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It happens rarely, but I love it when service firms are confident enough to offer valuable content, free of charge, to the broader community. BIF research advisor and BIF-2 storyteller Larry Keeley's firm, Doblin, Inc. has posted a fantastic presentation to their site called Design in the Innovation Process.
Presented at the Innovation Convergence conference in Minneapolis, it’s a solid overview of the various design tools and principles that play a role through the innovation process. Doblin has put some much needed meat on the bones, moving beyond the usual lip service to outlining real (in other words, do-able) methodologies companies can use to help accelerate the innovation process and enhance the value outcomes.
[Get the presentation.]
Posted April 27, 2006 by Chris Flanagan | Permalink
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I'm an engineer, so I must admit to some skepticism leading up to Steve Denning's BIF workshop on Storytelling and Innovation (April 12, '06). How could telling tales lead organizations to embrace and realize change? Denning must have had a good story, because I emerged a convert to the power of narrative to create change.
Denning is an accidental storyteller, who spent most of his career as a manager at the World Bank. During a time of crisis, when he was sent to organizational Siberia as an unsubtle hint to move on from the World Bank, he discovered how to use storytelling to overcome the inertia of the status quo and create meaningful action. Using his well-oiled personal story, Denning helped us to understand the specific narrative patterns that change motivation and behaviour.
Springboard Stories are what Denning calls these particular narratives. They are stories that are True, Positive, Minimalist, and Lead to Action. Stories that are crafted around these four tenets have integrity, create a positive emotional response and leave room for the listener to see themselves in the story - and rewrite it for their own reality. Most importantly, Springboard Stories lead the listener towards action by showing them what is possible.
Denning's content on Innovation was suprisingly insightful. He had some unkind words for what he called the "gadget theories" of innovation, where a model, process, or technology would make innovation work. And he made a good case for using stories as a way to create understanding, excitement, and momentum around making disruptive innovation happen. Yet I was left with a belief that it isn't an either-or scenario, and that storytelling is a powerful addition to the emerging innovation toolset.
In summary: Denning's assertion, with which I must reluctantly agree, is that no one has ever agreed to do anything really hard or gutsy based solely on analysis or a rational argument, in the absence of an emotional connection. Stories are how humans make sense of the world. We are all storytellers from birth, but most of us become part of institutions and organizations that beat it out of us. By reconnecting to our inner storyteller, and understanding how to harness the narrative patterns that work in organizations, we can all be much more successful at making big innovation happen.
Posted April 20, 2006 by Allan Tear | Permalink
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On Wednesday, April 12, 2006, I had the great fortune to participate in Steve Denning's workshop: Storytelling and Innovation at the Hasbro Corporate Headquarters in Pawtucket.
I did not know what to expect from the day, but I have an MFA in fiction writing (which has not, incidentally, translated into high career potential), so I was curious to hear about how storytelling and narrative could be used to tackle challenging topics in ways that would be compelling to a business audience.
Denning appeared to be a rather unassuming man, standing half-behind the podium as the introductory remarks were being made. As soon as he took center stage, however, he sprung to action and the workshop participants were drawn in by his candor, his enthusiasm, and his dynamic presentation style. He began by sharing a personal anecdote about his own experience at World Bank in the late 1990s. It was his relating of a 29-word story that not only changed the course of his own career, but the path that the World Bank was to embark on from that point forward.
Through a series of clear, straightforward, and thoughtful prompts, and several small group activities, the power of storytelling to persuade, cajole, and inspire was demonstrated. To be sure, Denning was not talking about spinning yarns or fairy tales (although he did warn us that our stories should have "happy endings"), but about concise, well-wrought narratives that were true, positive in tone, and minimalist. This story - a "springboard story" was the key to an effective presentation, which would accomplish three essential tasks: 1. Get the attention of the audience; 2. Stimulate their emotions; and 3. Reinforce emotions with reasons.
We spent the morning working on developing our own "springboard stories" and in the afternoon, Denning took some time to talk more broadly about the role of storytelling in organizational change. Because innovation by definition is a difficult thing for an organization to accomplish, finding the formula to lasting change can be fraught with pitfalls. In order to allow potential naysayers to find their own ways into a new or complex idea, a change agent can use springboard stories and other narrative techniques to encourage envisioning a shared future. "Just imagine..." "What if..." and "Just think..." are key phrases that can link these stories to potential change.
By the end of the afternoon, we had worked out a framework for an effective presentation for organizational change. A few of the braver among us made their own presentations through which we were able to see Denning's principles at work. These presentations were lively, engaging, inspiring and sound. We were leaving this room with real tools, and real power for change.
