Innovation

Benjamin SchultzKelley School of Businessschultzb@indiana.edu

=THINK INSIDE THE BOX

Think Outside the Box

Innovation

• Objective: Enable you to create ideas, projects, and

proposals that truly stand out.

Innovation

• The ability to be innovative will help make your project or proposal stand

out, but also it will give you a permanent edge in any undertaking.

Innovation and Creativity

• Innovation and Invention

• Invention = New• Innovation = ties ideas to consumer

experience and results in increased customer value

Invention

• What ideas or products can you think of that were inventions?

Printing Press - 1439

iPhone: 2007Not New:Cell phonesPortable media playersPortable camerasVideo recordingCellular networksGPS

Multi-touch screen:Mitsubishi DiamondTouch (2001)

Nothing is New. Everything is Recycled • Coffee:• 1800s: age of commodities – whole

beans• 1900-1950: age of goods – ground

coffee• 1960-1980: age of services – cup of

joe• 1990s: age of experiences – lattes• Now: age of authenticity – whole

beans

Mastery and Artestry

• Mastery: a master in your field

• Artistry: the ability to periodically step back and consider the larger picture. What business are we really in, and what will customers and clients need in the future?

Steve JobsDidn’t invent computersDidn’t invent portable computersDidn’t invent cell phonesDidn’t invent MP3 players

Peter McColough• former Xerox CEO• A Master, but…• Not an Artist

• Xerox (PARC)developed: • The mouse, laser printer, LAN etc.• Co. failed to take advantage of inventions• Short-sighted managers at PARC unwilling

to take chances• Company managed on quarterly basis

looking primarily at bottom line• Engineers left to create start-ups

Johannes Gutenberg• Mastery and Artistry Skills:

• Artist: created movable type machine

• Not a Master: sued by business partner and died broke and unrecognized.

Innovation and Invention• Consider:

• How is innovation different from creativity?

• What is an invention?• Are all inventions innovations?

• Dubai Moving Skyscraper: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woseJrFmcSM

Innovation: Definitions (?)

• The ability to see relationships where others have not

• The process begins with figuring out a better way of doing something and ends with something new and useful.

• The process can take a few seconds or a few years.

Innovation and Creativity• Creativity:

• deviant from the norm• pertinent to the task at hand

• Innovation: • a practical application of creative efforts

designed to satisfy a need

Innovation is:• a habit; it applies to everything you do.• a process; the process can be learned.• the ability to make connections,

especially among disparate entities.• not an absolute – operates on a scale• in business, it’s a team sport.• Nature vs. Nurture

The Innovation Quiz• What famous product was considered a

failure and abandoned - but became a success when one of the engineers took some discarded samples home, only to find that his teenage daughters used the product for setting their hair?

• a) styling gelb) Scotch tapec) Post-It notes

The Innovation Quiz• What famous product was considered a

failure and abandoned - but became a success when one of the engineers took some discarded samples home, only to find that his teenage daughters used the product for setting their hair?

• a) styling gelb) Scotch tapec) Post-It notes

The Innovation Quiz• What famous inventor threw a paint-filled

sponge at the wall and then looked to see what shapes he could find in the splatters of paint, then thought about connections between the image he saw and the problem he was working on?

• a) Alexander Graham Bellb) George Washington Carverc) Leonardo da Vinci

The Innovation Quiz• What famous inventor threw a paint-filled

sponge at the wall and then looked to see what shapes he could find in the splatters of paint, then thinking about connections between the image he saw and the problem he was working on?

• a) Alexander Graham Bellb) George Washington Carverc) Leonardo da Vinci

The Innovation Quiz• What famous inventor was standing by a

well when he saw a stone hit the water at the same time a bell rang. Watching the circular ripples in the water while at the same time listening to the ringing of the bell, he realized that sound travels in waves.

• a) Sir Isaac Newtonb) Leonardo da Vincic) Marconi

The Innovation Quiz• What famous inventor was standing by a

well when he saw a stone hit the water at the same time a bell rang. Watching the circular ripples in the water while at the same time listening to the ringing of the bell, he realized that sound travels in waves.

