. Adopt a positive attitude

• Don’t be cynical about change. Don’t assume the worst. Don’t believe and repeat rumours about management conspiracies to do down the workforce. Change is inevitable for every organization so it is time to start liking it. Change means new opportunities, new responsibilities, new things to learn and do. People who are positive about new challenges are more likely to be given them. People who are resistant to change and reluctant to adapt are the first to be culled.

2. Become a change agent

• Make suggestions. Introduce ideas and recommendations. Look for ways in which your department could bring in new products, business processes or partnerships. Ask yourself – is there a better way to meet the needs of our customers? Anticipate trends and suggest ways of changing the department to exploit new opportunities and new technologies.

3. Listen to customers

• Where can you find the ideas for change? One source is customers. In your dealings with clients you should make a point of asking how your product or service could be improved. What do they like and dislike about your offering? How are their business needs changing? What will they need in the future? Even better than asking them is to study how they use your product or service. What difficulties do they encounter? How could you alleviate the problems and make their life easier? Do they use your product or service in conjunction with others? Could you co-operate with another company or combine your product with others to bring an innovation to market?

4. Watch the competition

• Keep an eye on what they are doing and any innovations they introduce. Ask customers what other suppliers are doing that is smart and new. Study their initiatives and see what works. Suggest ways in which you can not just match the competition but leapfrog them.



• A copy-machine operator at Kinko’s, a major chain of outlets providing copying and document services, noticed that customer demand for copying dropped off in December. People were too pre-occupied with Christmas presents to do much copying for the office. So he came up with a creative idea. Why not allow customers to use Kinko’s colour copying and binding facilities to create their own customized calendars using their personal photos for each of the months? He prototyped the idea in the store and it proved popular — people could create personalized gifts of calendars featuring favorite family photos. The operator phoned the founder and CEO of Kinko’s, Paul Orfalea, and explained the idea. Orfalea was so excited by it that he rushed it out as a service in all outlets. It was very successful and a new product — custom calendars – and a new revenue stream were created.

5. Be sensitive to office politics

• For most ideas it is best to talk them through with colleagues in your department and in other areas to test their workability before you speak to your manager. That way you have checked out the concept, cleared some obvious objections and gained feedback before you propose it. It will sound better thought out. However, there are some ideas that are so sensitive that it would be silly to bat them around the office before proposing them. You have to choose your moments carefully. Often you can prepare the ground by describing the size of the problem and agreeing how pressing it is before you introduce your idea. Catch the boss when he or she is most receptive. Sometimes it is best to introduce your big idea outside the hurly burly of the office. If you can buttonhole the director in the bar or the car park you may have a better chance of a good hearing.

6. Don’t insist on the glory

• If you spark an idea and then other people adapt and improve it then that is fine. By letting go you have a better chance of it being adopted than if you insist on driving every aspect of the initiative because it ‘was your idea in the first place.’ Sometimes the cleverest tactic is to let your boss take it over as his or her idea. People will still know that you were the one who planted the seed.

7. Be prepared for rejection

• Most managers are analytical and critical. They are good at finding fault with other people’s ideas. The more radical your proposal the more likely it is that people will feel uncomfortable with it. Propose it carefully. Lay it out in a logical way and explain the benefits. But if your boss disagrees then don’t fall out over it and don’t bypass him. Let it lie fallow for a while. I once worked for a CEO who would tear new ideas to shreds and ridicule them. But the next day he would often say, “I was thinking about that idea of yours and I can see a way to make it work.” His initial reaction was to oppose an idea just to test it. But once the germ of the idea was in his head he could find ways to develop it. Above all don’t stop bringing forward ideas because the first few are rejected.

Conclusion

Change means winners and losers. If you can be known as someone who is creative, innovative and a driver of change then the chances are that you will emerge a winner. Not only will you survive the change but you will be given the responsibility of making part of it a reality.

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GUEST POST from Paul Sloane

Children learn by asking questions. Students learn by asking questions. New recruits learn by asking questions. Innovators understand client needs by asking questions. It is the simplest and most effective way of learning. People who think that they know it all no longer ask questions – why should they? Brilliant thinkers never stop asking questions because they know that this is the best way to gain deeper insights.

Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google, said, “We run this company on questions, not answers.” He knows that if you keep asking questions you can keep finding better answers.

