1) Starter
2) Learning roles
3) Organizing roles
4) Building roles
5) Now for tomorrow
1) Starter
3M defined Innovation as
“new ideas, plus action or implementation, that results in an improvement, a gain or profit” which emphasize subtly the fact that implementation is the most important
point.
Today in a so named
crisis phase (to which media add even more crisis) innovation is no more a nice-to-have, it became a must to survive ot a competitive, challenging and diffciult environment. However even if we
could think that difficulties is a good ground for innovative ideas to germinate, many companies still react to the crisis by cutting budgets for innovation (as if it would be a luxury) or not
exploiting them appropriately. I recently read a book which gives good tips on how to approach innovation in our every day business life, at anytime, at no cost (or limited), whatever is the
departmet we belong to, starting with the questioning on how to commit the organisation to Innovation. It’s not only about inventing new products that will radically change our lifes (even if
this would be the best outcome) but it is also to generate a mindset change that will drive Innovation. When submitted, the ideas should not be already fully structured; it is even recommended
that they are rough to allow to build on further through the diversity of the participants.
Based on the observation
of successfull Innovative groups, it is recommended - during meetings (even unformal) or projects - to take on different roles to add energy and excitement to the group, keeping in mind that new
ideas are coming from everywhere however the challenge is to make them go somewhere. The human dimension is then the major factor. Ten roles were defined and sorted in 3 categories. Of course
these roles are not set forever, allocated to one person even if somehow the personality of the participants has a great impact on which roles they will take on.
2) Learning roles:
... those who observes,
create prototypes and explore what the other departments do, say, act
the anthropologist:
has a passion to dig up
new insights from each environment in which he is immersed. He thenobserve carefully the “strange foreign” culture without any judgment and watch things as if it would be the 1st time
that he sees them. By gathering the VOC (Voice of the Customer), ask open end behavioral question (to avoid filtered answers due to personality, mindset, experience...). This would lead then to
other questions trying to understand where the potential discrepancies come from. However this step comes after the observation phase to avoid interpretations.
The anthropologist can be
helped by process mapping and video-taping to recorder the progress but also to step back
the experimenter
is the one persistent to
solve problems, who make drawings, build and test models. Each step they learn something they adapt their model.
the cross pollinator
brings together disparate
things, taking designs, pratices and concept from one discipline bringing them to another, creating something new from unexpected juxtaposition. He sees the world as a child with intense
curiosity, discovering new things, reading new things, meets people with different backgrounds and experiences, travelling to new places, mixing things which might have no
link
3) Organizing roles:
those who connect and
guide people, help to overcome obstacles.
the hurdler
for him an obstacle is an
opportunity. Close the door, he will go throught he windows, “no” isn’t an answer for him, he is used to face roadblocks and doesn’t care. Rules are challenges, this one is constantly thinking
out of the box
the collaborator
generates connections
among people, encourages, pushes to excellence to reach multifacted and more profitable arrangement,. This one has not the target to get the bigger parts of the pie but to make the cake bigger
for everyone. Collective success is celebrated before individual successes.
Collaborative
technics:
- unfocus groups:it is not about putting
representative consumers together but to bring the most extreme and creative of them and observing them to learn from their behaviour and arguments in response to the
others
- cross training: train people of one
department to the discipline of the other and then confront them
the director
is visionary and
ambitious, planner and organizer. He guides the people.He starts new ventures and enlists people to work on them. The director knows how to take risk and must exercice leadership. He is the one
making innovation possible by providing the resources, he develops goals, establishes criteria for successes, protects the initiative. He needs to create an atmosphere of trust where everyone can
speak with honesty and without fear.
4) building roles
... those who build
physical, psychological, emotional and linguistic strucures to nurture innovation
the experience architect
presents the ideas by
appealing to the senses. He is interested in aesthetic pleasure as well as understanding. He is the one who will map a process with the 5 senses reporting what he hears, feels, sees, smells and
tastes providing full details (and much more) on the experience than we might initially think
the caregiver
does his/her best to
provide the best service and put people at ease, understanding their needs. He is the personal touch seeking for individual relationships with the customer who feels that her/his point of view is
important and taken into consideration
the storyteller
is the one able to build
emotional connections by telling stories, explaining things in an inspiring way, reshaping the ordinary into something special, creating meaning. He first learns and observes (as the
anthropologist) and then reformulates, expresses ideas in a structured way and then allowing for discussion.
the set designer
focuses on making
physical space both functional and pleasing, organising the offices, spaces in such a way that people will meet more frequently. He encourages informal talk, mixes people in the same space, frees
place on walls to display results and ideas, puts people together according to projects...
5) Now for tomorrow
The roles being defined,
it is time to start to observe, to understand how people (consumers, colleagues, neighbourgs...) use the “product”. It will provide a nearly endless stream of ideas for improvements and further
development.
Source: Book "the ten
faces of Innovation" from Tom Kelley, Jonathan Littman
