The Art of Innovation
By: Tom Kelly
The Innovation Decathlon
The object of creating something is to achieve excellence in a few areas, and strength in many. As a marketing manager I would use this concept to understand the basic wants and needs of my market, and then try to achieve true excellence in these certain areas.
Innovation Begins With an Eye
It is not the job of the consumer to be the visionary. They don't know whether or not there are too many buttons on a remote or if a computer is being used to its full potential. The key to innovation is observing people and how they utilize things. Can something be changed for more efficency? If yes, there is always room for more innovation.
Perfect Brainstorming
The best way to get a good idea for a new product or service is to gather tons of ideas. There are no dumb ideas and every one should be examined. The main objective should be to sharpen the focus of what exactly the problem is, and then brainstorm ideas around that problem. Keeping the energy high in a brainstorming session is important for facillitating action.
Get Physical With Your Ideas
When brainstorming ideas for a new product, the key is to get extremely physical. This includes sketching, mind mapping, diagrams, and stick figures. You should also bring in competeing products and look at new technologies to see if they can be applied to the problem. Actually building a prototype out of things like tubing and foam can help with the visualization process.