INNOVATION
Don ’ t be a victim of disruptive innovation
Disruptive innovations can create havoc in a market ; be prepared by exploring creativity when things are going well to discover your own innovative solutions .
By Mike Semens-Flanagan & Dennis Sherwood
About the authors Mike Semens- Flanagan is Global Engineering Director of IMI Critical Engineering .
Dennis Sherwood is the MD of his own consulting firm , The Silver Bullet Machine Manufacturing Company Limited , and author of Creativity for Scientists and Engineers – A practical guide , published in 2022 by the UK Institute of Physics .
“ What ’ s the problem statement ?” “ There isn ’ t one ,” the facilitator replied . “ What are customers complaining about ?” “ Nothing . The customers are all happy .” “ So why are we all wasting our time at this socalled ‘ creativity workshop ’ when our customers are content , and there are no problems to solve ? Shouldn ’ t we be doing something more useful ?”
At this point , you might be feeling considerable sympathy with that irate workshop participant : as the proverb says , “ If it ain ’ t broke , don ’ t fix it !” And not just old proverbs , for the Wikipedia entry for ‘ design thinking ’ suggests a five-stage process for innovation starting with “( re ) define the problem ” – which clearly presumes that there is a problem on the table to start with . But pause a moment . Ever since the publication of Clayton Christensen ’ s landmark book The Innovator ’ s Dilemma , businesses have been petrified at the possibility of falling victim to ‘ disruptive innovation ’ – an innovation from the left field that does grave damage and might even wipe the business out altogether . Like Uber , with its huge adverse impact on urban taxi services . And the bankruptcy of photographic giant Kodak when the digital imaging disruption destroyed the market for camera film . Each victim of disruptive innovation has its own story , but we suggest here one overarching reason . Complacency . Or , in the context of the opening story of this article , not appreciating that creativity and innovation can be hugely valuable even when there is no specific problem to solve . For what all the victims have in common is that the ‘ disruptive problem ’ burst on them unexpectedly and too quickly for them to react effectively and in time . So waiting to be creative
until a problem is biting is very risky . Far better to explore creativity when things are going well – and maybe you can discover the innovation that will disrupt others !
Examine what you know
One of the benefits of having a problem to solve is that it focuses your attention , guiding you where to look for ideas – as illustrated by the invention of IMI ’ s dBX SHIELD TM valve ( see box ). But if there is no problem to solve , how do you start ? Where do you look ? Or is it just a random guess , relying on luck ? Those are valid questions . And they have robust answers , in perhaps a rather unexpected direction . The place to start is not to stare into space , hoping that lightning will strike . The place to start is to examine what you , and others , know . To make that real , suppose the creativity workshop mentioned at the start of this article has been convened to generate ideas relating to a particular valve . Nothing is wrong with that product ; its costs are manageable , customers like it , and it sells well and profitably . But that should not stop you from exploring how the valve might be even better or cheaper to manufacture , even though these are not ‘ problems ’. The first step is to define what we know . In this case , that ’ s about identifying all the components , how they are manufactured , and the sources of the raw materials ; documenting the sales process , the characteristics of customers , how the product is distributed , installed , maintained , and ultimately disposed of . There ’ s much data too : costs , revenues , margins , timings , and performance measures . No single person knows all this , so it ’ s good to gather a broad community to contribute to these discussions – a maintenance engineer will
28 Valve World August 2023 www . valve-world . net