The Innovator’s DNA

by Jeffrey H. Dyer, Hal B. Gregersen, and Clayton M. Christensen

Thiago Dalgalo de Quadros9116020120

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Research Method Introduction Five Discovery Skills

◦ Associational Thinking◦ Questioning◦ Observing◦ Networking ◦ Experimenting

Table of Contents

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Six-year study;

Studied the habits of 25 innovative entrepreneurs and surveyed more than 3000 executives and 500 individuals who had started innovative companies or invented new products;

The goal of the interviews: To understand when and how the innovators came up with creative ideas on which they built new innovative busi-nesses;

Research Method

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What makes innovators different from the rest of us?

Are innovators right brained?

One of the ability to generate innovative ideas is not merely a function of mind, but also a function of behavior.

The DNA of Innovators

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1. Associational thinking2. Questioning3. Observing4. Experimenting5. Networking

Innovator’s DNA: Five Discov-ery Skills

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Taking risks

Questioning

Observing

Networking

Experimenting

Associational thinking

Innovative Business Idea

Courage to

Innovate

Behavioral Skills Cognitive skill to

synthesize novel inputs

Challenges to status

quo

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AssociatingInnovators connect the dots to make unexpected connections. They combine pieces of what may seem non related pieces of information until "surprise - you've got this innovative new idea."

Pierre Omidyar launched eBay in 1996 after linking three unconnected dots:

1. a fascination with creating more efficient markets;2. his fiancée’s desire to locate hard-to-find collectible Pez

dispensers;3. the ineffectiveness of local classified ads to find such

things.

“Creativity is connecting things.”Steve Jobs, founder and CEO, Apple Inc.

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Questioning- Innovators are consummate questioners who show a passion for inquiry. Their queries frequently challenges the status quo.

- Questions focus in three areas:1. Ask “Why?” and “Why not?” and “What if?”;2. Imagine Opposites;3. Embrace Constraints.

“Question the unquestionable”Ratan Tata, chairman, Tata Group

Michaell Dell had the idea of founding Dell Computer after asking why a computer cost five times as much as the sum of its parts.

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Observing

“Observation is the big game changer in our company”Scott Cook, founder, Intuit

-Innovators are intense observers. They fully watch the world around them and their observation help them gain insight into ideas for a new way of doing things. - It’s the feeling of seeing something for the first time, even if you have actually seen it many times before.

Ratan Tata, chairman of India Tata Group, observed families riding scooters in India and gained a powerful insight that inspired the world’s cheapest car, the Tata Nano.

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NetworkingRather than simply doing social networking, innovators spend a lot of time and energy finding and testing ideas through a diverse network of individuals who vary widely in their background and perspectives.

Kent Bowen, the founding scientist of CPS technologies networked with one expert from Polaroid who knew how to make the ceramic composition stronger and experts in sperm-freezing technology knew how to prevent ice crystal growth on cell during freezing, knowledge applied in CPS’s manufacturing process with stunning success.

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Innovative Executives

“Delivery-driven”

Executives- Why they

network?- Learn new,

surprising things

- Gain new perspectives

- Test Ideas “in process”

- Access resources

- Sell themselves or their company

- Future careers

- Whom they target?

- People who are not like them

- Experts and nonexperts with very different backgrounds and perspectives

- People who are like them

- People with substantial resources, power, position, influence, etc.

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Experimenting

“I haven’t failed…I’ve just found 10,000 ways that do not work.”Thomas Edison

- Good experimenters understand that although questioning, observing , and networking provides data about past ( what was ) and the present (what is), experimenting is best suited for generating data on what might work in the future.-Three ways that innovators experiments1.Try out new experiences (living and working

overseas);2.Take apart products, processes, and Ideas;3.Test ideas through pilots and prototypes.

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Try to spend 30 minutes each day writing questions that challenge the status quo in your industry or company;

To sharpen your own observational skills, watch customers experimenting a product or service in their natural environment;

To improve your networking skills, contact the five most creative people you know and ask them to share what they do to stimulate creative thinking.

Practice, Practice and Practice

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Thank you!

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