Failure of imagination

It's very difficult to nail down the starting point of the innovation process -- much harder than finding the source of the Nile. You often see the process described simply as ideas leading to value (profit), but this doesn't tell us much about the origins of these ideas. Perhaps this is why the idea end of the innovation process is called the Fuzzy Front End -- translated as, "something we don't know much about." One thing's for certain, national governments need to encourage imagination if they expect their nation to be truly innovative.

Here's a very imaginative, and fun, presentation I found on Slideshare:

Album covers

I often wonder who designs album covers. Here are a couple of my favourites -- one busy, one simple (the music is pretty good, too!):

Capitalism in China

Joseph Schumpeter wrote in Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy:

"My final conclusion [that capitalism will be replaced by some form of socialism] therefore does not differ, however much my argument may, from that of most socialist writers and in particular from that of all Marxists. But in order to accept it one does not need to be a socialist. Prognosis does not imply anything about the desirability of the course of events that one predicts." (1942, p. 61)

The economic wealth that capitalism creates doesn't come unaccompanied. It produces two by-products: 1) a tendency for women to have fewer children and 2) a growing disparity between the haves and the have nots (inequality). Figures tend to suppport this and, in this sense, Schumpeter and Marx might both be right with their conclusions and their arguments.



China, despite all the talk about its current economic progress (in aggregate), is particulary affected by both of these by-products. It is interesting to note that while the world is obsessed with China's economic growth, the China government is extremely concerned about the internal weaknesses building up within China's society: peasants who resent their second-class status and spoilt little rich kids with no brothers, sisters or cousins, and little desire to have kids of their own in future. The "i" in China is growing in tandem with its economic development.

Johns Hopkins University has a couple of fascinating podcasts on China. These are a must listen for anybody interested in looking beyond the facade of Shanghai's curtain-walled cityscape.

China Rising I

China Rising II
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Entrepreneurship

For Joseph Schumpeter, the reduction in the number of entreprenuers as a result of capitalism's successes would play a part in capitalism's own self-destruction. Capitalism, Schumpter argued, tends to make individuals "rationalize life" and that very rationalization results in a reduction in people's desire (ability) to have kids. Without children, there is less desire for individuals to pursue entrepreneurial activities. This, combined with the ever-aging "rational" population that remains, is likely to culminate in some form of socialism, capitalism's "heir apparent."

Regardless of whether you agree with Schumpeter, the entrepreneur is an important figure. Below is a great presentation from Guy Kawasaki on starting your own business. (I think there is a video flying around the Net with Guy delivering this presentation.)

Slogan mash up

I came across this great little tool that you can use to get some random ideas. All you do is type in a word and the software will ram it into an advertising slogan. I tried it with the following words: curious, innovation, idea, implementation and profit and did numerous searches for each word! Here are some of my favourites:

Search Word: CURIOUS

Result: "Curious Is Our Middle Name"

Search Word: INNOVATION

Result: "Monsieur, with this innovation you are really spoiling us"

Search Word: IDEA

Result: "Can't Do It In Real Life? Do It On Ideas"

Search Word: PROFIT

Result: "Aaahh, Profitable" (Couldn't let that one go!)

Search Word: IMPLEMENTATION

Result: "The Best Implementation Under One Roof"

Give the site a whirl and see what you come up with! It's a lot of fun!

Getting customer insight right

The idea that globalization causes a convergence of tastes is mistaken -- it is rare that the world consumes a truly standardized product offering. The stubborn Political, Economic, Technical, Cultural and Legal differences among country-markets continue to make global marketing a real headache for firms, particularly those firms selling products to individual customers. The reality is that many so-called "global" firms are required to have deep customer insight into numerous country-markets while developing their product offerings. A huge, time-consuming and expensive task.

I came across this interesting Web site that offers innovation games for "Creating breakthgrough products through collaborative play." These tools can be very useful because they allow you to go beyond the "We asked our customers what they want" mentality that often leads to very mediocre results.

If Edison had listened to customers, he would have made a bigger/brighter candle.

If Henry Ford had listened to customers, he'd have bred a faster, more powerful horse.

McDonald's listened to their customers and gave them salads, many of which were left on the shelf uneaten.

Listening and responding to customers is one of the reaons why firms pursuing a disruptive innovation strategy can make headway as incumbents flee up market with their sustaining innovations. Airlines in Asia are today listening to their customers and providing them with better wine and television screens in the back of seat headrests. Meanwhile, the no-frills airlines are quietly disrupting the industry -- just as they did in the United States and Europe.