I personally left Steve Denning's workshop invigorated, inspired, and with a deeper understanding of the power of effective communication. And with a renewed faith that my MFA will be valuable in ways I could not have anticipated.
Thank you, Steve Denning, and thank you, Business Innovation Factory!
Posted April 19, 2006 by Mary-Kim Arnold | Permalink
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I just read a fantastic interview with David Kelley from the Nextd Journal. And now I want to go back to school. To the d.school that is.
David Kelley, founder and chairman of IDEO is also co-founder of Stanford University's Institute of Design (the 'd.school'). The d.school is modeled much like IDEO in that for any given project, a cross-section of students from a variety of disciplines, like engineering, education, humanities, business or medicine, are brought together to work on projects collaboratively.
Kelley calls it the 'human-centered' design approach to education. "We approached Stanford with the concept that makes design the glue that can hold different disciplines together and uses design thinking as the methodology," says Kelley.
According to Kelley one of the primary drivers of the d.school is the changing face of business today. With companies looking to innovation as a primary source of revenue growth, they're looking for fresh blood to come out and help with their innovation strategy. One of the d.school's goals is to train students to be innovators. Formal training in design-thinking holds the key.
"We hope that this program will change how people view design. What they learn is a new way of thinking and a new way of solving interesting, challenging problems," says Kelley.
Makes you want to go back to school, doesn't it?
Read Kelley's entire conversation with GK VanPatter here.
Posted by Chris Flanagan | Permalink
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Congratulations to N-GEN member Amit Sharma who won first prize for the Tuck school of business essay contest. Amit's winning essay answered Tuck's question of "how can strategic innovation be used for solving real world problems like corruption?" Thanks to Amit for sharing his essay with the BIF community.
How can strategic innovation be applied to solve real world problems such as corruption?
Let us look at Strategic Innovation not as a buzzword heard in corporate alleys, but as a broader means to achieve an all-encompassing end: Change. The need for Change is ubiquitous- from removal of poverty to limiting corruption, from improving performance of athletes to establishing new social institutions. The question is- why are we not already using the principles of Strategic Innovation to solve such real world problems? How can we do this in the future?
The answer lies pithily, again, in one simple word: Context. Strategic Innovation as a discipline has attained a certain maturity in the corporate world, but is in its nascence in other contexts. Applying strategic innovation in these new contexts, therefore, demands a re-look at the core and periphery of strategic innovation: in the frameworks used, in the principles applied and in the analyses adopted.
The late management expert Peter Drucker gave the best analysis of the special considerations for using innovation in public service projects [1]. According to him:
- The key inhibitor for innovation in such areas is effort-orientation.
- The biggest challenge, therefore, in using strategic innovation for such areas is having a focus on results.
Besides Mr. Drucker’s advice on result-orientation, another crucial question to answer is: where do we look for the potential for Innovation? From the strategic innovation perspective, there are two such areas in issues like corruption and poverty [2]:
1. New Solutions to Known problems: In such cases, the innovation would lie in finding new ways of solving problems which have precedents in other contexts. For instance, the known problem of supply chain management is solved innovatively by the Tiffin suppliers in Mumbai, overcoming many of the contextual problems [3].
2. New Solutions to Unknown problems, which are generally not found elsewhere and we don’t have precedents for them. A number of approaches to removing poverty are of this nature. We don’t know what to do in such cases, and so we have little knowledge about how it is to be done. The analysis has to start from a step back, by defining the problem first.
With this in mind, the approach to solving real world problems like corruption is given in Exhibit 2. The key steps in the process are:
1. Understand the context and generate context-specific insights
2. Modify Strategic Innovation frameworks and principles
3. Piloting and feedback, and repeat steps 1 and 2 if necessary
4. Full scale managed execution of Strategic Innovation
[1] Innovation and Entrepreneurship by Peter F. Drucker (pp 179), HarperBusiness, Copyright © 1985 by Peter F. Drucker.
[2] The third possibility, that is a known problem and a known solution which would work in this context, becomes a management issue. For instance, if we know that the police dept. can remove 40% of the corruption simply by making sure its existing processes are managed properly, that does not constitute innovation.
[3] see, for example, http://edition.cnn.com/2004/BUSINESS/08/16/mumbai.dabbawallahs/
Posted April 14, 2006 by Chris Flanagan | Permalink
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Flag waving (red, white, and blue or insert your country’s flag colors here) will not ensure future economic prosperity or the solutions to the really big problems of our day including security, healthcare, education, and quality of life. Protectionist approaches will inevitably fail and give way to the flat, pink, and gray.
