5-question Interview

Daniel Scocco, who writes the Innovation Zen blog, tagged me as part of "The 5-Question Interview" which is going around the blogosphere. As far as I know, the idea is to answer the following five questions and then "tag" five more people, who will do the same. You can change questions 1 to 4, but you must answer question 5 as it stands. Here are the questions:

1. What have you learned so far from your visitors?

Most of the people who comment here have blogs of their own and it never ceases to amaze me how much I can learn from these blogs. I mean, blogs allow you to read people's opinions on a topic that was posted today! Compare that to a book that was written in 2001! That said, I've also learned about some fantastic books that I never even knew existed.

2. If someone would offer to pay a course (or more) for you, what that course would be?

This is an awesome question. And a tough one to answer! I am going to say that I'd love to take a course on Photoshop, since being able to manipulate images is such a useful skill for designing presentations, making posters, flyers etc.

3. Are you satisfied with what you’ve achieved this year, in general?

Generally, I'm satisfied. I managed to finish a dissertation and got a distinction for my course at the university in Scotland. I would still like to get a job where I could apply more fully some of my ideas on innovation. Also, I wish world leaders would stop spending boatloads of money sending probes to Mars and divert those funds to medicine/food/education instead. I guess I should say that I'm grateful.

4. Did blogging change your life or your personality in any way?

Yes. It has made me more humble and, daft as it sounds, more responsible! There may be people out there who cannot afford to go to school, and if reading a bit about innovation on this blog can help them in any way, I'll keep on blogging. Blogging has given me the opportunity to learn from and engage with the many great people out there who are willing to share their knowledge.

5. If you had the opportunity to meet one person that you admire the most in the world, who that person would be?

At this moment in time, I'd like to meet Tyra Banks. I get the impression that she is a very genuine person even though her emotions get the better of her from time to time. I like that. I'd also like to meet Niall Ferguson, an economics historian.

I'm going to tag the following people and see what happens: Brent Edwards at Innovation Science, Francis Fukuyama, Binnur Al-Kazily,
Alex Bellinger at Small Biz Pod, and Dave at Daverothacker.com.

Season's Greeting

Just a quick note today to wish everybody a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! And thanks a lot for reading my blog!

7 Essential Ingredients for Innovation

The idea that innovation is essential for survival, never mind profitability, is well accepted in 2006. Mention this and most people will probably think to themselves, "Tell me something I don't know." And then they'll proceed to think, "Oh deary me, I'm going to have to listen to yet another long spiel on how innovative Apple and Google are. Why doesn't he just give me something I can use? I want a recipe!"

Of course, there's no recipe for innovation, but there are some ingredients that you really must have as a minimum. Some of these ingredients are concrete, some of them less so.

INGREDIENTS

1. Resources: Time, People, Money.

2. True leadership for innovation.

3. A list of ideas (without people's names beside them).

4. A filter (the innovation strategy document).

5. A structured, flexible innovation process spelt out in a document.

6. A list of specific goals.

7. A measurement system that shows that what you're doing makes a difference.

8. A reward system (could be money/could be "recognition")

Although this list is very simple, it can be very useful because you can actually ask people to show you these things and lay them out on the table.

"Where is this month's list of ideas?"

"Where is the document that states why this idea was screened out?"

"How much time does this guy have off this month to observe how people are solving problems?"

This all sounds a bit strict, but isn't this the whole idea about managing innovation: making it a repeatable process? And reducing risk?

Capitalism and aging populations

I was speaking with a young girl here in Taipei today and she told me that her great grandmother had 10 kids, her grandmother had four kids, and her mother had one, her.


Nobody can say for certain whether capitalism will run out of steam, as Karl Marx and Joseph Schumpeter both concluded (but for different reasons). However, one thing that is evident today in developed economies is the problem of aging populations. Nobody seems to have an answer for it, particularly those most in support of laissez-faire capitalism.

So what's the answer?

Robots? Immigration? Tax incentives? Government intervention? Some form of socialism?

Tactical innovation: so-called special offers

I don't know about you, but I've received a lot of special Christmas offers in my e-mail from companies selling digital products (pdf book summaries/audio courses etc.) Most of these e-mails are identical in that they aim to take advantage of the Christmas/Holiday season to get a few more sales.

The copy runs something along the lines of "As a special Christmas offer to our valued subscribers, we are offering you a 20% discount on product ABC . . . but you must respond to this very-limited offer before December 24."

Wouldn't it be better just to give your opt-in e-mail subscribers a genuine gift? I mean, the cost of sending a book summary in pdf is virtually zero. A tactical innovation like this is unexpected; different from what everybody else is doing; and as Seth Godin has said, if it's remarkable, people will talk about it.

Great example of a 'lead-user' innovation

You're out in the front lines in Iraq and you don't have anything that helps you spot trip wires. What do you do? You make your own solution to the problem. This article tells the story about how soldiers are using that brightly coloured "silly string" to solve this urgent problem. They spray a stream of the silly string out in front of them, if it falls to the ground, things should be OK. However, if there is a wire, the silly foam will fall in an inverted "V" as it gets caught in the wire.

You can probably imagine that the soldiers might even be adapting the existing can of silly string so that it shoots the thread of foam further in front of them. Possibly by heating it up first with a lighter or blow torch (don't do this at home kids!).

What's so interesting about this story is that it shows that, from the army's perspective, the innovation is coming from the soldiers themselves, not the top brass: it's coming from the bottom up (or outwards in). This is what happens with radical innovations. Compare this with what happens with the far more common incremental innovations: the idea for these innovations comes from the top down (or inwards out).

I wonder what else you can use a can of silly string for?

Eight tips for building a successful Taiwanese brand

Here in Taiwan there has been a lot of talk about brands and brand building, especially among the firms that design/manufacture products for other companies with their own branded products. The firms with their own brands not only expect a good working relationship with their Taiwan partners; they also expect a keen price. Yes, the companies with brands get to have their cake and eat it, too. This results in many Taiwanese firms fighting like cat and dog for the orders, with "the winner" often making very little on the deal.

One often-mentioned solution to this less-than-ideal state of affairs is innovation; specifically, brand innovation. So what should Taiwanese firms try to think about as they move from OEM/ODM to marketers of their own branded products? I thought I'd offer some ideas after having read none of these in the local newspapers here:

1. Be very wary of the brand "consultants" that are lining up to take your money. Just because it's expensive, it doesn't mean it's good.

2. Realize that before you start branding (activites such as advertising/sponsorships etc.); you need to have a brand in the first place. Brand first, branding second.

3. Have your staff believe in your brand. Staff first, market second.

4. Be up front about the country of origin because the market will find out soon enough.

5. Have a story that is authentic. If you try to communicate a story that is not the real deal, markets will quickly find out. And then you will lose trust -- one customer at a time (in the business-to-consumer arena, unlike the business-to-business game, all customers are important).

6. Brand one product successfully first. Not the whole range of products you manufacture. Go for depth/engagement not breadth/awareness.

7. Put a public face beside the brand, rather than hiding in the background. Michael Dell did it. Richard Branson did it. Bill Gates did it. Terry Guo of Hon Hai (Foxconn) is doing it.

8. Stop pretending you're a Germany- or Japan-based brand.

If anybody has any of their own ideas, please feel free to wade in.