Посты автора boydadmin
boydadmin
Innovation Sighting: Clothing to Keep You Cooler
The Columbia Sportswear Company is launching a new line of clothing that keeps you…cooler. The Omni-Freeze® ZERO is a specialized fabric weave that increases the surface area of the fabric that contacts your bare skin. This transmits heat faster and feels cooler to the touch.
This is a great example of the Attribute Dependency Technique, one of five in the S.I.T. innovation method. Attribute Dependency differs from the other templates in that it uses attributes (variables) of the situation rather than components. Start with an attribute list, then construct a 2 x 2 matrix of these, pairing each against the others. Each cell represents a potential dependency that forms a Virtual Product. Using Function Follows Form, we work backwards and envision a potential benefit or problem that this hypothetical solution solves. In the case of Omni-Freeze® ZERO, the dependency is created between body temperature and layers of clothing.
What makes the Omni-Freeze® ZERO so special is the way the dependency was changed. Normally, we use the matrix to create a new dependency or break one that already exists. In this case, a dependency already existed between body temperature and layers of clothing – the more layers you have, the warmer you get. But with Omni-Freeze® ZERO, the dependency is reversed – the more layers you have, the cooler you get. Reversing a dependency is a powerful and provocative way to break fixedness and create new innovations.
Here is a short demonstration of the new product:
The LAB: Innovating a Museum with S.I.T. (June 2012)
According the Center for the Future of Museums, many non-profit museums in this country are struggling from a broken economic model. Attendance and memberships are declining as consumers are given more choices of how to spend their time. To attract more, museums need to have good storytelling, stagecraft, showmanship, great imagery, and great sound. They need to tap deep passions and emotions to create “product” that is meaningful to audiences. Otherwise, many museums will shut down.
For this month’s LAB, let’s apply the innovation method, S.I.T, to a museum. Students from my Innovation Tools course at the University of Cincinnati created new concepts for a local museum, the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center. The students portrayed the concepts in a Dream Catalog as a way to visually tell the story. You can download the entire catalog here.
Mastering Innovation Through Action Learning
Teaching innovation begs two questions: what to teach and how to teach it. For me, innovation begins with the generation of new ideas, so I emphasize cognitive methods such as Systematic Inventive Thinking (SIT). I learned it from Amnon Levav and his colleagues while I was at Johnson & Johnson. It’s superior to other methods I’ve tried, so I continue teaching and using it in practice.
What’s the best way to teach it? To master innovation, you must experience it. I find Action Learning is the best instructional approach for innovation.
“Action learning is an educational process where participants study their own actions and experience in order to improve performance. Learners acquire knowledge through actual actions and practice rather than through traditional instruction. Action learning is done in conjunction with others, in small groups called action learning sets. It is proposed as particularly suitable for adults, as it enables each person to reflect on and review the action they have taken and the learning points arising. This should then guide future action and improve performance.”
Action Learning is spreading to industry and academia. This week, the 17th Global Forum on Executive Development and Business Driven Action Learning kicks off in Yokohama, Japan. About 100 human resource practitioners, educators, and consultants in the field of Action Learning attend it each year. I have attended the conference since 2003. Dr. Yury Boshyk, the conference chairman, is the leader of this community of practice and a big proponent in the application of Action Learning to methods like SIT.
Here is how I employ the action learning approach when teaching innovation techniques:
- Start with an activation exercise – a story, puzzle, video, etc – that links to the technique
- Reflect on the exercise. What is the key message of the exercise?
- Introduce the technique. Describe the steps in using it.
- Demonstrate it on something the group is familiar with.
- Working in pairs or individually, have the group use the technique with each taking a different component.
- Review the ideas generated so that people see the value of the technique.
- Reflect on whether these ideas would have been generated without the technique.
- Re-do the exercise with a product or service relevant to the group’s organization – as a group, then in pairs, each taking a separate component.
- Reflect on the exercise and the results.
- Share examples of products generated with the technique. Have the group reflect on why each is an example of the pattern.
- Ask the group for their own examples of products they believe follow the same pattern.
- Metacognition: what insight or surprising element emerged from the session?
By coincidence, a former student of mine (now president of DHL in Japan) is attending the same conference. He learned SIT from me in 2007, and he still uses it today – thanks to Action Learning.
