ideating

What to do if you are given an Innovation goal

by

One of the worst things you can do is to take an Innovation project completely on your head. At the onset, it feels like a super worthwhile project where YOU can shine. Ideas come and fly, some stick, and you will be on a path to deliver the riches. Soon enough you will hit a speed breaker and things come to a halt. That’s because you are stuck on a “local maxima,” the farthest point you could reach by isolating a huge piece.

The collective talent of a team.

I am not saying don’t think by yourself. By all means we should do that. We need to dig deep into problems and carve our perspective.

Our solo perspective will always be limited.

As a basketball fan, I have seen countless of NBA tournaments featuring superstars and Hall of Famers. Did Michael Jordan or Steph Curry or Lebron James win it all by themselves? As good as they were, to win at big problems like NBA championships, a strong team is a requirement.

Innovating and in other words, creative problem solving is no different!

Here are my 5 top reasons to consider.

  • Innovation requires a strong supporting cast, not just a standout player.
  • A diverse team brings different perspectives and a 360-degree view of the situation.
  • Opposition and obstacles can be overcome with the help of the team.
  • Involving the team in a relay race-like approach enhances brain power and expands possibilities.
  • Innovation is a team sport that should not rely solely on one person.

Work with a team and see what can be brought to life!

Happy Ideating!
Hemang.

A Monday Exercise for Jump Starting Innovation

by

One of my favorite brainstorming teams would meet on Monday at lunch. We would get together every two weeks. The meeting always started with the same question.

What bothered you over the weekend that you want to solve today?

Thanks for reading Innovation and Insights! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

Subscribe

All the participants would proceed to share the pain point(s) they experienced. It might have been something they saw at a mall or a movie theatre or while out on walk. They may have noted a stronger “What if” thought. Or wondered “Hmm, why aren’t they doing X this way?”

The key is to gather these problems in a no filter approach.

It was simply a problem statement collection exercise. There’s no revenue analysis, market surveys were not required. No slides, for that matter.

Collect as many pain points as possible.

The moderator of the meeting would go around the room, jotting down these on simple spreadsheet. No one else could use devices. No screen sharing. It’s just a polling exercise around the room. After about 15 minutes, we would then pause before proceeding to the next stage.

Selecting the problem to solve.

This was selecting the strongest pain that wasn’t solved. In other words, the best opportunity to go after as a team. Usually, the group would quickly determine that. If there was a deadlock, the moderator would call rank and select the problem for the group.

After that, we would brainstorm different approaches to solve the issue at hand.

Depending on the problem, we would devote anywhere from 15 – 20 minutes to sometimes a full hour. The moderator aims to keep the group energy high peppering with questions if the team is stuck. We are trying to keep the ball rolling. When things get to a standstill i.e. when all creative juices have stopped, we move to the next problem. Along the while, the moderator would note the key ideas generated that will help the product.

What makes Mondays so special?

We are outside of our work on weekends and get a natural pause among our chores, meeting people, and relaxing. Subconsciously, we can get to a state of pause and wonder. Issues identified in this state are worth spending a bit of time. Before we get too involved with the other work items, filing them is worth addressing.

But we only selected one or two to solve. What about the rest of the pain points?

That is your pain point bank. If a problem wasn’t picked during one meeting, we can bring it up during the next. We also don’t forget things that bother us. Quite often, the team will remind of something worth spending time on. Else, you have the moderator for that too.

Is that it?

Yes, keep it simple. The most important thing is to instill this as a habit. Our meetings were recurring and at lunch, which people should not skip 🙂

Try it and you will look forward to these meetings.

Happy Ideating!

Hemang.

Your Favorite Movie Shows the Path to Terrific Insights

by

Can you guess the movie I’ve watched the most number of times? In a formal setting, I’d say something intellectual like Interstellar, The Matrix (all of them), Lord of the Rings, Andaz Apna Apna etc. While I’ve watched them many times, one movie rules over them all. It’s none other than one of Govinda’s super hit films – Shola Aur Shabnam.

At one point, I knew everything about that movie.

Well, it goes back to the summers where content was what Doordarshan served, which wasn’t exciting at all. Fortunately, we had a video parlor close to us. You borrowed video cassettes one at a time. The guy who ran it would drop and pick up the cassettes after 2 days. They were diligent as they had a limited stock and many bored students to serve.

In one case, he forgot to collect on time. We liked the movie and were prepared to pay late fees, which weren’t much. I believe the parlor closed and we inherited the one grand movie in my school life, Shola aur Shabnam.

It’s crazy to imagine a time where your source of entertainment was one movie.

Any time you got bored, Shola aur Shabnam went to our VCR player. Why didn’t we get other movies? We did, as a family. In other words, parental decision was involved. I was pestering them for other movies to be seen on the big screen, for ice creams, or toys. A Rs. 2 movie permission was not worth adding to the list.

What does watching one movie over and over again do?

Expectedly, you knew every dialogue. Every song. Every side character. Every cringe moment. How the story flows. What makes it work. Don’t you also do that with movies you like?

That’s the point for today’s newsletter – Total immersion.

We are drowned by stimulus in every direction – movies, books, case studies, web series, emails. When and where are you taking time to think deeply? How are you extracting insights?

Fortunes are found when you dig at one spot for a long time.

If we keep digging everywhere, we are left with a mess. Instead, think of your consumption and thinking as an oil drilling exercise. Once you find something good, immerse yourself in it.

It’s alright if it appears like you’re stuck on the same thing for eternity.

At some point, ideas will emerge naturally. Allow your real intelligence to shine in the world of AI.

Persist and keep at THE main thing.

It will be worth it.

Happy ideating!

Hemang.