Category: Innovation Examples & Lessons

Sixteen Sci-Fi Predictions Which Came True

  We tend to think that it is difficult to predict the future because it is.  Who forecast 9/11 or Covid?  Where are the flying cars, paperless offices and 2 day working weeks that we were promised?  However, in the light of failed predictions and non-predictions it is easy to overlook the fact that many people did accurately forecast developments in science, technology and society.  Here... Read More--

Avoid Addition Bias – Crop the Photo

Image by Daniel Kirsch on Pixabay Have you noticed that almost every photo that you take with your camera or mobile phone can be improved by cropping?  As we take away extraneous background details, we bring the subject into clearer view.  By eliminating the unnecessary we emphasise the important.  The same is true in many other fields – taking things out can seriously improve performance.  But... Read More--

Five Reasons Why You Should Think Like a Criminal

Image by Ryan McGuire on Pixabay   Have you seen the movie, The Day of the Jackal?  In this 1973 film directed by Fred Zinnemann, Edward Fox plays a professional assassin, the “Jackal”, who is hired to assassinate French president Charles de Gaulle.  It is a compelling thriller in which it is hard not to admire the cunning and guile of the ruthless killer.  In the end you feel disappointed... Read More--

The Double-Handed Approach to Innovation

  Most new products and services are developments or combinations of existing offerings.  But just adding features can lead to a product overloaded with ‘feature bloat’.  Instead try giving with one hand and taking away with the other.  Add something different and take away something of little value. Start by focussing on the market leading product (or products).  List its top... Read More--

The Accidental Innovation

  Thomas Sullivan was a tea merchant in New York.  In 1908 he despatched to customers samples of tea leaves in small silken sachets for them to try. Some people thought that the sachets were to be used like metal infusers.  Customers were supposed to empty out the contents but instead they put the whole bag into the teapot and then added hot water. Sullivan heard back that the customers were... Read More--

Five Foundations for a Culture of Innovation

If you are trying to transform an organisation which is sluggish and risk averse into one which is innovative and entrepreneurial then you have taken on a massive task. One approach is to use the Prosci ADKAR Change Management methodology as advocated by Jeffrey Hiatt and Tim Creasey. It consists of five key stages. 1. Awareness.  It is critical for the leader to communicate the need for change and... Read More--

What if the current use of your product were banned?

  Have you ever used a knife as a screwdriver or a shoe as a hammer? If so you repurposed a product for an application that the producer did not foresee. You put the product to another use. This idea can be a fruitful source of innovations for your product or service if you only you can think laterally. De Beers is a diamond mining company founded in South Africa in 1888. It specialised in industrial... Read More--

The Little Innovation which Powered E-Commerce

It is clear that the internet has transformed how we shop.  More people are buying more products and services on-line than ever before.  High-street retailers and big brands are suffering at the hands of on-line merchants large and small.  There is one often overlooked innovation which has enabled this trend.  It is buyer/seller feedback. A key component of any business transaction is trust. ... Read More--

Innovators in FMCG love Direct to Consumer

In 2010 the Gillette brand which is owned by Procter and Gamble held 70% of the US market for razors.  It boasted continuous innovation in product design and enjoyed a gross margin of around 60%.  Its market share has now slid to around 50%.  It has suffered at the hands of two aggressive start-up companies which went direct to consumer (DTC). They are Harry’s and Dollar Shave Club. Established... Read More--

Two Contrarian Thinkers who went Unheeded

Lord Lansdowne Henry Charles Keith Petty-Fitzmaurice (1845 – 1927), the 5th Marquess of Lansdowne, was a distinguished British statesman who held senior positions in both Liberal Party and Conservative Party governments. He had served as the fifth Governor General of Canada, Viceroy of India, Secretary of State for War, and Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. He was a pillar of the British aristocracy,... Read More--