January 27, 2014

Fear of saying something stupid is a barrier to innovation

albert-einstein-intuition-page2397We love this blog piece, especially the analysis of framing innovation as ‘problem’ vs opportunity – and how people’s fears of ‘saying something stupid’ are a barrier to innovation. Obvious, but very, very true and often overlooked.

Personal take-aways from: Chapter 4: Of Innovation, Intuition and Imposters: Intangible Vulnerabilities in the Brains of Great Leaders (Pages 91-101)

Making “problems” part of innovation appears to be a substantial mindset change to discover new solutions. Knowing that a problem is something “normal” will relax people to take their time to find the similarities across great semantic differences. The saying “just give it time” makes even more sense now. This goes hand in hand with other topics discussed in other parts of the book; a focus change away from the perception that a problem is something negative towards something positive: that a problem is one way of innovation calling to be discovered. 

It also seems to be important to have created a context for innovation in terms of the company culture. Although the book doesn’t specifically state it that way, but the fact that there may be tensions between madness and creativity, might explain the following thought process: “I don’t want to sound like a fool in front of my employees/the others.” Leaders might fall short of their own creative potential because they are afraid to say something “stupid” because they think that if the people they work with don’t understand it, they will have lose the leadership status they have had in the past. The same might be the reason why sometimes innovation is so hard to come by: because people are afraid to say something “stupid” that cannot be understood by the mindsets and paradigms of the people they work with. Changing this context by creating an “idea-free zone” might help people and leaders to truly open up without feeling the pressure of having to sound “intelligent” or to be understood. To challenge the status-quo might call for “stupid ideas.” Let´s think about the great inventors such as Bell, Tesla, the Wright Brothers and Babbage. 

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January 26, 2014

How to Innovate with Pubic Hair: American Apparel

It would be churlish not to comment on US clothing retailer American Apparel ‘s decision to ‘shock’ using mannequins with full pubic hair. Seen here sporting a rather large ‘bush’ showing through flimsy undergarments, this plastic lady and her plastic friends have been seen across select AA US store window displays.

Personally, I love it.  Interesting that something so, shall we say, ubiquitous can be used to such great PR effect. Simple, cheap to do, massive PR, what’s not to like ?

From an innovation perspective, this example teaches there is value in revisiting taboos. It encourages us not to feel like we have to beat the marketing teams of our competitors by playing according to category or advertising rules and mores.

I am not saying massive ‘bush in-ya-face’ is the best tactic for a fashion brand, nor that shock tactics are always a great plan, but this American Apparel stunt certainly got buzz  and  let’s face it, the story adds a degree of interest to what is otherwise a black and white box selling sweat tops and casual gear.

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January 26, 2014

Why celebrating failure is important for innovation

So the blogosphere is all over GoogleX, the skunkworks ‘hub’ where only the most intractable and real problems make the cut for an ambitions group of moon-seekers – and a place where they celebrate and relish failure.

The idea that failure is good for innovation is of course nothing new; we have been banging on about celebrating failure for years. Those of us who know what it feels like to have messed up big time, or seen a dream project slip sulkily down the drain of lost hope know it is easier said than done. It is only a properly innovative, grown up company ( note: not necessarily a large one) that actually manages to deal with this stuff, never mind celebrating it. I applaude Google for making their failures as much a story as their new ( and utterly incredible) intelligent contact lenses!

Fast Company way back in 2005, cited some excellent examples of failure and its importance to innovation: from Brit James Dyson, to Italian design icon Alberto Alessi , I love their list of those who manage and flourish in the face of failure.

I particularly rate the quote from legendary sculptor Henry Moore  who said: ‘The secret of life is to have a task, something you bring everything to, every minute of the day for your whole life. And the most important thing is: It must be something you cannot possibly do.’ Now there’s a challenge to innovate if ever I saw one!

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