creativity and innovation never sleep

"Creatvity and innovation never sleeps. Even while you rest, change and progress pushes on..." Josh Boutwell, Designer

the path to disruptive innovation

This will by far be the easiest blog post that I have done for 2009...

The Path to Disruptive Innovation...

There isn't one! This has to be one of the biggest mistakes Disruptors can make when dealing with the idea of disruptive innovation. There is no 12 step system to disruptive innovation, there is NO path. Disruption, truly authentic and powerful disruption, happens when you GET OFF THE PATH.

The Road NOT (less is not even good enough) Traveled BUT Needs to Be....

We have seen this happen many times... Bill Gates says "I want to put a computer in every household..." The road = households with what at that time was a HUGE cost prohibitive device... The destination = getting this device in every household. The "traveling" = seeking out the design innovation that would ultimately become "Microsoft". 

This is only one example of many examples... The lightbulb: No light in homes vs light in homes... Airplanes: No air travel vs traveling in the air. Traveling the road that others are not traveling, heck! Not even thinking about traveling is where disruptive innovation happens.

citizen reel ideas and concepts

Over the last few days I have been tossing around a brand idea called "Citizen Reel". I am wanting to explore the idea of immediate information, real viewpoints, from real people, in real time. Combining live streaming, the instantaneous and rapid distribution of content on platforms like Plurk and Twitter, and video snippets on platforms like YouTube and Tweet Reel. The goal, a well rounded share of content, that's focused and interactive.

Just tossing around ideas....

disruptors and mousetrap builders

924mousetrap

I carry an iPhone by Apple. It's a very clever and useful device. IN FACT, if I had the "opportunity" to carry any other device I really don't believe that I would. I can remember when I first decided to leave my first cellular provider, and go with AT&T so that I could carry the iPhone. The decision was made based on the idea that the iPhone was actually two devices that I was thinking about buying at the same time ...

1. A new cell phone

2. A new iPod

The choice was really easy. Too easy when I think back on it. It was a natural fit. The iPhone had all of the features that I could have ever wanted, and the idea of being able to add the applications that I wanted to the device as time went on, was an added bonus. The iPhone was not only something that I wanted, it was something that I needed and didn't even know I needed. How did Apple know that I would need the iPhone. NOT "need" in the literal sense, BUT need in the sense of making my life easier to manage and keep track of, all the while keeping me "connected".


HOW did they know? "They" being Apple. Could they have been designing or innovating from a HUMAN CENTERED approach? Could they have been looking at the VERY BIG picture and designing towards that? Did they have blinders on? I think they had blinders on, because at the time of it's creation the iPhone had no "clones", the iPhone was NOT a "better mousetrap", it was indeed a "disruption". It disrupted how we all looked at the cell phone, Heck, It changed how we view the cell phone industry all together ... And along came the "Mousetrap Builders"....

Disruptors and Mousetrap Builders - The Power of Disruptive Innovation


For EVER I have heard ... "If you want to make MORE money, get MORE fans, get more traction in the marketplace... Build a better mousetrap." THIS single thought has been one of the biggest downfalls to human innovation over the past 50 years. At least I think so. By thinking that we can simply take an existing idea, and make that idea just slightly better to "catch mice" ...

Sidebar: Who OR what are the mice? Ummm... Food for thought....


This broken idea of "mousetraps" causes innovators like BlackBerry (nothing against BlackBerry) to create devices like "The Storm" or even innovation giants like Google (nothing against Google) to create devices like the Nexus (still a rumor, I think). Who is going to REDEFINE the game all together? Nokia with the Morph ? Maybe. Fact is, there is only one iPhone, and there will always only be one iPhone, however; there are other innovations to be made. Should we, as Designers, be looking at how humans interact in fresh new ways? should our connection to our devices change? IS THERE a more integrated approach to how we access data and connect with each other? Maybe.

Morph

-------
+ Pictured Above: The Nokia Morph Concept
-------

It's in the "maybe", "perhaps", and "could be's" that disruption happens ...


STOP building better mousetraps, and for the record, I am not a "mouse". Build something I can use, something that I don't even know that I need yet. You have to decide, and decide now .. Which are you? A Disruptor or a Mousetrap Builder?

keys to staying inspired

I have read countless articles about getting out of the "creative funk" (if you can call it that). I have read even MORE articles on ways to "stay" creative, as if genuine, authentic creativity is something that just randomly comes and goes. I am one to believe that creativity, in the truly creative, is something that is as constant as breathing. AND I am not sure about you, but there are very few times during any one day or month that I need to be resuscitated. INSPIRED? Now that's a different story. Inspiration is indeed random. Some days may leave you feeling more inspired than others, however your ability to be creative is a constant. In-fact I can bet that in any given day you are creative HUNDREDS of times (100 or more), in various ways. You may carry on a conversation where you are creative with words, you may give an alternate idea or solution to an existing problem... Something, will spill out of a creative person at least 100 times a day... HECK!! Maybe a thousand (okay I am stretching it...)


