what innovation isn't

What Innovation Isn’tWarwick Business School, March 2014

Howard SmithCTO and Author

[email protected]

Copyright CSC, All Rights Reserved 2 April 11, 2023

WHAT IS THERE LEFT TO SAY ABOUT ‘INNOVATION’ ?


BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU PREDICT

“As IT's power and presence have grown, its strategic relevance has actually decreased. IT has been transformed from a source of advantage into a commoditized cost of doing business, with huge implications for business management.” -- Nicholas Carr

2003 .... 2004 2008


‘INNOVATION’ IS LARGELY A WEASEL WORD

• Weasel word– A word or phrase aimed at creating an impression that something specific and

meaningful has been said, when in fact only a vague or ambiguous claim has been communicated

“We empower our most valued resources to engage our innovation

teams to shift the paradigm”


DO YOU WATCH TECHCRUNCH OR VENTUREBEAT?

• We live in a sea of innovation– New innovations every few minutes

– New investments in start ups each and every day

– Stories of creative people every week

• Key question– How many innovation experts and

pundits have actually innovated? http://techcrunch.com/http://venturebeat.com/

http://techcrunch.com/

http://venturebeat.com/


TAKE YOUR SMARTHPONE APART NOW


DONT USE WEASEL WORDS ...TELL IT HOW INNOVATION IS

Customer Experience (CX)

User Experience (UX)

Digital Electronics

Human CentredDesign

DesignThinking

Services Blueprinting

Open Platform

Ecosystem Management

Materials Science

Internet & Cellular Communications

Display Technology

Operating Systems

Software Engineering

Digital Imaging

Speech Recognition

Speech Synthesis

Sensor Technologies

Multimedia Technologies

Advanced Manufacturing

WaferFabrication


SO ..... CAN NON-GEEKS INNOVATE?

• Is innovation “just” science and engineering?

• What is innovation?–The innovator is a

problem solver

–But what exactly is a problem?

–How can we recognize opportunities to solve problems?

–How can problems be solved?

–Are there common patterns?


THERE ARE PATTERNS

Necessary Evil

Design Compromise

Harmful: reduce or eliminate

Useful: maintain or increase

Usefulfunction

BarrierCounteracts

Harmful Side effect

Produces

Regulations that limit

growth and profits

Abandoning spend on Plan A

when not working

Painful organization

change program

Our supply chain is

damaging the environment


CONTRADICTIONPATTERN

Release of CO2

Burning fossil fuels

Cheap energy

Global warming

Economic growth

Isolate the released CO2 from the

mechanism causing global warming

Find a way to prevent CO2 causing global

warming

Find a way to reverse the effects of

global warming

despite the release of

CO2

Find an alternative to burning fossil fuels that still provides

cheap energy

Find a source of economic

growth that does not

depend on cheap energy

Find another source of

cheap energy

Find a way to cope with inevitable global warming

Maximise the benefits of growth so that

global warming is no longer an issue

Find additional benefits from cheap energy

Find a way to prevent CO2

being released

Find a way to burn

fossil fuels that reduces

release of CO2

Find a way to cope with the

release of CO2


OPPOSITION PATTERN

Personalized

Standardized

Large

Small

Less fuel

More power

Mutualincompatibility ?


SEPARATION PRINCIPLE

• Problem – “I want it large and I want it small.”

• Direction of problem solving– Separate in TIME DIMENSION

– Large when raining

– Small to be portable

• Solution– Segmentation + Folding + Nested

Doll

• Other SEPARATIONS– In SPACE

– By PARTS

– By PERSPECTIVE

– By ROLE

– By ASPECT

– On CONDITIONS

– By PROBABILITY

Large

Small


CSC SOLVED CASH FLOW PROBLEM BY CROWED SOURING …. but where did the best ‘ideas’ come from?

Challenge:

Day Sales Outstanding

(DSO) reduction

Duration 8 weeks

Review team: 27 experts

The Ideation Event resulted in reduction of DSO by 4-8 days $64M-128M /

annum

Audience: 2300 cross-functional business people

Active participants: 317Ideas: 182Reviews: 334Votes: 1789


METHODS OF CREATIVITY AND PROBLEM SOLVING

• 5x5Whys• 7Questions• 9Boxes• Affinity Analysis• Argument Modelling• Before & After• Business Motivation• Cause-Effect• Causal Loop Analysis• Change Management• Choices and Issues• Concept Mapping• Contradiction Analysis• Competitive Analysis• Course Correction• Design for Six Sigma

• Dialog Mapping• Enterprise

Architecture• Failure Analysis• Force-field Analysis• Futures Studies• Goal Planning• Trimming• Improvement• Influence Analysis • Lean Six Sigma• Marketing 4Ps• Polarity Charts• Process Improvement• Pros and Cons • Reality Charting• Requirements

analysis

• Root Cause Analysis

• SCAMPER• Scenario Planning• Sign Diagrams• Six Thinking Hats• Stakeholder

Alignment• Star Bursting• Strategic Planning• Structured

Interviews• SWOT• Theory of

Constraints• TRIZ (*)• Value Engineering• What If?

* Unifies many methods


SOUTHBEACH VISUAL INNOVATIONWorlds first notation for problem solving, innovation and stakeholder alignment

• Learn to think like an innovator– Visualise complex ideas, situations, problems,

design challenges, dilemmas, conflicting requirements, differences of perspective, etc.

– Align on important contradictions, generate ideas

– Capture creativity and apply in any situation or model

– Reuse patterns, discover new ideas


IN CONCLUSION

WHAT INNNOVATION ISN’T

• Easy• Incremental• Hope• Random• Mystical• Compromise

WHAT INNOVATION IS

• Hard• Step change• Deliberate• Planned• Know how• Breaking contradictions

Advice : learn how to find and solve contradictions in any fieldManagement & Strategy, Finance, Engineering, Marketing, ICT, Operations, HR, Global Issues ...


RESOURCES / LEARNING

• Today we only touched the surface of problem solving and creativity• A pack of information, white papers and case studies, relating to topics in

this presentation, is available upon request• Students and alumni of Warwick Business School• Contact the author directly

http://www.linkedin.com/profile/[email protected]

http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=9859

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