I. Innovation vs. Proliferation: Getting to the Heart of the Customer
What is the next big idea or market opportunity? The question plagues CEOs of all growth-hungry companies as they race to scoop their competition with a product or service that no one has thought of before. But how do companies know what products and services their customers want -- and will be willing to pay for -- next?
Henry Ford famously said, "If I had asked my customers what they wanted, they'd have asked for a faster horse." In other words, the road to true innovation is rarely illuminated by customers telling you what to do next; they may often not know what they want next. But, experts from Wharton and Dallas-based George Group Consulting warn, unbridled proliferation in the hopes of "hitting it right" can lead companies into the trap of having too much complexity, which consumes existing resources and ultimately harms returns. It is a difficult tension to manage and one which requires a level of "ambidextrous" thinking. The key, they say, is for companies to identify the unmet and unarticulated needs of the customer and align their innovation processes to those insights. Companies must discover what innovations customers are willing to pay a premium for, identify their own competitive strengths and free up innovation capacity by removing or managing complexity within the organization's products, services and operations. The potential reward is a better bottom line and increased visibility with customers, as companies invest in understanding customers' needs while shedding the excess clutter that can bring down their rivals.
Ford's words resonate even today with Dan Chow, senior vice president at George Group and leader of its Fast Innovation practice. As an example, he says there was no sure-fire way to know that customers "needed" an iPod, Apple's MP3 player that has taken the market by storm. "While you might not be able to come up with the specific thing called 'iPod,' you can reliably generate iPod-like ideas by using different and varied sources of innovation fuel," says Chow.
[continue]
Page 1 of 19
> >>