Graduate Certificate in Innovation
I am pleased to announce the launch of The Graduate Certificate in Innovation at the Lindner College of Business. The 12 credit hour program is the first of its kind to package Systematic Inventive Thinking, design thinking, and commercial strategy into one comprehensive package. It is the first certificate course that combines business courses with courses from our globally-ranked College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning (DAAP).
The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) believes business schools must focus more on specific skills that support innovation, reinvent curricula to be more integrative, and convene executive programs that create new ideas and networks. Business schools must promote interdisciplinary research and recognize that innovation can come from advances in the theory, practice, or teaching of management. “Through outreach activities, such as business plan competitions, student consulting projects, and business incubators, business schools’ activities contribute directly to innovation in the communities they serve.”
Business schools have long recognized the need to offer programs targeting innovation as a driver of growth. But few can do it comprehensively – from ideation to full commercial launch. That is the aim of our new certificate. Students coming out of this program will be able to step into any organization and drive innovation results. The inter-disciplinary Graduate Certificate is targeted at anyone engaged in the process of creating and commercializing innovative new products and services. It includes coursework in innovation methodology, research, management, design, and entrepreneurship; and gives students a sound understanding of the principles and processes of innovation, and management of the innovation process.
Curriculum
The certificate requires 4 core courses totalling 8 credits…
- MKTG7014 Systematic Innovation Tools
- MGMT7035 Management of Innovation
- MKTG7021 Design Thinking for Business
- MKTG7020 New Product Development
…and 4 credits from any of the following electives:
- MKTG7012 Marketing Research
- MKTG7013 Qualitative Research Methods
- MKTG7015 Consumer Insights
- MKTG7035 Marketing Strategy for Managers
- MKTG7027 e-Marketing (Social Media)
- ENTR7005 Entrepreneurship
- DSGN7021 Design Strategy & Thinking
This is a great lineup of electives because it lets the student tailor their certificate program to the type of innovation work they want to do. For example, a student seeking more skills at the “front end” of innovation would take the marketing research and insights courses. A student who wants to develop strong innovation strategic skills would add Marketing Strategy and Design Thinking. Finally, a student who wants to engage in the launch and commercialization of new inventions could take the coursework in Entrepreneurship and e-Marketing.
Patterns That Predict Innovation Success
The New York Times published a list of “32 Innovations That Will Change Your Tomorrow,” an eclectic mix of concepts that range from the wild and wacky like SpeechJammer (#14) to more practical ideas like a blood test for depression (#25).
I analyzed each of the 32 concepts to see which ones could be explained by the five patterns of Systematic Inventive Thinking. These patterns are the “DNA” of products that can be extracted and applied to any product or service to create new-to-the-world innovations. Dr. Jacob Goldenberg found in his research that the majority of successful innovations conform to one or more of these patterns. Conversely, the majority of unsuccessful innovations (those that failed in the marketplace) do not conform to a pattern.
Based on my analysis, here is the breakdown of which pattern explains each innovation on the list:
- Task Unification: 9
- Attribute Dependency: 7
- Division: 3
- Subtraction: 3
- Multiplication: 3
- None of the above: 8
In other words, 24 of the 32 innovations in the New York Times list could be explained by the SIT patterns. The eight concepts that were not pattern based were either process or performance enhancements. For example, the carbon fiber bicycle frame (#9) is one of the eight. That does not mean these eight will not be successful. But based on Dr. Goldenberg’s research, the odds are they are less likely to succeed than if they had one of the patterns embedded inside. The patterns, in essence, are predictive of success.
The LAB: Creating New Logistics Packaging with SIT (May 2012)
Cardboard boxes are one of the most widely used forms of packaging in the world. 90% of all products are shipped or displayed in corrugated packaging at some point in their lifecycle. It’s a $57 billion dollar industry globally, but it is not growing. Could it be a lack of innovation?
For this month’s LAB, we will apply the corporate innovation method, SIT, to the corrugated box to see what potential innovations could fuel industry growth. But first, a bit of history from Wikipedia:
Corrugated (also called pleated) paper was patented in England in 1856, and used as a liner for tall hats, but corrugated boxboard was not patented and used as a shipping material until December 20, 1871. The patent was issued to Albert Jones of New York City for single-sided (single-face) corrugated board. Jones used the corrugated board for wrapping bottles and glass lantern chimneys. The first machine for producing large quantities of corrugated board was built in 1874 by G. Smyth, and in the same year Oliver Long improved upon Jones’ design by inventing corrugated board with liner sheets on both sides, thereby inventing corrugated board as it came to be known in modern times.
