Innovation Zen

Guy Kawasaki has posted an interesting interview with Scott Berkum, a former Microsoft employee who recently published a book titled “The Myths of Innovation.” Check out some of the answers that Scott provided:
Question: How long does it take in the real world—as opposed to the world of retroactive journalism—for an “epiphany” to occur?
Answer: An epiphany […]

Sometime ago I was reading through an MIT book about innovation and one of the definitions for innovation on the book was: “the successful exploitation of ideas”. While this definition could be true to a certain extent, I think that most people wrongly associate innovation with success.

Design is starting to gain attention from corporations all over the world. The discipline itself is expanding beyond “form and look” to include processes and business strategy in general. Corporations are also using design as a tool to stimulate creativity and foster innovation on the market.

Suppose a brilliant idea just popped into your head. What is your first reaction? Probably to check if someone else has tried it (just google it!). Great, you say! It seems that the idea is novel and unique…

At some point in the documentary a F1 expert was asked what made Senna such an outstanding driver. He answered that Senna, from the very first races, had no fear to commit mistakes whatsoever.

There is a lot of theoretical evidence supporting the model, but does this evidence emerge empirically as well? Not quite. Consider the markets for safety razors, disposable diapers, photographic film, laser printers, game consoles, VCRs, energy drinks, personal computers, internet browsers, operating systems, search engines, online bookstores, online auctions, VoIP services, and the list goes on.

In emerging and innovative markets, however, a completely different managerial mindset is required. Competing in those markets, contrary to what most people believe, is not about having a superior technology.

The message is that managing new and innovative markets is distinctively different from managing existing ones. It will require different competencies, different strategies and, most importantly, a different managerial mindset.

The first confusion to dismiss is the difference between invention and innovation. The former refers to new concepts or products that derive from individual’s ideas or from scientific research. The latter, on the other hand, represents the commercialization of the invention itself.

Stories like the above one, even if not as dramatic, are not uncommon. Consider the lists Fortune 500, Forbes 100, Global 1000, S&P 500 and so on, they collect the largest and, supposedly, the best managed companies in the world. If we take a closer look, however, practically all of those large organizations underperform the market in the long term, a rather counter-intuitive fact.