Innovation/Creativity

Sources of new product ideas Creativity: can it be learned? Techniques for fostering group creativity Increasing personal creativity

Importance of Innovation to Companies* Companies say it is important......But Few Feel Good at it Find innovation unimportant Find innovation important to their business Good at innovation Think they are bad at innovation * Based on 1993 study of American Companies

Sources of New Product Ideas

Sources of new ideas Rapidly Changing Environment EconomyTechnology Customers Competitors MaverickGovernment Regulations Distribution Channels Management Employees Suppliers

Japanese Industrial Sector Spend on R&D Outside its Core Sector TextilesFabricated Metals Iron & Steel Commun- ications equipment ElectronicsPrecision Machinery

Regulatory Changes ChangeProduct Area Fire retardant foam Financial Services Act New infills for sofas, mattresses, etc Insurance salesmen had to declare whether ‘tied’ or ‘independent’. leading to new selling techniques

Economic Changes Economic ChangeProduct Example Recession High interest rates Negative equity High unemployment Multiple savings products New lower-cost foods Special loans Home brewing (!)

Environmental/Demographic Changes Environmental - Health consciousness leads to Kraft’s ‘fat free’ ice-cream - ‘Green’ consciousness leads to change in solvent based to water based paints - Increase in crime leads to new security devices (e.g. remote control security systems) Demographic - Ageing of population leads to residential care insurance - Both parents working leads to new types of convenience foods - Baby boomers having their own children leads to new types of family car (e.g. Renault Espace)

Technology TechnologyNew Product/Service/Process EPOSRevolutionised stock holding at retailers Genetic EngineeringHuman ears grown on a mouse’s back

Customers: Product Innovation From Market Needs vs Technological Opportunities 100% 90% 10% 22% 78% 25% 75% 31% 69% 34% 66% 34% 61% 5% MaterialsComputers, railway, housing InstrumentsWinners of the Industrial Research Award British innovators Weapons systems Type of innovation Sample size Market needs Technological opportunities Source: Utterbach

Dangers of using Customers’ Ideas (In The USA!) If unsolicited idea not handled properly, a subsequent product may be claimed by the person whose idea it was Evaluation Procedures by Company* Used legally dangerous evaluation procedures Rejected all outside suggestions Used legally sound procedures * Based on an evaluation of 166 companiesSource: U&H

Management ProductSource WalkmanAkio Morita D.O.SBill Gates Savoy’s purchaseLord Forte Louvre pyramidMitterand Body ShopAnita Roddick

Employees: Examples of Companies Where Employee Suggestions Valued 3M Toyota Kodak McKinsey John Lewis

Manufacturing Study done by Myers and Marquis (admittedly in 1969) showed 20% of ideas came from manufacturing - Intimate product knowledge - Constant efficiency drive - Boredom factor - Good for product improvements vs totally new concept

Distribution Channels ChannelExample Marks and SpencerControls most of its suppliers very closely and is key idea-source in developing new sectors (e.g. ready meals) DoctorsProvide constant feedback to pharmaceutical companies Car DealershipsRegular flow of ideas regarding existing and potential products, back to manufacturer

Suppliers It benefits suppliers of chemicals and materials to have their products used more widely SupplierExample DuPontInvented Teflon for use on cookware DuPontInvented Lycra for use in clothing ALCOAInvented aluminium truck trailers (Truck manufacturers were originally reluctant to use them)

Competitors CompetitorComment Direct All organisations within a sector watch each others’ moves regarding innovation, to:- stay apace - simply copy - improve an idea IndirectSuccessful firms also watch organisations outside their direct area for ideas - in other sectors (e.g. software for newspaper layouts used in desktop publishing) - in other countries (e.g. Body Shop based many of its product formulations on third world/tribal recipes)

Creativity Can Be Learned “Inventing is a skill that some people have and some don’t. But you can learn how to invent. You have to have the will not to jump at the first solution because the elegant solution might be around the corner. An inventor is someone who says, ‘Yes, that’s one way to do it but it doesn’t seem to be an optimum solution.’ Then he keeps on thinking”. Ray Dolby, inventor

