Fresh Takes on Innovation

The Japanese are known for their unusual and creative ideas. This one is somewhat between completely nuts and just fabulous: Aya Tsukioka, an experimental fashion designer, has invented a special series of clothing that helps people disguise themselves when in danger. For example, a woman can turn a skirt into a big piece of cloth that looks like a vending machine and that can be hastily put over ones head when being pursued by a stalker in the street. Children can use a special school bag to transform themselves into a fire hydrant.

The fact that such ideas were greeted with straight faces, or even appeared at all, underscores Japanese society’s fondness for oddball ideas and inventions

writes the New York Times, in an article accompanied by a slideshow of these inventions. Thank you for sending us this article, Katie Kontrath (www.getfreshminds.com).

The processes of random mutation and natural selection that Charles Darwin discovered in mid 19th century are becoming a new factor in product design, as the NewScientistTech and the Economist report.

Evolutionary algorithms (EA) can simulate mutation and selection in order to find the fittest version of a molecule for a medicament or an optimal streamline form for the wing of a plane. The technique has already been applied in the aerospace or car indstry during the sixties. But nowadays, faster PCs enable EA to be used for a much broader spectrum of products.

EA is an interesting and powerful approach to refine products. It will not substitute human intuition and creativity though.

Referring to Jan’s article about the «Powershift to Creative People» I would like to go a little bit more into the Radiohead example he mentioned.

It’s not the first time that a music band gives its newly released hits as freebies to its fans using the latest available technology. By announcing that their 7th album will be available only as a digital download online for a price which the person downloading can decide him- or herself, Radiohead is offering a deal that is both innovative and interesting from a moral as well as an economic perspective.

The band obviously trusts the “invisible hand,” the self-regulatory forces of the market, to determine a fair price - an interaction between supply and demand or production value and perceived value. The band believes fans are willing to pay an appropriate fee for what the artistic performance is worth, and will therefore pay a fair price.

The economic point of view is very logical: the biggest revenue slice, based on past experience, will be the income from touring, merchandising, and copyright payments – taking this into consideration, the decision is therefore not that radical at all.

The innovative and interesting thing is the continuing change of the business model in the music industry. The self-distribution model could inspire other artists and hopfully enhance artistic liberty and creativity!

Each year, the Swiss Idea and Innovation Association awards people or organisations with the “Idea Oscar”. Their outstanding achievement consists in the production of spectacular as well as sustainable ideas. Their innovation initiative will have made a difference and will have led to the creation of new jobs.

If you are looking for a new idea why not let yourself be inspired by the idea generator? It’s a funny new widget by the team at MonkeyBusiness Labs. Fill in or generate 3 words by pushing the double arrow button. Feel the inspiration and perhaps come up with a new idea!

Try it

Everybody knows that a short but effective mid-day nap will help you to enhance workforce and productivity for the rest of the work day.

Born from the realization that individuals can significantly increase their energy with a brief daytime rest, MetroNaps committed themselves to the development of professional power nap products and services.

After researching and testing at the Carnegie Mellon University a new relaxing “machine” was born, called the EnergyPod. The EnergyPod is an elegant yet simple device that counters the problem of employee’s daytime fatigue. Each EnergyPod is equipped with built-in music loaded onto an internal memory card. Sound is played through speakers or headphones.

MetroNaps also developed the Enhanced Energy Seminar, that teaches employees effective sleep techniques to boost personal and professional productivity. The seminars are divided in categories:

• Night Time Sleep: Getting a better night sleep by optimizing sleep routines and the bedroom environment.
• Day Time Rest: Boost energy during the workday by recharging with a quick nap.
• Jet Lag Management: Learn valuable tips for staying productive while traveling.

I could need one of these, what about you?

After financiers, privat equity and hedge funds have been ruling the economic game, creative entrepreneurs are on the rise, says Bernard Lunn in an article on the Read/WriteWeb Blog.

