Innovation/Creativity

1. Innovation/Creativity

2. “Problems cannot be solved by thinking within the framework within which the problems werecreated”Albert Einstein

3. Innovation/Creativity • Sources of new product ideas • Creativity: can it be learned? • Techniques for fostering group creativity • Increasing personal creativity

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

5. Sources of New Product Ideas

6. Sources of new ideas

7. Japanese Industrial Sector Spend on R&D Outside its Core Sector 1980-86 Textiles Fabricated Metals Iron & Steel Commun-ications equipment Electronics Precision Machinery

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

9. 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)

10. Technology Technology New Product/Service/Process EPOS Revolutionised stock holding at retailers Genetic Engineering Human ears grown on a mouse’s back

11. Customers: Product Innovation From Market Needs vs Technological Opportunities Market needs Technological opportunities 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 100% 5% 10% 22% 25% 31% 34% 34% 90% 78% 75% 69% 66% 61% Type of innovation Materials Computers, railway, housing Instruments Winners of the Industrial Research Award British innovators Weapons systems Source: Utterbach Sample size 10 439 33 108 84 710

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

13. Management Product Source Walkman Akio Morita D.O.S Bill Gates Savoy’s purchase Lord Forte Louvre pyramid Mitterand Body Shop Anita Roddick

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

15. 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

16. Distribution Channels Channel Example Marks and Spencer Controls most of its suppliers very closely and is key idea-source in developing new sectors (e.g. ready meals) Doctors Provide constant feedback to pharmaceutical companies Car Dealerships Regular flow of ideas regarding existing and potential products, back to manufacturer

17. Suppliers It benefits suppliers of chemicals and materials to have their products used more widely Supplier Example DuPont Invented Teflon for use on cookware DuPont Invented Lycra for use in clothing ALCOA Invented aluminium truck trailers (Truck manufacturers were originally reluctant to use them)

18. Competitors • Competitor Comment • Direct All organisations within a sector watch each others’ moves regarding innovation, to: - stay apace • - simply copy • - improve an idea • Indirect Successful 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)

19. 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

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

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

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

23. Techniques for eliciting group creativity

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

25. 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

26. Attribute Listing Process Evaluation 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

27. 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

28. 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

29. 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

30. Brainstorming: Warning PREMATURE EVALUATION WILL PREVENT CONCEPTION !

31. Brainstorming : Problems Solved And Group Composition 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 GROUP COMPOSITION Open minded individuals Few vested interests Avoid extremes - dominant or insecure personalities Variation in age Variation in background

32. 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

33. Lateral thinking NB: Please see separate pack of slides

34. 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

35. 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

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

37. 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

38. Increasing Personal Creativity

39. 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

40. 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

41. 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

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

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

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

45. 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 Twelfth NightAct 1 scene 5

46. 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?

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

48. 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)

49. 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)

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