1. Search: How to Find Opportunities for Innovation?

The first step in innovation is detecting signals in the environment about the potential for change. These could include new technologies available, market requirements, legislative pressure, competitor pressure. Most innovations, however, result from the interplay of several forces, some are pulling forces – the need to change, others pushing forces – new opportunities.

Some detailed sources of innovation are:

Shocks to the system: Events which change the world and the way we think about it and force us to think in other directions.

Accidents: Unexpected and surprising things which offer new directions for innovation. It is told that the invention of ‘sticky notes’ came about when an employee of the 3M company got the mix for a supposedly strong glue wrong. The sticky note was then developed from this batch of wrongly mixed weak glue. This became a billion-dollar product for 3M.

Watching others: Innovation arising from imitating or extending what others do – benchmarking, reverse engineering, copying.

Recombat innovation: Ideas and applications in one world transferred to a new context. Innovation is not always a totally new idea. It could just be that the application of an old idea changes. The concept of fusion food is a good example – the makers of Lindt chocolates have recently introduced some interesting combinations to the old world of chocolate lovers. Unusual flavors such as chili, extreme coconut, white chocolate with vanilla pods.

Regulation: Changing rules of the game push and pull innovation in new directions. The drive towards conservation of the environment, have forced many companies to relook their production processes. It has also opened up markets for environmentally friendly products.

Advertising: Uncovering and amplifying latent needs.

Inspiration: The Archimedes moment. (It is said that Archimedes was once so excited about an invention, that he jumped out of his bath, ran into the streets to tell everybody, only to realise later that he forgot to dress himself.)

Knowledge push: Creating opportunity by pushing the frontiers of science forward.

Needs pull: Necessity is the mother of invention and innovation. Hyundai used their ‘Touch the market’ strategy to reintroduce their ‘Santa Fe’ to the Californian market. They spent a lot of time with their customers to find out what the ‘need pull’ factors were. They spent time shopping with them, driving their roads, activities, lifestyle etc. The result was to fulfill the need of ‘glamour mums’ in the design of their car.

Users as innovators

Exploring alternative futures and opening up different possibilities. To move through this step effectively, it is important to have well developed mechanisms for identifying, processing and selecting information from the environment. The routines associate with successful scanning of the environment include:

Sending out scouts: Send idea hunters to the frontiers to track down innovation triggers.

Exploring multiple futures: Use future techniques to explore alternative possible futures; and then develop innovation options.

Using the web: Harness the power of the web through online communities and virtual worlds to detect trends.

Working with active users: Team up with product and service users to see the ways in which they change and develop existing offerings.

Deep diving: Study what people actually do, instead of what they say they do.

Probe and learn: Use prototyping as a mechanism to explore emergent phenomena and act as boulder object to bring key stakeholders into the innovation process.

Mobilize the mainstream: Bring mainstream users into the product and service development process.

Corporate venturing: Create and deploy venture units

Corporate entrepreneurship and entrepreneurs: Stimulate and nurture the entrepreneurial talent inside the organisation.

Use brokers and bridges: Cast the ideas bet far and wide and connect with other industries

Deliberate diversity: Create diverse teams and a diverse workforce

Idea generators: Use creativity tools

The need for multiple approaches in the search for innovative ideas is very important. The challenge for management is to recognise that multiple methods when doing the search for innovation and choosing the correct method for the specific search. There are no rules in terms of which methods suits when – it is rather a question of management wisdom.

In the search phase it is imperative to become part of a network. Different kids of networks include project teams, communities of practice, sectorial forums etc. (methods of idea generation – creativity tools)