When Greg Dyke became Director-General of the BBC in 2000 he went to every major location and assembled the staff. They came expecting a long presentation. He simply sat down with them and asked a question, “What is the one thing I should do to make things better for you?” Then he listened. He followed this with another question, “What is the one thing I should do to make things better for our viewers and listeners?” He knew that at that early stage he could learn more from his employees than they could from him. The workers at the BBC had many wonderful ideas that they were keen to share. The fact that the new boss took time to question and then listen earned him enormous respect.

Columbo solves his mysteries by asking many questions; as do all the great detectives – in real life as well as fiction. All the great inventors and scientists asked questions. Isaac Newton asked, “Why does an apple fall from a tree?” and, “Why does the moon not fall into the Earth?” Charles Darwin asked, “Why do the Galapagos islands have so many species not found elsewhere?” Albert Einstein asked, “What would the universe look like if I rode through it on a beam of light?” By asking these kinds of fundamental questions they were able to start the process that lead to their tremendous breakthroughs.

The great philosophers spend their whole lives asking deep questions about the meaning of life, morality, truth and so on. We do not have to be quite so contemplative but we should nonetheless ask the deep questions about the situations we face. It is the best way to get the information we need to make informed decisions and for sales people it is the single most important skill they need to succeed.

Why don’t we ask questions?

If it is obvious that asking questions is such a powerful way of learning why do we stop asking questions? For some people the reason is that they are lazy. They assume they know all the main things they need to know and they do not bother to ask more. They cling to their beliefs and remain certain in their assumptions – yet they often end up looking foolish.

Other people are afraid that by asking questions they will look weak, ignorant or unsure. They like to give the impression that they are decisive and in command of the relevant issues. They fear that asking questions might introduce uncertainty or show them in a poor light. In fact asking questions is a sign of strength and intelligence – not a sign of weakness or uncertainty. Great leaders constantly ask questions and are well aware that they do not have all the answers.

Finally some people are in such a hurry to get with things that they do not stop to ask questions because it might slow them down. They risk rushing headlong into the wrong actions.

With prospect, with clients, at school, at home, in business, with our friends, family, colleagues or managers we can check assumptions and gain a better appreciation of the issues by first asking questions. Start with very basic, broad questions then move to more specific areas to clarify your understanding. Open questions are excellent – they give the other person or people chance to give broad answers and they open up matters. Examples of open questions are:

• What business are we really in, what is our added value?
• Why do you think this has happened?
• What are all the things that might have caused this problem?
• How can we reduce customer complaints?
• Why do you think he feels that way?
• What other possibilities should we consider?

As we listen carefully to the answers we formulate further questions. When someone gives an answer we can often ask, “Why?” The temptation is to plunge in with our opinions, responses, conclusions or proposals. The better approach is keep asking questions to deepen our comprehension of the issues before making up our mind. Once we have mapped out the main points we can use closed questions to get specific information. Closed questions give the respondent a limited choice of responses – often just yes or no. Examples of closed questions are:

• When did this happen?
• Was he angry?
• Where is the shipment right now?
• Did you authorise the payment?
• Would you like to go to the cinema with me on Saturday evening?

By giving the other person a limited choice of responses we get specific information and deliberately move the conversation forward in a particular direction.

Asking many questions is very effective but it can make you appear to be inquisitorial and intrusive. So it is important to ask questions in a friendly and unthreatening way. Do not ask accusing questions. “What do you think happened?” will probably get a better response than, “Are you responsible for this disaster?” Try to pose each question in an way and ensure that your body language is relaxed and amicable. Do not jab your finger or lean forward as you as put your requests.

Try to practice asking more questions in your everyday conversations. Instead of telling someone something, ask them a question. Intelligent questions stimulate, provoke, inform and inspire. Questions help us to teach as well as to learn.

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GUEST POST from Paul Sloane

I was asked last night how companies could afford to allocate scarce resources to innovation in these unprecedented times. When every extraneous expenditure is cut back to preserve cash flow how can it be justified to lavish money on experiments that might fail?

You do not get innovation for free – you have to allocate time, money and people to the search for new products, services, methods etc. However, innovation can lead to powerful cost savings, profitable new products and competitive advantage. Indeed right now the main benefit of innovation might be survival. If you just cut costs and don’t innovate you will be bypassed in the market by more agile competitors.

There are inexpensive ways to achieve innovation. Let’s divide activities into three categories.

