Archive for September, 2011
“Breakthrough in the Shower” by Sean Stanwick
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Anyone who is waiting for a predictable process for breakthrough innovation (similar to TQM or BPR) may find the illustration above instructive.
Fresh insight depends on favorable ingredients and conditions – more like improvising with a recipe than a formula. By contrast, incremental improvements in the design of products and services suit predictable steps and outcomes.
What are some conditions that spawn eureka moments? What is the recipe?
There’s a lot we can learn about how innovation happens by paying attention to everyday situations. For example, my colleague Sean captured his recent insight in the shower by the illustration above; Tye Farrow reports he has new ideas while gardening; I rely on walking to work for fresh perspective.
What do these three activities – showering, gardening and walking – have in common?:
– SUSPENSION of MULTI-TASKING: they allow us to clear our heads
– PERMISSION to WANDER: escape from self-imposed pressure of conflicting priorities
– SPACE to WONDER: they give us the choice to think of nothing
We will be delving further into recipe/cooking/innovation/design similarities in future posts.
– Sharon VanderKaay