Innovate Against the Odds
January 1, 2008 | By Raymond T. Hightower
The more we know about a particular area, the less we’re able to innovate in that area. Andy Grove puts it another way: “When everybody knows that something is so, it means that nobody knows nothin’.”
Creativity Is Hard
In an article entitled Innovative Minds Don’t Think Alike, the New York Times tells why creativity can be difficult sometimes. Fundamentally, once you know something well, it’s hard to imagine not knowing what you know.
It’s the reason why engineers design products that can only be used by other engineers. It’s why Madison Avenue advertisers struggle when communicating with consumers.
Defeat the Obstacles, Innovate Anyway
One way to innovate: Build teams of people with a variety of skills. Hire bright people who don’t know “the way we’ve always done it” and see what they come up with.
Innovation and Flashlights
One young exec from the animal feed industry found herself working for Eveready. Eveready was the dominant name in batteries and flashlights in the 1950s. However, the brand had grown dull by the 1980s. All of their flashlights were designed to appeal to men shopping in hardware stores: Grey, black, and stainless steel.
The young exec revamped Eveready’s product line to include colors that would appeal to women (like pink) and she began distributing the new flashlights at grocery stores. Older execs at Eveready hated the idea at first. But the program proved wildly successful.
What Can You Do?
What assumptions are you currently making about your customers? Your products? Your services? Is it time to bring in an outsider (or two or three) to shake things up?