So, where does innovation start? Some people think that to be innovative, one has to start big. Often it is best to start small and get some successes under the belt before growing the initiatives. Here are beginner steps toward innovation:
Ideation sessions. Ideation sessions can be very useful. They collect many ideas from many sources. These sessions can collect, organize, and work with many ideas, thoughts, facts, and findings. Ideation sessions require both divergent and convergent parts. They require encouragement of wild ideas and squelching of nay-saying. Organizations can use ideation sessions for many challenges/ problems:
• Selecting partners for new ventures
• Finding high potential verges
• Blue ocean innovations
• Easier, cheaper, better, more convenient products/services
• Recombining organizational resources for new offerings
Quick prototyping. The process of quick prototyping is outlined earlier in this book. Groups can do this process all at once or in smaller increments. The important thing is to get a prototype out there for others to react to.
Innovation room. If the resources are available (mostly space and materials), many organizations find that having a dedicated innovation room can be useful. First, it is a message to the organization that innovation is important. The room should be equipped with white space materials: flip chart paper, white boards, computers. It should also have prototype materials: pipe cleaners, straws, clay, play dough, knickknacks, Legos, magic markers, and other little toys. There should be movable furniture in order to encourage flexibility in activities.
Anthropologist teams. Innovation often requires getting out of the office. Teams can observe your customers consuming your product/service, or your competitor’s product/service. Watch customers from a target market that you wish to serve. What do they need/want? What job do they need done? Have a diverse group observe and take notes. Then discuss those notes in an ideation session.
Creativity techniques. Creativity techniques can loosen up the thinking of a group. Michael Michalko’s book Thinkertoys has captured many of these. Here are a few.
• List as many uses of a brick or paperclip in five or ten minutes.
• List all the attributes of an item, say a baby stroller, and see how many permutations of each you can think of, and then collect and combine them.
• Ask 25 questions about a tree, or orchid.
Blue Ocean techniques. Use the questions of the blue ocean strategies (listed earlier in this book) to build on to one of your offerings.
Book or video groups. Start a book group in your organization. Use one of the books or videos referred to in this book to start the discussion. Always bring the discussion back to how these techniques can be of use to your organization.
Work process. Have a group focus on one of your work processes. At every step, have participants ask “why do we need this step?”
Study behavioral science. New behavioral science findings on behavioral patterns—smoking, obesity, exercise, reading, computer usage—can give you clues on trends, and potential product/service offerings.