Innovation Dilemma

I've been reading a lot lately, and at a pretty good clip. Thanks to recommendations from friends and associates, I have a growing list of interesting and relevant books to consume. The pace has been pretty healthy as well, about 10 days (or two round-trip plane rides) for each book - I was in a pretty decent groove...until my latest literary conquest. When the book arrived, I sensed immediately that it would be different - it wasn't like the other books I've been reading lately. Now, I've heard that you shouldn't judge a book by its cover - but this book had a vaguely familiar look and feel. It was a hard back, with a glossy cover - reminiscent of those overpriced books you used to carry around campus. Yes - I was about to sit down and read...a college textbook! When is the last time YOU read a college text book? I'm not even sure if I read many in college....



Why am I reading a college textbook? (and will there be an exam at the end of the quarter?) The book is titled: Corporate Entrepreneurship & Innovation. One of the authors, Donald Kuratko, will be teaching a seminar next month in Charlotte that I am attending. Slow pace aside, this book is very insightful and highly relevant. I'm sure there will be multiple blog entries inspired from its pages. Page 58 in Chapter 3 lists Sixteen Dilemmas of Innovation. A few of them really hit home (and echo conversations I have had in recent years).

Innovation Dilemma # 6 - "An innovation succeeds because it addresses customer needs. Yet when you ask customers about their needs, many do not know or can not describe them to you except in general terms."

Innovation Dilemma #13 - "Technology-driven innovation often leads to dramatic new products that prove to be 'better mousetraps' nobody wants." (or can't afford) "Customer-driven innovation often leads to minor modifications to existing products or 'me-too' products meeting a competitive brick wall."

Innovation Dilemma #16 - "Being first to market is not consistently associated with success, while being second or third is not consistently associated with failure."

There are 13 others listed in the table - these 3 just struck a bit of a chord with me. Many companies want the glory and respect associated with being an "Innovator", but most don't want the exposure to potential failed initiatives. I think the fear of failure kills innovation faster than most anything else. One company, fully understanding this concept, created a "Free to Fail" program to encourage moderate risk-taking in the name of innovation. Other examples are listed in page 178 of the text book including:

- Small cash awards given to employees who try something new and fail - and the best failure of the quarter receives a larger award.

I've often encouraged people to celebrate failure - as a way of ensuring that fear of failure does not inhibit creative thinking and action. Companies that continue to only celebrate successes while "blaming away" failures will never reach that pinnacle of innovation and corporate entrepreneurship.

When was your last failure, and how did you celebrate it?

The Kansas City Science Fair

There are certain annual events that I have to include on my "can't wait until next year" list. One is the annual NSF SBIR conference (that I am unfortunately missing next week) and the other, without a doubt, is the Kansas City Science Fair, sponsored by Science Pioneers. I never actually entered a science fair as a kid - can't really say why, it's just not something I ever did.

Last year, an associate at the office asked me if I could volunteer to be a judge at the KC Science Fair. Everyone knows how passionate I get when it comes to working with and around kids, so I obviously did not hesitate. As a first year judge, I started at the elementary school level, only judging papers and displays. It was actually pretty straightforward - the required attribute sheet was very complete and most all projects were well developed. The one thing I did NOT get to do was talk to the students - that's only at the junior high and high school level. For me, the best way to judge how much a student accomplished during the execution of a project is to speak to them face-to-face, without that element, I just felt like I was missing out.

This year, I signed up for the junior engineering division - where I had the opportunity to judge and speak to several 7th and 8th grade students. It was fabulous. These young boys and girls were genuinely passionate about their individual projects, and many of them really had a good time doing them. Overall, I have only one complaint (that applies to all projects I reviewed last year and this year as well) - there is not enough emphasis on celebrating failure.

I wonder if it is human nature or just the manner in which science is taught these days. It's as if the definition of a successful experiment is one in which the student can exactly predict the results, then run an experiment that fully supports their hypothesis. As I mentioned to one student "If you proved what you already knew, then what have you really learned here?" I believe that real learning starts when we encounter the unexpected. New discoveries evolve from failed hypotheses. I fear that many of these kids are so focused on creating a nice little report that neatly fits into the standard format that they avoid true experimentation and discovery....

Of course, these were my concerns and conclusions after reading the reports, prior to the students' arrival. During oral interviews, a whole different story emerged - EVERY TIME. Talking freely about their experiments, each of the students I met had a great story to tell about experimental failures, shifts in thought process and critical thinking about follow-on projects and alternate hypothesis. This was utterly delightful! I could have visited with these enthusiastic young men and women all evening.

So, the thing that's really missing is not the method and thought process, but the ability to break from the highly structured format of a science report to adequately write their story of discovery....funny thing is - you don't have to look far to see the exact same issue in the business world. We're so programmed to fill in the template and follow the predefined structure, that we lose the ability to tell our story. My advice: throw out the form, forget the template - start with a blank sheet of paper and tell your story. By the way - this is the EXACT same advice I had for several presenters at last year's NSF SBIR Phase II grantee conference. So, what's your story?

