Preventing your own embedded obsolescence.

Why years pass and more things stay the same than change.

In 1982, a program was established by congress to stimulate technological innovation, utilize small business to meet federal research and development needs, encourage participation by minority or disadvantaged businesses in technological innovation; and increase private sector commercialization of innovations derived from federal research and development (R&D) objectives. By the early 90s, the dot.com balloon was getting inspired with innovation and many people were amassing great wealth, but then almost overnight, between 2000 and 2001, it was gone. Years later, the National Innovation Act of 2005 was passed providing grants and innovation acceleration incentives.  However, even initiatives like these were not driving the kind of disruptive change that would give our economy the edge on the world’s playing field. In 2006, the IBM Global CEO Study offered five thought-provoking takeaways:

1. 2/3 of all CEO’s see the need to drive fundamental change within the next 2 years and are not equipped to do so
2. Areas of greatest need include product/service innovation, business model innovation, and operations innovation
3. Traditional resources identified as R&D and internal process are decreasing in effectiveness and reliability
4. Further - greatest obstacles to innovation are increasingly internal (high cost, slow response, ineffective and antiquated process)
5. Outside perspective is increasing in importance and reliability

So what has changed since 2006?

According to Business Week’s Michael Mandel in his June 3, 2009 article, “The Failed Promise of Innovation in the U.S.” the past decade has show a lot less innovation than the general perception would have us believe.
Why haven’t more companies been able to initiate the change they desire? After observing and working with innovation processes like GE’s Six Sigma, Disney’s Imagineering, IDEO’s Deep Dive, and a host of creative gurus and new product methods for almost three decades – there are clearly two kinds of corporate camps in the world:  those who think innovation is about the quantity of “out of the box“ ideas you generate, and those who think it’s about refining a process that gets you to the next step idea. The “left brain” group thinks real innovation comes from a highly structured and formalized process that somehow allows new ideas to bubble up so you can business-case the risk out of them. Its focus is predictability, high implementation. The “right brain” group is fascinated by off-site brainstorming sessions with some combination of technology, cool visualization exercises, and identifying customers as aardvarks or willows to think differently about their needs. It focuses on opening minds to new possibilities. The answer, of course, is both.

How being of two-minds can shift from stalemate to evoking change.

Left-brain, right brain, which way should you go? If your mind is doing headstands trying to figure out which hat to put on, here are a few common scenarios that may help you assess your situation:

1. If the last thing you feel you need is a new idea, then your challenges are in narrowing and selecting. You may need to create the right filters and learn to integrate more critical thinking mid-process.
2. If you find yourself once again reworking the bottom line, next stepping your current product and service lines, and constantly on the treadmill for another new idea, you may need more open-minded non-critical thinking upfront.
3. If your great visionary ideas don’t go anywhere, you feel they are too risky, or they sit until another more fluid company implements, you may need path building techniques to enable big ideas without big risk.

When you sit down to make your new strategic commitments for 2010, you might want to add ‘putting yourself out of business’ on the list. You can be sure one of your competitors did. 

Vision and smart value propositions are changing the world.

• Apple’s iPod went beyond technology upgrades to culture and lifestyle
• Skype left AT&T and the Baby Bells scrambling by redefining long distance
• Wal-Mart’s quiet leap into low-cost healthcare snuck in on Aisle 3
• CVS flipped the doctor-to-pharmacy mindset with onsite Mini-Clinics

These examples and dozens more have taken share from others, setting the stage for long-term gain that could close the doors on many established players.

Do you have your eyes far enough into the future?

It’s no longer enough to simply make what you have better.  If your competitive advantage strategy does not include a game-changing future play – it’s not sustainable.

Building sustainable share takes innovation & foresight.

In today’s fast changing world you have to begin with an entirely new vision of where your business needs to be, and a strategic path to get there.

The share-build-path.

The following questions will help you evaluate if your core strategy has sustainable share-build:

1. Do you have a vision for your company that is three to five stages away from where you are today?
2. Did you base that vision on where your company can evolve or where the world will evolve (with or without you)?
3. Do you have an intelligent path to the future in three to five stages that builds share, while antiquating competitor moves?

It takes truly disruptive innovation to shift market share. 

While incremental innovation has its place, extraordinary vision is what will cause share gain and will be the defining characteristic of success. 

Learn to be the change you want to see in your world.

Let EdgeDweller teach you and your team the skills you need to evolve ideas into transformative innovation that give you a better chance for a more successful future. EdgeDweller offers several consulting services you can take advantage of as well as quarterly 2-day Innovation Intensives held at the Hambidge Center for Creative Arts & Sciences. The 2-day events teach the EdgeDweller Process and put transformational thinking and problem solving at the fingertips of individuals and organizations.  Under development for the past 15 years through work with individuals and Fortune 1000 companies the EdgeDweller Process incorporates genius-thinking patterns, the theory and application of productive thought (innovative, yet practical ideas executed in the work place and market place) and advanced analytical models for transformational thinking.  It is the careful combination of advanced critical and creative thinking techniques, which have made the EdgeDweller Process teachable, learnable and scalable. For more information visit our website at edgedweller.net, email us at sreed@edgedweller.net, or call at 404.371.8100.