Will it work?

This is a question that comes up a lot in business when people have an idea. I don't know why, but when I ask this question, the reply is often a, "Ooh, I don't know about that," which in essence is a "No." My father asked me about a business idea he had and I had to stop myself from defaulting to this "No." I basically told him that he will never know if it will work until he tries it. Markets are funny things. There is a lot of uncertainty.

Theory can help in reducing some of the uncertainty in business. Clayton Christensen, author of The Innovator's Dilemma and co-author of The Innovators Solution, maintains that our understanding of innovation is fairly unsophisticated at this moment in time. He does, however, argue that there are many predictable forces in business that can help the innovating firm succeed, and that this "theory" can be studied and learned.

One such force is the force that influences a middle manager's promotion trajectory. If his promotion is contingent on this year's sales (or this month's); he is most definitely going to say "No" to any idea that will send things off course. So when somebody says something won't work; you have got to think about who's saying the "No" and why.

[Entrepreneurs often ask this question, because a "No" for them is often the green light. Remember that the entreprenur is driven not by money, but a desire to prove himself better than others.]

[Link to interesting article] Money isn't everything from Booz, Allen, and Hamilton's Strategy + Business.




innovation, innovation management, China, Taiwan