The not-so-free press

I usually close out my work day with a quick peak at some of my favorite online news feeds and blogs. Today, I came across something a bit odd. One of my favorite bloggers included a link to "Ink" - Kansas City's new online news site. His uncharacteristically terse comment read "go see it. It's cool" Now, when it comes to web sites, very few live to earn the distinction of a "cool" rating on his web scale - so I had to check it out.

What I found was a "beta" site that was just plain NOISY. I don't think I ever really figured out what it was all about or where the real meaningful content was hidden...there was NO WAY this thing could have truly earned a "Cool" rating. I had to go back to the blog to check the date on the entry - maybe this was posted on Tuesday - as a clever April Fools prank...nope, it was new.

I happened to run into the author a few minutes later and got a rather disturbing story... Like me, he had found the site in need of considerable upgrade. True to form, he posted his unbiased and unabridged opinion on his blog - complete with a detailed list of issues that require improvement. (Fittingly - there was no "cool" rating awarded in this original posting)

What he probably failed to consider was that his wife's employer owns the site - so, naturally, she got a call into the boss's office, which led to a call to him with unambiguous instructions as to what she desired....and the honest, unabashed commentary was deleted. I wonder if this is just a small indicator of the inherent rivalry between the traditional press and the internet, which allows rapid dissemination of opinions and criticism without the benefit of political cleansing and quality checks at the hands of the editorial staff....hmmm, makes you wonder, doesn't it??

So, for those of you who might have missed the Ink.com buzz, here is a critical review for mass consumption:

I was just reading Mathew Ingram's remarkable post about the increasing trend of how news is consumed using social networks. He cites a remarkable quote from one 20-something, "If the news is important, it will find me."

The idea is that there just so much news out there that it's virtually impossible to consume it all. Instead, there is a faith that someone you know or trust will pass it on to you via email, RSS, Twitter, blog or other way. It's the new word-of-mouth for our century and it is replacing crushed trees smeared with ink as the medium of choice.

Coincidentally, today marks the launch of The Kansas City Star's new "lifestyle" newspaper named, anachronistically and without irony, Ink meant for the group Mathew Ingram talks about. There is a print tabloid version, but their website has user blogs and the ability to "friend" others into a trusted group. At first glance it looks like The Kansas City Star's team has put together something to face the future.

But it's awful.

It lacks RSS feeds. The advertising overwhelms the experience. The navigation is bereft of intuitive labeling and placement. The design has the sensibilities of a nausea-inducing MySpace profile. The blogs require "friending" to read, effectively shutting you out without a long wait. In short, it's unreadable.

The content seems like it might be worthwhile, but the design and usability obstacles are so big that I wonder if it matters. My first reaction might be a bit harsh for something that just launched and it does say on their site that it's in beta, but a launch is a launch.

Perhaps these are things they'll revisit and improve upon over time. I guess if it does, the news will find me.

UPDATE: Try Googling "Ink KC" or variations of it. They have *no* search engine visibility. I'd make that my first priority because I really want to see them succeed.

Business Travel 101

Taking a peek at the world through the eyes of Sean Tevis, I came across an interesting and very familiar observation concerning our recent national sales meeting. (excerpt from Sean's Blog)

"The Napa Marriott, for example, is a nice place, but it’s not noticeably different on the inside from other Marriott hotels except for the wine-themed artwork on the walls. For the 90 percent of the time you spend indoors you might as well be at the Marriott in Overland Park, Kansas and you would never know the difference. "

When I'm trying to convince my wife that business travel is grueling and not so glamorous, I will use this same approach - describing every city as "looking the same". You know - an airport, same old rental car, the inside of the Marriott Courtyard, a conference room at the customer's office, dinner at Applebee's...same ole' stuff - different city.

Sad thing is - it is quite possible to have this experience (many people do - including me at one point). Several years ago, during a visit to Indianapolis, my friend Peter introduced me to the concept of the 15-minute tourist. During a short break between our afternoon meetings and dinner, we made a quick side visit to the War memorial - 15-minutes of culture squeezed into an otherwise busy trip. Since then, I have made it a point to try and get out for a few minutes of "sight-seeing" whenever I travel. Sometimes this is easier said than done - but I probably have a better than 50% success rate over the last several years. Here are some tips:

1. Don't rely on "stumbling" across an interesting tourist attraction. Do a quick Internet search and find the local sites and unique attractions in the city you are visiting.

2. Bring a camera - give yourself a personal goal of taking at least 20 photos on each trip. I actually carry my Nikon digital SLR wherever I go. The kids get a kick out of viewing my photos on my zenfolio photo site - especially on those multi-night journeys.

3. If your trip includes dinner or a working lunch, incorporate a local attraction. Frequently, your local host or client will be thrilled to show off their home town - especially if you are from out of the country.

4. Even if you don't have time scheduled for a 15 minute sightseeing excursion, do your homework anyway, be ready when things change. On a trip to New York City a few years ago, we found ourselves with an unexpected 2-hour opening in the schedule. Rather than just going back to our rooms to do e-mail, Danielle, Paul & I had time for a visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Now, if one of the local attractions happens to be the worlds' largest outdoor market, you may have a quite different dilemma...(see "The Joy of Shopping")