Students* from my Innovation Tools course at the University of Cincinnati created these concepts and portrayed them in a Dream Catalog for their client, a local packaging materials company.
1. AirBox
- Description: The Reusable Air Box is a lightweight and protective packaging solution for fragile shipments. The outside air pocket reduces the weight of the packaging while still offering a protection and storage. The interior pocket has a foam protective tubing that forms to the variety of size of objects placed inside the tubing.
- Benefits: The Reusable Air Box allows for short term packaging of fragile shipments and storage without adding weight or need for a variety of shapes. Could design smaller types that worked as fillers for large boxes to hold things like bottles.
- Challenges: Would need to make sure they do not pop or lose air easily A mechanism to remove the product easily.
- SIT Tool: Subtraction
Innovation Sighting: Toyota’s Mood-Detecting Car
Toyota is designing a new technology that will react to the driver’s mood. It will adjust how the car behaves depending on whether the driver is sad, happy, angry or neutral. The technology uses a camera to identify facial emotions by taking readings from 238 points on the driver’s face.
A driver’s mood can affect performance on the road. Research has shown that people with negative (and sometimes positive) emotions are distracted even more than those using a cell phone while driving. Such emotions cause otherwise excellent drivers to:
- Experience dimmed or otherwise impaired observation and reaction times.
- Fail to recognize situations, such as an abrupt slowing of traffic or debris in the road.
- Get to the point that they are unable to predict or to determine what the other drivers around us are doing.
- Make risky maneuvers and risky changes, such as cutting across several lanes of traffic to take an off-ramp, suddenly change lanes, or even to drive on the freeway shoulder.
- Lose the ability to perform driving skills that require precise timing or other subtle skills.
- Make a driver feel as though he or she is detached from the other drivers, vehicles, and conditions on the road.
Toyota’s new technology will try to link to these emotions to prevent accidents.
Creating a dependency between the driver’s mood and how the car responds is a classic example of the Attribute Dependency Technique, one of five in Systematic Inventive Thinking. The modern automobile has many innovative solutions that use Attribute Dependency. Anything that customizes to the preferences of the driver could be considered an attribute dependency. Examples include automatic seats that adjust to the push of a button, radio channel presets, and dashboard information readouts. My favorite innovations are those that link an internal attribute of the car to an external attribute such as driving conditions. Examples include windshield wipers that change speed depending on the amount of rain falling, tires that tilt depending on the road curves, and anti-lock brakes that adjust stopping performance to the conditions of the road surface.
The Curse of Innovation
The Financial Times featured an article last week calling the patent system the curse of innovation. Patents have become weapons of mass destruction in certain industries, most recently in the smartphone category.
“Escalating courtroom battles over intellectual property – whether evidence of an efficient market in ideas or a sign of a broken patent system – are placing a mounting burden on the (technology) sector…In smartphones alone, an estimated $15 to $20 billion has been spent buying patents for both defensive and offensive strategies. Legal bills are conservatively estimated at $500 million.”
This “colossal squander” is spreading to stable industries like food, autos, and mining. All face dramatic increases in patent lawsuits.
The patent system is not the only curse associated with innovation. Here are six curses, some that inhibit innovation and some that stem from innovation:
Marketing Innovation: The Extreme Consequence Tool
Commercials that show the benefits of using the product are likely to be ignored because consumers expect it. The message becomes cliche. If the advertiser shows how the consumer is transformed by using the product, consumers become skeptical. Telling viewers they will become young and adventurous by drinking a soft drink lacks credibility. It is wishful thinking, but unrealistic. The ad is tossed aside.
But show these same product benefits in an extreme, unrealistic way and the advertisement is likely to be more memorable. The message sinks in. That is the goal of the Extreme Consequence Tool. This tool creates ads that show the absurd result of using the product. Over exaggeration of the promise is viewed as clever and credible versus traditional exaggeration.
The tool is one of eight patterns embedded in most innovative commercials. Jacob Goldenberg and his colleagues describe these simple, well-defined design structures in their book, “Cracking the Ad Code,” and provide a step-by-step approach to using them. The tools are:
1. Unification
2. Activation
3. Metaphor
4. Subtraction
5. Extreme Consequence
6. Absurd Alternative
7. Inversion
8. Extreme Effort
Here is an example from Mercedes Benz.