SO what are the key's to staying I N S P I R E D ... That should be what we, as creatives, designers, should be looking at. Do NOT!!! OR should I say... BE CAREFUL about dwarfing your creativity... You are creative, you will always be creative, period. INSPIRED? Ummmmmm... Questionable.


Five easy ways to be (or get) inspired ...


1. Be quiet. Stop rallying for ideas. It's when you are quite and really THINKING that you get inspired (most of the time)

2. Be still. Stop running around looking for ideas. Ideas (really good ones, authentic ones) are not the products of you running around looking for them. This often causes you to replicate or build upon the things that you have come across ...

3. Observe. Start looking around more. Find the real problems, and start thinking about real solutions. Rather it be a visual challenge, social challenge OR organizational challenge, YOUR ability to observe and formulate creative solutions (there's that word again... "creative") is paramount!

4. Listen. Observation with your ears. Listen to what people are talking about ... WHAT are the issues? What's really going on? GET INSPIRED by the R E A L problems ad get even MORE inspired about finding a solution... Creating one.

5. Experiment. Do something OR say something totally insane. Often, inspiration can come from opposing forces... Speak up in a conversation that you have a distinctly different perspective about, you will be amazed at the responses (observe... listen..) and THIS type of inspiration can be HUGE. DO something, experiment with a poster, a movement, a cause and see what types of reactions emerge... Reactions = Inspiration.

styrofoam, motherships, prototypes and budgets

Foam_meat_tray

The last two days have been quite revealing to me. In the past 48 hours I have had two conversations about design, and creativity that have spawned memories that I have always had, however; never expressed until now. What's interesting - is that as I look at these experiences, I am realizing the impact they have had in my life... Your life.


Styrofoam, motherships, prototypes and budgets

I can remember when I was a kid - a little older than I was in my last post "crayons and coloring books", you should read it if you haven't, but still young enough to be imaginative and believe that anything was possible, I still believe this, though there is a LITTLE hesitation now that has been formultaed through education and this amazing thing called "life". When I was about 11, or maybe 12, I would ask my mother for the styrofoam trays that the meat would come in. I would collect about a a half a dozen of the styrofoam trays (for the purpose of having enough "raw materials" in case of tragedy) and I would carve out a section of the family room to work in ...

"My staging area..."


I would get scissors, some Elmer's glue, some markers (permanent for beautification) - and I would begin my quest to build the "Mothership". A flying machine that would someday circle the earth, OR at least the backyard, I was not at all opposed to small victories ...

"Never be afraid to fail. There is something to learn in failure..."


I would draw shapes of the "mothership" on the styrofoam and cut them out to the finest detail. I would draw shapes of the wings, and cut those out with absolute precision. Then I would construct the ship... One piece at a time.

"The prototype was born..."


After the prototype was constructed rigorous testing would begin. I would climb to the top of the shed in our backyard, and I would toss the "mothership" high into the air... Already at a elevated altitude the "mothership" had ample opportunity to catch wind and make a glorious flight ....

"Believe in your ideas, your prototypes... They are, in fact, the beginnings to really great innovations ..."


Sometimes I would build ships that worked immediately, and I would save the design and build upon the design, adding form and function, beauty and simplicity until I took the original design to what I called the "breaking point", the point where the modifications took away from the ships core function... To fly. After building many ships and executing many experimental flights I would in the end, have a new model of the "Mothership", the machine that would SOMEDAY fly around the world ... The beauty to this ... I had zero budget to work with, BUT I had plenty of ideas, and even more dreams ...

"Never allow budgets to stand between YOU and INNOVATION ... Use whatever it takes to prototype... Clay, wood, paper or styrofoam, WHATEVER... THIS is creativity."


So early on I learned that you could take styrofoam, and you could build motherships, OR at least prototypes with little to no budget ....

we can no longer ignore the big design problems

As I dig deeper and deeper into the idea of "designing bigger", I continue to run across issues dealing with health care. Though the looming policies and architectural challenges continue to mount, I really feel that the emergence of design as a holistic practice will help add some balance to the problems at hand. In this recent article by Sean Hughes, Senior Design Director - Philips Design Hong Kong; we can clearly see that our challenge as designers and design thinkers spans a much bigger space than local borders ....

The Best of Both Worlds by Sean Hughes
http://tr.im/bestofbothworlds