Innovator's Method: Post #6--Innovative Companies

Innovative Companies: Research on Forbes list of most innovative companies—authors established several categories:
--Established corps that maintain innovation—Amazon, Salesforce, Google, Valve Software, Starbucks, W.L. Gore, IDEO. 
--Established corps that reignite innovation—Intuit, Unilever, P&G, AT&T.
--And, start-up innovators—Rent the Runway, Qualitics, Motive Communications.

Innovator's Model: Post #5--Four Steps

Innovator’s Method. Engineering uses “design thinking.” Entrepreneurship

uses “lean start up.” Computer Science uses “agile software.” Authors synthesized these models and came up with “innovator’s method”: Insight-Problem-Solution-Business Model.
a.    Step 1: Insight. ”Savor Surprises.” Associative thinking combines things that don’t usually go together to create something new. Creativity is connecting things. Triggering new ideas (from Innovator’s DNA): Observe, Network, Experiment, and Ask Questions to get to Associative Thinking.
b.    Step 2: Problem. Find out if you’re solving a problem that customers need/care about. Look at symptoms and get to the root cause of those symptoms. Discover the job to be done. Why would a customer hire your product?  Look at functional, social, and emotional issues. Example: Digital watches did not totally displace mechanical watches. Why? Social reasons—high-end watches lend prestige and appeal to emotions.
c.    Step 3: Solution. Develop a prototype of minimum awesome product. Series of prototypes—viable to awesome product. 1. Go broad with possible solutions; 2. Theoretical prototype—conceptual model of your solution, use “wow” test with customers; 3. Virtual prototype—Mock-up and wow test; 4. Minimum viable awesome prototype. Theoretical and virtual are fast—you can create a lot of them in a short period of time.
d.    Step 4: Business Model.  Discover a low-cost, go-to-market strategy. Use Business Model Canvas by Osterwalder to consider major business assumptions. Example: Indian company (Godrej) found that 80% of Indian houses don’t have a refrigerator. Godrej did not leap to a conclusion, but answered the “job to be done?” Small refrigerator would not work. No consistent power in rural India. Rapid prototyping produced more of a cooler, less of a refrigerator and a battery to deal with intermittent power.

Innovator's Model: Post #4--Different Models

Different Models. Certain and uncertain markets require different models to succeed. Mature companies want to make a better, cheaper, more efficient product. High uncertainty problems require a faster, more adaptive model born from experiments rather than a business plan.