Innovation Is Predictable
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Yesterday I was told, “Innovation isn’t predictable. If it was predictable then they would already be doing it.” That statement shows why most people can’t innovate. Every assumption was wrong. Innovation is Predictable. Innovation MUST BE Predictable.
Innovation isn’t about new. Its about satisfying peoples unmet desires. Innovation doesn’t have to be new at all. And lots of new things don’t innovate. You must satisfy a desire. That is innovation.
As soon as you realize innovation is the act of satisfying someone’s unmet desire its obviously predictable. You can’t innovate doing the same thing. That doesn’t satisfy an unmet desire. So you automatically know a big don’t list. So you can find the innovation TO DO list.
Unmet desires are easy to find. Just ask, “What could make this better?” You will get a big list of possible improvements. And the designers, engineers and marketers knew a huge list of things they didn’t include in the current product. They chose the current features from a big list of possible features. They didn’t include every feature because some features like price and simplicity were needed. So before they ever made the current product they knew how to innovate it. They had a list of innovations.
So when you realize that Innovation is Predictable your next question is how do I predict the best innovation?
- Define the desire
- Break the desire into functions (action/events)
- Expand the functions into its elements
- List all the options for each element
- Select the option that gives you the best result with your resources.
It’s totally step-by-step. This is Predictive Innovation. You describe what you want and you find the answer. No guessing or brainstorming or praying to the gods of creativity.
Predictive Innovation is a method just like addition or subtraction. Just like yellow and blue make green. Innovation is Predictable. When you use Predictive Innovation it always works.
Because it’s predictable, you can measure it. You can tell how well you are innovating. You can use tools like 6-Sigma to improve your innovation. But 6-Sigma only works for Predictive Innovation.
Innovation Is Predictable Mark Proffitt Podcast 20070627
Action Items
- Name a few creative ideas that totally flopped
- List a few “why didn’t I think of that” innovations that made someone else rich.
- Write down the ways Predictive Innovation can help you.
I would love to hear what you come up with. Please post a comment or send them to me directly. If you include your e-mail address I’ll send you a FREE copy of What Makes an Innovation System Complete as a thank you for making this blog better.
Predictive Innovation Training
Predictive Innovation: Core Skills Book
RoundSquareTriangle.com
Hello Mark,
Your website has a lot of valuable and interesting ideas.
What always confuses me is whether to focus upon what people want or what they need.
This nation has a growing obese population that is satisfying their wants rather than their needs.
Innovation in my mind would be to satisfy the want and the need… But how?
As far as innovation is concerned I don’t make a distinction between want and need. I use the term “desires” because all we strive for is a desired outcome. Psychology has shown that people often use logic to justify their emotional decision.
The simplest solution to obesity is easy, burn more calories than you eat. [Input proper nutrition] [Burn calories], its a two part function diagram. When you take into consideration things like, eating food you enjoy, enjoying activities, wanting to look thin verses maintaining a healthy body fat ratio, heart heath and muscular fitness that you find all the desires. “Need” is related to a desired outcome. What is needed to make that desired outcome happen?
In the end, you can’t sell someone something they don’t want. They will judge need based on how well it satisfies their desires.