“Problems cannot be solved by thinking within the framework within which the problems were created” Albert Einstein

Left and Right Brain in Creativity Left Brain Symbols Words Logic Judgement Mathematics Speaking Right Brain Sensory Images Dreaming Feeling Intuition Visualisation Creative Thinking

Creativity Exercise Ping pong ball Tube with diameter 2mm wider than ball Tube cemented into ground Objective: Remove the ball from the bottom of the tube without damaging the tube, ball or ground

Creativity Exercise: Implements - Chisel - File - Hammer - 100ft of clothes line - Light bulb - Wire coat hanger - Box of cornflakes

Techniques for eliciting group creativity

Techniques for Eliciting Group Creativity TechniqueDescription Attribute listing- List major attributes and consider how to modify each one - Stimulate ideas in a group of 6 to 10 people in a non evaluative way Brainstorming - Elicit ideas, using tools which by- pass “vertical,” rational logic Lateral thinking - Based on asking people about the needs & problems they have with existing products Need/Problem identification

Needs/Problem Identification Based on consumer, not “creative brainpower” Process Consumers are asked about needs, problems and ideas, either:- - quantitatively - Hundreds are asked to rank whether satisfied or unsatisfied with particular attributes - qualitatively - through discussion in focus groups Evaluation 1. Can be expensive (need hundreds of responses or detailed interviews) 2. Good for making product improvements 3. Rarely effective in finding entirely novel ideas

Attribute Listing 1. List attributes of product 2. Take each attribute in turn. (No more than 7 at a time) 3. Consider how each can be modified 4. Evaluate best ideas - Produces solutions directly pertinent to the problem - Need to concentrate on attributes related to primary functions, otherwise it’s easy to become irrelevant - Unlikely to produce true novelty or richness in problem solution ProcessEvaluation

Attribute Listing: Toothbrush Example 1. List attributes - Made of plastic - Manually operated - Needs supply of toothpaste and water 2. Take each attribute (e.g. made of plastic) - Could it be made of other materials? - Could it be made more cheaply in other materials? - Could it be made more fashionably in other materials? - Could there be a disposable version? - Could there be a ‘green’ version? 3. Evaluate best ideas - Suggest full costing of aluminium toothbrush - Examine technicalities of biodegradable bristles

Definition of Brainstorming “To practice a conference technique by which a group attempts to find a solution for a specific problem by amassing all the ideas spontaneously contributed by its members” Osborn (inventor of brainstorming), 1953

Basic Rules of Brainstorming No criticism whatsoever Free-wheeling is welcome. The whackier the idea, the better The more ideas, the better Building on others’ ideas is encouraged

Brainstorming: Warning PREMATURE EVALUATION WILL PREVENT CONCEPTION !

Brainstorming : Problems Solved And Group Composition GROUP COMPOSITION Open minded individuals Few vested interests Avoid extremes - dominant or insecure personalities Variation in age Variation in background TYPICAL PROBLEMS ADDRESSED Suggestions for new research New concepts for products or markets Managerial problems (eg how to make work more fulfilling) Improvements to processes

Brainstorming : Evaluation Frequently used technique Easy to implement Time efficient Prone to inaccurate usage Research findings on usefulness are contradictory (both positive and negative) Inconclusive

Lateral thinking NB: Please see separate pack of slides

Synectics Etymology : Made up of “Syn” and “ectors” which together suggest “the bringing together of diversity” Synectics involves “making the familiar strange” to gain new insights. It is a process for a group of individuals working in a group using nonrational approaches

Synectics : Process And Requirements PROCESS: Example 1. State the problem 2. Select the metaphor 3. Use the metaphor to generate new ideas GROUP REQUIREMENTS Needs experienced, trained and uninvolved facilitator Groups used to dealing with metaphors Emotional maturity Willingness to experiment Ideal group size : 6-8 people Session runs for 3 days