Creative people - whether they are developers, musicians, actors, scientists, writers or (insert creative type that I annoyingly may have omitted) - are the next Masters of the Universe. Entrepreneurs who tap the rise of the creative class will do well, but the trend is a deeper one that makes creative people into entrepreneurs.

Today, more and more artists are selling their works on the web (like e.g. Radiohead are doing it right now). Small software teams can implement web applications that are suddenly used by thousands or millions of people.

Lunn mentions several good reasons for the shift of power. One of them being the fact that you can outsource “pretty much everything other than creativity”. I think this is only partly correct. It might be true for art - but when it comes to products and services, a growing market of IdeaFactories and innovation suppliers show, that even creativity is something you can buy from others.

When discussing innovative companies today, the name Google just has to be mentioned. Google’s innovations seem to be endless - behind the well-known and often glorified innovative culture, the company is promoting various processes and structures leading to the renowned “innovation culture”. Planning, organization, discipline and a hierarchic management, as well as strategic acquisitions, are giving Google the fast and strong innovation character known today.
Jim Lecinski, managing director of Google, listed 9 key factors in Google’s innovation strategy:

1. Innovations have to be developed constantly, instant perfection is not required. New products and ideas should be launched early, rather than trying to perfect ideas behind closed doors for years before releasing them to the public.

2. Communication. Small teams that communicate freely have provided the best results. Transparency in the workplace is the key so that everyone knows what everyone else is working on. Google offers a computer program where employees can look up names and see what others are working on - if you have an idea to contribute you then know exactly who to talk to.

3. Google is setting a very high level for candidates, applications, and employees, and follows their own recruitment methods.

4. Google offers 20% “free” time to their employees, thus liberating one working day per week for employees to do research projects which may benefit the company. Google Earth is a result of one of those projects.

5. Ideas come from everywhere. Sometimes Google turns to the public for new ideas. The Google mastheads, which are customized for holidays and events, are taken from a non-employee submission - one of them was designed by a 12-year-old girl.

6. With all the ideas floating around Google, the best way to determine which may work is to use supportive data - “data beats opinion”.

7. Creativity loves restraint. Again, Google has to have some way of streamlining all of the employee-generated ideas towards the company’s goals.

8. It is important to focus on creating things that are innovative and useful for people - just focusing on something you can “sell” to provide profit isn’t the right approach.

9. Google doesn’t waste ideas and projects - they try to change and transform them into something the company finds useful.

Eventually, Google may well be limiting its speed of growth, creativity and innovation by its own. The rapidly growing company may, at some point, reach a size where its creativity and innovation will be automatically restricted - creativity and innovation need chaos and freedom, but also a certain structure. The bigger Google gets, the more complicated this structure may become. Another threat to innovation is Google’s monopoly position on the market. After all, competition is one of the driving forces behind innovation.

Source: Article in BusinessWeek Magazine, information also available in The BQF Innovation Unit Blog.

At the 31^st Annual International Conference in Orlando, the Product Development & Management Association (PDMA) will award FedEx Corp. and MSA for their exceptional skill in continuously creating and capturing value through new product and service development.

Stan Jankowski, chair of PDMA’s OCI award selection committee, said:

We are pleased to recognize these two organizations that demonstrate an enterprise-wide commitment to innovation, and are highly successful in the continuous development of profitable new products.

MSA receives the Award for a well-defined innovation strategy that is strongly tied to corporate objectives. In recent years, the 94-year-old company (with roots in mining) was transformed into a global leader in safety products. MSA has developed, integrated, and today continuously improves a portfolio of disciplined new product development and management processes leading to exceptional business results.

FedEx has focused over the last few years on the vision of achieving leadership in development and optimization of a portfolio of innovative products and services. Today, FedEx ensures unprecedented levels of customer loyalty, enhances a culture of empowerment and trusts in new product development decision making, and is growing through global expansion and strategic acquisitions - resulting in a portfolio of innovative new service offers which have reinforced FedEx’s leadership position in the package and shipping services industry.

More information can be found on SmartBrief News. Information about the PDMA International Conference 2007 here.