Tom Friedman is right. The World is Flat. Sure, it is still a work in progress and there will be many speed bumps along the way but the trend is real and inexorable. The evidence of a connected global community with free flowing dollars, labor, and ideas is obvious. The potential to harness these global flows is limitless. Of course it is a double edged sword. The premium for leadership with the capacity to inspire progress toward the positive edge of the sword will be tested like no other time in our human history. The only winnable strategy is to embrace the trend and to view the flat world as the enabling infrastructure for global prosperity.
We are still in the first act of the play which focuses on shifting value around the flat global stage. Companies take advantage of the opportunity to shift work around the stage and consumers benefit from access to cheaper goods and services. This initial act leverages technology to build efficiencies into existing business models. Exhibit 'A' is Wal-Mart and its suppliers. It is only the first act. If you think the transition is troubling now (job losses due to outsourcing and companies that split their business models into many movable pieces holding communities hostage to keep or attract them) just wait until the next act takes hold.
In the second act the flat stage will provide the platform for next generation innovative business models that harness technology not just for efficiency but for completely new ways to deliver value to customers (patients, students, citizens, and consumers). Better ways to deliver value that are not burdened by the existing business models and institutions that are stubbornly resistant to change. Consumers are getting increasingly frustrated by today’s institutions (companies, government agencies, schools, healthcare systems etc) and are beginning to stick their collective heads out of the window to scream “We aren’t going to take it any more." Consumers vote with their feet and their purchasing power. Consumers, not institutions, will star in the second act. Today’s transitions will seem tame when compared to the next wave in which we will see entire industry segments change before our eyes and local communities. We will need to play offense.
Dan Pink is also right. For this next act we need to develop A Whole New Mind. We are all actors in the beginning of what he calls the “Conceptual Age." The flat world is our stage and our whole new minds provide us with the tools for the improvisation which will change the world. There is no single script. It will be a perpetual improvisation and the uncertainty of the outcome is both exciting and scary at the same time. The ensemble will be global and will constantly evolve by combining and recombining possibilities. Pink calls attention to the imperative to develop “right brain” abilities including design, story, symphony, empathy, play, and meaning. The winners will be horizontal players and integrators that are experimental by nature. This will be true for individuals and for institutions. Large entrenched players will quickly become dinosaurs if they are not able to recombine the pieces and collaborate across sectors and institutions to constantly create better ways to deliver value. Winners will establish the capacity to do R&D for new business models not just new products and technologies.
Gray is good. Or is it grey is good? Is Friedman right in suggesting the need for a recommitment to math and science in the U.S. (rising to the level of urgency similar to putting a man on the moon) or is Pink right in suggesting that left brain math and science skills will take a back seat to right brain design and storytelling skills? The answer is in the gray area between the two assertions. The real answers are almost always found in the gray areas between silos, sectors, and disciplines. We must learn to be comfortable in the gray areas because that is where the real value and solutions to today’s biggest problems lie. We must build horizontal communities to take advantage of a true diversity of approaches and ideas. We must celebrate the anti-silo. Innovation is all about better ways to deliver value and the best opportunities to create value will be found in the gray areas between silos. Collaborative innovation is the imperative.
Our non-profit Business Innovation Factory (BIF) is all about enabling collaborative innovation and facilitating access to a real world test bed in Rhode Island to explore and test better ways to deliver value. Economic prosperity depends on our ability to play offense and to confidently lead the way. Hooray for the flat, pink, and gray.
Posted April 12, 2006 by Saul Kaplan | Permalink
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Turns out customers aren't getting what they want, yet companies believe they're providing an excellent customer experience. Bain & Company recently surveyed 362 firms and found that 80% believed they delivered a "superior experience" to customers. But when the customers were surveyed, only 8% said they were really delivering. Eight percent!
This grand canyon of delivery gaps doesn't exist because businesses aren't recognizing the importance of their customers. More than 95% of surveyed management said they're customer focused.
According to Bain, there are two reasons for the gap. The first is based on the disruptive innovation paradox. "Most growth initiatives damage the most important source of sustainable, profitable growth- a loyal customer franchise." [BIF a-ha moment here: we're the real-world test lab where you can experiment with growth initiatives without damaging your customer relationships!]
And the second reason, according to Bain, is that good relationships are hard to build, and even harder to keep. "It's extremely difficult to understand what customers really want, keep the promises you make to them and maintain the right dialogue to ensure that you adjust your propositions according to customers' changing or increasing needs."
Bain put out a good white paper, Closing the Delivery Gap, which outlines steps organizations can take to achieve customer-led growth.
And a few bloggers have been pointing to a Jim Barnes article about how to create that WOW customer experience. It's a good read because Barnes provides a real-life customer experience example with AVIS rental.
Posted April 08, 2006 by Chris Flanagan | Permalink
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