innovation.net

Tuned In

Although not available until June, Tuned In, Uncover the Extraordinary Opportunities that Lead to Business Breakthroughs, written by Craig Stull & Phil Myers of Pragmatic Marketing, and David Meerman Scott, provides a clear reminder for all of us to keep our focus on customers and their needs from the beginning, and throughout, the innovation process.

The authors argue, rightfully so, that understanding expressed and unexpressed customer needs is what enables innovators to develop products that will 'resonate' with customers, and that doing so will lead to success with far less effort and expense than trying to market and sell a product that does not resonate with customers.  Of course, laid out this plainly makes it seem overly obvious, but in my own work with entrepreneurs at Venture2 and through countless real world examples it’s clear many entrepreneurs and companies become hooked on their own idea and fail to look realistically at consumer needs and marketplace opportunity when developing their product, business plan, and commercialization strategies.

For those who are interested, the book offers a well-developed framework for a six-step process to "tune in" and to develop products that will connect with customers.  The book is a little repetitious in its presentation of the main theme, likely derived from its basis as material for their seminars series, but it does offer some interesting examples of the process being used to create successful innovations such as QuickBooks and Zipcar.

The Game Changer by A.G. Lafley

While not available until April 8, A.G. Lafley (P&G CEO) and Ram Charan (consultant) have written a book about driving revenue and profit through game-changing innovation. 

Take yourself back in time to, say, 8 years ago.  If I told you then that the CEO of P&G was publishing a book on game-changing innovation you'd either chuckle or shake your head in disbelief.  P&G had lost its luster -- it was slow moving, losing share and its stock losing value and its culture being ripped apart by the tumultuous reign of Durk Jager.  In the past 8 years, Lafley has led an amazing feat of reinventing a staid, though highly disciplined, behemoth into a global innovation powerhouse, more agile than many start-ups (okay that might be going too far!)... But for such a giant bureaucratic company, they have have become amazingly agile. 

So I've become a fan of P&G, and in particular their Connect & Develop program which really legitimized and mainstreamed the whole 'open innovation' movement.  And P&G's results have been impressive... through Connect and Develop and other innovation initiatives, P&G has seen double digit sales growth, grew their margins to over 50% and accelerated the new product pipeline while taking their R&D spending from 4.8% to 3.2% of sales during the same period.

I'll certainly read the book and let you know what I think.  Hope you'll do the same.

Innovate Like Edison

Just finished reading "Innovate Like Edison", written by Michael Gelb (author of How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci) and Sarah Miller Caldicott (grandniece of Edison).  I'm not usually a fan of the genre of books that tend to generalize one talented person's accomplishments into a system that anyone can follow.

But I must say, Gelb and Caldicott have done a remarkable job of synthesizing the key success factors of this great inventor and his organization into lessons that most anyone can use today.  There are also some amazing parallels to what's happening today with 'open innovation' and Edison's own philosophies and approaches.

I've asked Sarah Caldicott to provide some perspectives on the book and she has agreed.  So look for those posts within the next week or two.  In the meantime, I've added this book to my 'recommended reading' list on innovation.

Blue Ocean Blues?

Finally finished reading Blue Ocean Strategy by W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne.  I've read other reviews and they seem to be generally very positive.  Sorry, but I can't help but feel this book's premise is a metaphor in search of an idea.  I found it to be a forced analogy (red oceans for the bloodied battlefield of current competition, blue oceans for uncontested market space that makes the competition irrelevant) without a lot of new strategic thinking.

It's an over-simplification on the authors' parts to call traditional competitive analysis outdated because it drives a focus on fighting head-to-head on existing terms.  Many authors and experts (Prahalad, Christensen, Hamel) have long called for competitive strategies that create new market space based upon changing the basis of competition and/or satisfying the needs of previously unserved customer segments.

I do like the authors' focus on "value innovation"... focusing on finding opportunities to drive down costs, while driving up value for consumers.  Again, sounds a bit simplistic... but the idea of defining and measuring value across the company as a system, rather than just the ROI of a new product is a concept that too few companies think about today.

Maybe it's me, but I didn't get that 'I can change the world" feeling (however short-lived it may be) I get from reading other innovation visionaries I respect and read.  So don't just take my word for it, but I wouldn't recommend this one.

Blue Ocean Buzz?

Received a free copy in the mail today of a new book entitle "Blue Ocean Strategy", subtitled "How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make the Competition Irrelevant".    It's written by W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne, both of INSEAD.  As interesting (or uninteresting) as the book may turn out to be, I'm as intrigued by the fact it's another example of PR agencies increasingly using the tactic of seeding the market through copies provided to potential influencers (am I now officially influencial??).  Oops, I've already fallen prey to their tactic by writing about it.  We'll see how it goes.

Beyond the Core

I'm almost done reading Chris Zook's book "Beyond the Core". It's a great read for any executive facing the challenge of creating profitable growth (and who isn't). In it, Zook presents a strong fact-based case for leveraging core strengths into logical adjacencies that include geographies, channels, markets, etc.

This book does an excellent job of presenting a balanced view of the role of innovation in creating profitable growth. I share the author's view of this balanced approach, and too many times in my own career have seen extremes of either inaction (fear of failure) or over-reaching (outside of true competencies).