Innovation Starts with Seeing This

0:28This episode is brought to you by Google Chrome. back support is made with a blend of melatonin and L-theanine for both kiddos and grown-ups. So when your mind won't switch off, you've got something that can help. Erasing thoughts and restless nights won't stand a chance. Find Oli Sleep Solutions for the whole family at Oli.com. That's O-L-L-Y dot com. If you want your business to innovate better, then try to take note of what others may be overlooking. In my recent HBR article with my co-author Bob Goodson, we look at five ways of improving the effectiveness of innovation processes. Probably the most important one is pay attention to surprises.

1:07Most companies think that innovation comes from innovation plans and roadmaps. This may seem reasonable but in fact often breakthroughs come from observing accidents or anomalies. Some examples of those accidents might be a user using a product in an unintended and surprising way. It might be a competitor making a move which doesn't make sense in the context of your mental model of how the business model should operate. These surprises can reveal blind spots. They can reveal new needs. They can reveal new ways of meeting needs. So here are some practical ways that you can tap into the surprise that may be the trigger for your next innovation.

1:43One of them is measure. Measure how often you spend thinking about and talking about internal things at the company versus what customers are doing, what competitors are doing. Model. Have your executives go spend time with customers and observe these anomalies to be open for surprise and the things that you didn't know about how your product is used. Nourish. Encourage your employees to bring up these stories of anomalies and accidents in meetings. And reflect. When you come across one of these anomalies, take the time to say what could really be going on here. Does this contain a hint or a seed of something new?

2:18Surprises are often the first signal of what's next. And if you're not creating space to observe and reflect on surprises, you may be missing the next breakthrough. To see the full list of ways to improve your innovation process, check out the article on hbr.org. Hey, it's Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile. Now, I was looking for fun ways to tell you that Mint's offer of unlimited premium wireless for$15 a month is back. So I thought it would be fun if we made$15 bills. But it turns out that's very illegal. So there goes my big idea for the commercial. Give it a try at mintmobile.com slash switch.

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