• a) Sir Isaac Newtonb) Leonardo da Vincic) Marconi

The Innovation Quiz• Who solved a famous problem by

imagining he was travelling on a beam of light?

• a) Thomas Edisonb) Albert Einsteinc) Benjamin Franklin

The Innovation Quiz• Who solved a famous problem by

imagining he was travelling on a beam of light?

• a) Thomas Edisonb) Albert Einsteinc) Benjamin Franklin

How Can YOU Become More Innovative?

Becoming More Innovative

• The process of innovation

• How the brain works

• The application of the process

• Develop an Innovative Attitude

The Process of Innovation• Preparation• Idea Formation• Incubation• Illumination• Evaluation

How the Brain Works• Left Brain:• uses logic• facts rule• words and

language• order/pattern

perception• reality based• forms strategies• practical• safe

• Right Brain:• uses feelings• big picture

orientation• symbols and

images• philosophy &

religion• appreciates• spatial perception• fantasy based• impetuous• risk taking

Right Brain – Left Brain

The Color Test

http://www.fireworkspop.com/colortest.htm

Right Brain – Left Brain

Application of the Process

• You can’t just DO it (at least not right away).

• You must impose a structure on the process.

Application of the Process • Practice the three Cs: Clothes, Color,

Count

• When getting dressed, look at the colors you are putting on. Quickly list as many alternative color names as you can.

• e.g: brown: warm brown, rust, young oak, toast, burnt sienna, burnt earth, squirrel, evening orange, café au lait, sun-kissed mahogany, rolling-in-the-mud Old Yeller.

Application of the Process • Use other people as sounding blocks:

• e.g: At a group gathering, start a progressive story about anything. A wacky group somewhere else in the country or world who is also just gathering.

• Each person adds a few sentences to the story.

Application of the Process • Play the TV/movie game

• Study a character, and write down a dozen or so ways that he or she reminds you of yourself.

• Then, during the commercials, figure out a link between one of the traits and the product being advertised. Pick a different one for each commercial break.

• e.g: needs to go on a diet, is humorous, is a college grad, drives a red car…

Learn from the Innovators• Combine your personal and

professional lives:• Be a Poet

Haikus and Limericks

• Haiku:• 3 lines: 5, 7, 5

• Limerick:• 5 lines: 8 or 9, 6 or 7, 8 or 9

Haikus• Global climate change• Deal with inconvenient truths• Create Green Jobs now.

• Three point one four one• Five nine two six five three five• Eight nine seven nine

Limericks• ‘Tis a favorite project of mine• A new value of pi to assign.• I would fix it at three• For it’s simpler, you see• Than 3 point 14159

Limericks

• At the stadium students gather to cheer• They get louder when the end is near• The papers all report• That it’s such a great sport• But I think most just come for the beer.

Learn from the Innovators• Combine your personal and

professional lives:• Be a Poet• Be a Thief• Throw a Fit• Daydream• Push the Limits• Draw/Paint a Picture

Develop an Attitude for Innovation

• Learn to deal with failure

• Learn from discarded ideas

• Learn how to be silly

• Convince yourself that you are creative

Failure• Failure is a learning tool

• Don’t fear being silly or being different

• Careful ideas aren’t the best ones

Let’s Try It!• Take out a sheet of paper.

• List as many ways as you can that you think you can become more innovative.

• Turn to a person sitting next to you and share your ideas.

Brainstorming• Turn it into a routine

• daydream, draw, visualize, doodle…• Do it while exercising, bathing, walking• The subconscious is full of ideas• e.g: play Imagine with your idea or

product:• imagine if it spoke to you• imagine if it was a toy• imagine if it was a cartoon character

Brainstorming• Think visually

• Draw a picture

• Create a Mindmap

Mindmapping

• Draw a Mindmap for a degree in

Dietetics from IU

Questions?

Innovation

Benjamin SchultzKelley School of Businessschultzb@indiana.edu