Creativity Innovation How Organizations Can Really Make

Creativity ≠ Innovation How Organizations Can Really Make Innovation Happen Barbara Kivowitz Senior Partner im 21: innovation/measurement/21 st century bkivowitz@post. harvard. edu

Innovation & Financial Performance in % Points Innovation “The greater the amount of innovation, the greater the market and financial performance” Soo, Devinney, Midgley & Deering (2002)

What have innovative companies done? n n n 3 M – corporate goal of achieving 30% of sales from newer products. "3 M 15% Rule" allows employees to spend 15% of their time on projects of their own choosing Google – holds 8 brainstorming sessions a year with 100 engineers. All engineers can dedicate 20% of their time to pet projects Toyota – OObeya = big, open office. Brings together people from all parts of the company every month to discuss design, costs, mistakes, bottlenecks. Has saved Toyota millions of dollars P&G - shifted from R&D as the innovation pipeline to C&D, "Connect and Develop. ” P&G acquires 50% of its innovations outside the company, resulted in 3 successful new products in the first 6 months Whirlpool - group of employees serve as innovation consultants to assess best ideas and strategies to market. Employees submit ideas via a corporate-wide virtual bulleting board. A third of senior leader pay is tied to innovation. Whirlpool had record results in 2005 GE – GE Work. Out – 60% of projects initiated in this creativity program become successful products

Customers don’t buy innovations They buy solutions to problems Remember the Segway

Defining Our Terms n n Creativity Innovation Creativity is thinking up new things. Innovation is doing new things.

n n n CREATIVITY Generation of new & unusual ideas Divergent thinking Quantity driven process

4 Rules of Idea Generation n n Withholding judgment Freewheeling Generating a quantity of ideas Hitchhiking

Brainwriting: Quick & Quiet

Exercise How many uses can you come up with for:

Barriers to Creative Thinking Creativity is the ability to modify self-imposed constraints. n n n Functional fixedness Previous experience Excessive faith Intolerance of ambiguity Paradigms Emotion and Assumptions

The Astronaut Pen (urban legend #1) During the space race in the 1960’s NASA was faced with a major problem. The astronauts needed a pen that would work in zero gravity. NASA spent $1. 5 million developing the “Astronaut Pen. ” It enjoyed minor commercial success back on Earth. The Russians were faced with the same problem. They used a pencil.

Let’s Do Some Math 1000 40 1000 30 1000 20 1000 10

Let’s Do Some Math 1000 40 1000 30 1000 20 1000 10 4100

A radio conversation with the US Chief of Naval Operations (urban legend #2) n NAVY: Please divert your course 15 degrees to the North to avoid a collision n CIVILIAN: Recommend you divert YOUR course 15 degrees to the south to avoid a collision n NAVY: This is the captain of a US Navy ship. I say again, divert YOUR course n CIVILIAN: No, I say again, you divert YOUR course n n NAVY: THIS IS THE AIRCRAFT CARRIER ENTERPRISE. WE ARE A LARGE WARSHIP OF THE US NAVY. DIVERT YOUR COURSE NOW! CIVILIAN: This is a lighthouse. Your call.

Exercise: n n How do you spell your name How else could you spell it?

SALE • Solution • After • Last • Example

INNOVATION: The process of turning ideas into money • Implementation of great ideas • Convergent thinking • Quality driven process

Can you help Ti. Vo? Problems: n • TV networks & advertisers hate Ti. Vo’s ad skipping functionality • Ti. Vo loses advertising revenue • Customers miss ads that could actually be useful

“Of all the core functions of most companies, innovation has the most competitive value —and is managed with the least discipline. ” Booz Allen Hamilton

Creative Problem Solving Process Mess CLARIFY Stakeholder Plan Pinpoint the problem to solve Data Reframe IDEATE Come up with new ideas Idea Clusters DEVELOP Refine ideas into strong solutions Complete Solution Set IMPLEMENT Put the plan into action Project Plan Risk Analysis

THE MESS: How can we make our space look better?

Clarify n n What data do we need in order to fully understand our problem? Tool: • 5 W’s & an H n n n n Who What Where When Why How might we reframe our original problem statement to make it more solvable, profitable, or innovative?

REFRAME: How can we make our space look better? n n n How can we create a “green” space? In what ways might we construct our space to promote productivity? In what ways might we construct our space to promote creativity? How can we foster knowledge sharing through the use of open space design? How can we eliminate the need for space?

Ideate n Go for quantity & explore a wide range of ideas • Tools: Brainwriting n SALE n n Converge and chose the ideas that have the greatest potential

Develop n n Strengthen the ideas from multiple angles – customer experience, features, marketing, sales, etc. Tool: • PPCO – Pluses n Potentials n Concerns n Overcomes n

Implement: Project Types Quest Paint by Numbers Fog Yes Movie know WHAT to do No No Eddie Obeng, All Change: Project Manager's Secret Handbook know HOW to do it Yes

CPS Fundamental Concepts Assumptions Everyone is creative in some way Creative skills can be learned Thinking Divergent: Expansive - creating options Convergent: Analytic - making choices Components Exploring the challenge Generating ideas Planning for action Essentials An open-minded environment Diversity Objectives New ideas and useful, profitable solutions A different way of thinking about problems and challenges Roles Problem Owner Facilitator

Remember: When doing creative problem solving -- n n n Notice interesting problems Defer judgment Question assumptions Seek diversity Look at ideas affirmatively