Examples of Metaphors AnalogyDescriptionExample Personal Direct Fantasy Put yourself in the shoes of the object Describe how it feels to use a particular object Make comparisons with similar facts, information or technology Based on Freud’s notion that creative thinking and wish fulfilment are related. Does away with bounds of reality Think how tired a door hinge becomes from opening and shutting Imagine the sensations of being in an open top sports car Compare a problem of irregular paper flow in an office with the flow of a river How in our wildest fantasies would a new alcoholic drink look and taste

Synectics : Evaluation Dependent on trained facilitator and receptive group members Good at generating novel solutions Used less than brainstorming due to need for facilitator and general risk-aversion associated with ‘wild thinking’ Used more in the USA than here

Increasing Personal Creativity

Ways of Enhancing Personal Creativity 1.Accept there’s no right answer 2.Don’t follow the rules 3.Be foolish 4.Ask ‘What if?’ 5.Think outside your area 6.Go for ambiguity 7.Believe in yourself

1. No Right Answer The best way to get a good idea is to get a lot of ideas Change your question (eg IBM should have thought in terms of solutions to problems, not computing hardware) Avoid workplaces with a culture of uniformity

2. Don’t Follow The Rules We make rules based on reasons that make sense We follow these rules Time passes, things change The original reasons for the rules no longer exist, but because the rules are still in place, we continue to follow them

Don’t Follow The Rules : Example Q W E R T Y U I O P

Examples of Rule-Breaking Creativity WhoHow? Columbus Copernicus Einstein General Motors Butterfly Stroke Henry VIII Bell Labs Broke the rule that to travel East you cannot go West Broke the rule that the universe is anthropocentric Broke the rules of Newtonian physics by equating mass and energy as different forms of the same phenomenon Broke Ford’s rule of any colour, as long as it’s black Broke the rules of ‘arm recovery’ in breaststroke Broke the rule that the Pope should hold sway in England Broke the rule that electrons need to travel in a vacuum for signal processing

3. Be Fool-ish: Examples Think against the conventional flow, like the fool in Shakespearean times CaseArea 19th century physician Edward Jenner in looking for a small pox cure, looked not at those with small pox, but those without Alfred Sloan and his disapproval of “groupthink”, retabled motions where everyone agreed 1334 siege of Hocharterwitz castle in Austria Small pox vaccinations Car industry Survival

Twelfth Night Act 1 scene 5 Clown Good madonna, why mournest thou? OLIVIA Good fool, for my brother's death. Clown I think his soul is in hell, madonna. OLIVIA I know his soul is in heaven, fool. Clown The more fool, madonna, to mourn for your brother's soul being in heaven. Take away the fool, gentlemen

4. Ask “What If?” Ask “what if” someone else were solving your problem for you, eg –Churchill –Machiavelli –Freud –Ghandi –Mozart 5 minute exercise : ‘What if’ someone else were running this session on creativity. How would they organise/structure it?

5. Think outside your area: Examples Who?How? World War I military designers John von Neumann (Mathematician) Japanese industry Borrowed ideas from cubist art to create more efficient camouflage patterns for tanks and guns Used knowledge from poker playing to develop the “game theory” model of economics Collaborations between entirely unconnected industries actively encouraged to make R&D breakthroughs

Think Outside Your Area : Suggestions 1. Read fiction and stimulate your imagination 2. Go to places you wouldn’t normally go (eg a junk yard, a fairground) 3. Develop the explorer’s attitude : the outlook that wherever you go, there are ideas out there (4. When you hit on an idea, write it down)

6. Go For Ambiguity “If you tell people where to go, but not how to get there, you’ll be amazed at the results” George S Patton (American General)

Ambiguity As Found In The Workplace Non hierarchical organisation Tolerance (or even encouragement) of different approaches Broad goals defined, but little else

Believe in Yourself Lack of creativity is a self-fulfilling prophecy (as substantiated by research!)

Innovation/creativity: conclusions Creativity CAN be learned. If your organisation/group doesn’t make use of specific creative techniques, why not introduce them? Be willing to think ‘whacky’ thoughts - collectively these can spark excellent ideas. Be constantly receptive – creativity comes from the most unlikely sources!