1. It costs virtually nothing to:

• Communicate a vision of innovation
• Set goals and objectives for ideas, prototypes and innovations
• Ask your people for ideas
• Ask customers for ideas
• Ask suppliers for ideas

2. It costs very little to:

• Run brainstorm meetings
• Set up an intranet based suggestion scheme
• Evaluate and select the best ideas
• Build models and prototypes
• Ask customers to evaluate your prototype products or services
• Implement small incremental innovations in your products, services and methods
• Empower people to try more initiatives in their areas
• Investigate new collaborations and partnerships

3. It costs a lot of money to:

• Roll out major new products or services
• Try an entirely new business model
• Re-engineer your IT systems

So you should do a lot of items from Category 1. Generate many ideas from all sources – it costs very little.

You should do a few things from Category 2. Definitely move the best ideas to the prototype stage and evaluate them (but kill them if necessary).

You should think carefully about items from Category 3, but be prepared to allocate some of your scarce resource in this area.

Innovation involves making bets. Often these bets fail. But you have to stay in the game and keep making small bets until one or more come off. Innovation is not free, but it can be done on slender means if you adopt this kind of approach.

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GUEST POST from Paul Sloane

1. Have a Vision for Change

You cannot expect your team to be innovative if they do not know the direction in which they are headed. Innovation has to have a purpose. It is up to the leader to set the course and give a bearing for the future. You need one overarching statement which defines the direction for the business and which people will readily understand and remember. Great leaders spend time illustrating the vision, the goals and the challenges. They explain to people how their role is crucial in fulfilling the vision and meeting the challenges. They inspire men and women to become passionate entrepreneurs finding innovative routes to success.

2. Fight the Fear of Change

Innovative leaders constantly evangelise the need for change. They replace the comfort of complacency with the hunger of ambition. ‘We are doing well but we cannot rest on our laurels – we need to do even better.’ They explain that while trying new ventures is risky, standing still is riskier. They must paint a picture that shows an appealing future that is worth taking risks to achieve. The prospect involves perils and opportunities. The only way we can get there is by embracing change.

3. Think like a Venture Capitalist

VCs use a portfolio approach so that they balance the risk of losers with the upsides of winners. They like to consider a large number of proposals. They are comfortable with the knowledge that many of the ideas they back will fail. These are all important lessons for corporate executives who typically consider only a handful of proposals and who abhor failure.

4. Have a Dynamic Suggestions Scheme

Great suggestion schemes are focused, easy to use, well-resourced, responsive and open to all. They do not need to offer huge rewards. Recognition and response are generally more important. Above all they have to have the whole-hearted commitment of the senior team to keep them fresh, properly managed and successful.

5. Break the Rules

To achieve radical innovation you have to challenge all the assumptions that govern how things should look in your environment. Business is not like sport with well-defined rules and referees. It is more like Art. It is rife with opportunity for the lateral thinker who can create new ways to provide the goods and services that customers want.

6. Give Everyone Two Jobs

Give all your people two key objectives. Ask them to run their current jobs in the most effective way possible and at the same time to find completely new ways to do the job. Encourage your employees to ask themselves – what is the essential purpose of my role? What is the outcome that I deliver that is of real value to my clients (internal and external). Is there a better way to deliver that value or purpose?The answer is always yes but most people never even ask the question.

7. Collaborate

Many CEOs see collaboration as key to their success with innovation. They know they cannot do it all using internal resources. So they look outside for other organisations to partner with. A good example is Mercedes and Swatch who collaborated to produce the Smart car. Each brought dissimilar skills and experiences to the team.

8. Welcome Failure

The innovative leader encourages a culture of experimentation. You must teach people that each failure is a step along the road to success. To be truly agile, you must give people the freedom to innovate, the freedom to experiment, the freedom to succeed. That means you must give them the freedom to fail too.

9. Build Prototypes

People’ Bank has a refreshingly original attitude to new ideas. ‘Don’t debate it, test it’ is the motto of this innovative American financial services organisation. Try the new idea at low cost in a section of the marketplace and see what the customer’s reaction is. You will learn far more in the real world than you will in the test laboratory or with focus groups.

10. Be Passionate

Focus on the things that you want to change, the most important challenges you face and be passionate about overcoming them. Your energy and drive will translate itself into direction and inspiration for your people. It is no good filling your bus with contented, complacent passengers. You want evangelists, passionate supporters; people who believe that reaching the destination is really worthwhile. If you want to inspire people to innovate, to change the way they do things and to achieve extraordinary results then you have to be passionate about what you believe in and you have to communicate that passion every time you speak.

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