Innovation is all around us,
however, sometimes we do not even think about it because we take them for
granted…
The roundabout. How many times
did you drive through a roundabout without thinking how amazingly clever it is!
Lately is seems to be a fashion thing, in Spain they are implemented all over
the place. They were there for years already in the UK. It is a brilliant
solution for traffic solving: a self organising solution… but how did they get
from a normal cross to a roundabout? The roundabout saves the world from stupid
traffic jams moreover saving the costs of police or traffic lights!
Another example (also for
crossing and also turning…) is the revolving door. To avoid cool winds coming
in when entering in a room, a very simple but effective solution. No more open
doors, the door is always closed. No noise from slamming doors when closing, a
silently opening and closing door!
Both are surprising innovations!
I always wonder how people got to these innovations. They solved lots of
problems, they increased quality of live and are so simple, effective and easy
to use.
All based and triggered by a
specific need, and on the ability to abstract and come to new and simple
solutions.
Add comment June
14th, 2005
Why would a multimillion dollar
company successful at introducing new products and variations, with a large
R&D and marketing department, decide to outsource innovation? Would you
believe that the first time R&D and marketing ever sat at the same table
was in the presence of this outsourced innovation team? Would you also believe
that they hired us for our innovation methodology, but what they are really
interested is in the innovation led results?
What if I told you that our toy
brand-owner client is working with our telecom brand-owner company on a new
innovation which, to put it simply, uses the intrinsic know-how of both
companies but focused differently? Could any of these companies have made it
without us in the middle? What about joining a toy company with another client
from the financial services industry, thereby combining a product based company
with one that is service based? Could they have ended up with a successful
business model without us in the middle?
NODE is a product and service
strategic company based in Barcelona that serves the largest local corporations
in addition to international brands that trust Spain to conceive new and
innovative products. Our main service entrance is though Applied Innovation,
meaning real life / real time application of innovation throughout the
business. When people talk about outsourcing innovation, it is important to
remind ourselves that outsourcing innovation is always about outsourcing parts
of the innovation process. It can be about mediation, process clarification,
opportunity identification, insight, broader focus, etc.
The difference between innovation
and applied innovation is clear for NODE; the second has to be grounded in a
clear understanding of actors, needs, context and solution. These are the four
constituents of our methodology, and they require a team effort of
multi-talented and professional people that share their love for products that
can improve people’s lives.
Many of our clients work heavily
with Asia, and require us to work with their partners. We ask ourselves this
question: if it is so easy for a company that buys 80% of their production from
Asia to buy a full fledge design, why would they pay for the professional
services of a company in the middle, such as NODE?
The idea that the rich West can
maintain the highest level of product creation and that the job of turning
concepts into actual products or services can be shipped out (BW 210305
Outsourcing Innovation) may be a nice concept, but are companies really able to
identify and define new concepts, and then specify them to a level where the
end result is an accurate representation of the initial idea? Who is presently
deciding how to break up a product platform into sensible bits, defining what
is too valuable to be done outside, what can be done in Asia, and how and at
what price versus risk? Who is actually drawing that line and why?
The reality is we may be
switching from one ineffective practice to another, from a narrowly focused and
belly-button type of innovation practiced by brand-name companies to another
type of narrow focus by manufacturers. The history of these companies buying
design and innovation-led outfits to boost their capacity is as negative as the
one of brand owners investing in large in-house design and innovation
departments. Success is very much about the scope you have of the market and
the dependency on capital investment necessary to make things work. This means,
the higher the investment in a specific business apart from services, the
narrower the scope.
Anyone dealing with product
concepts knows how hard it is to pick up a visual and very descriptive, almost
tactile, definition of a product and churn out a design that reflects that
vision and exceeds expectations. We believe it is very much about how you get
to the concept in the first place, who is involved, how, and how fast you start
to visualize and discuss the design.
If I had to summarize NODE’s best
qualities, I would say these:
1 – Ability to identify good, sensible, applicable innovation (the type you
always had it in front of you but never saw it, or the type you question
yourself “why didn’t I think of that”);
2 – Ability to provide fast transition from innovation concept to product
concept to working prototype to product in the market;
3 – Ability to create product platforms – from the 100€ to the 10.000€ fully
hyped up solution - on one optimized platform;
4 – Ability to empower you and your team – we mediate, work with clients and
make it look as if it was all their work.
But then, in the end, isn’t this
what you would expect from a professional services company?
Add comment June
14th, 2005
¿Hasta dónde puede llegar la
innovación? Hasta hace poco parecía que la innovación se limitaba al producto o
servicio de una empresa, aún así, alguna de las empresas que han llegado más
lejos han demostrado que hay muchas maneras de innovar más allá de lo que la
empresa produce.
Uno de los primeros ejemplos que
revolucionó su sector fue Inditex. La compañía innovó en concepto de negocio, y
con ello modificó su proceso de fabricación revolucionando el mercado.
Consiguió sacar nuevos productos cada quince días, adaptando su oferta a la
demanda de manera prácticamente automática.
Pero no es este el caso que más me sorprende. Camper (www.camper.com), una empresa,
una marca, mundialmente conocida por sus zapatos originales y exclusivos, ha
sido capaz de adaptar su filosofía más allá de un sector, un mercado o un
producto. Es una empresa que se ha construido a través de un espíritu abierto,
sin limitaciones. Ha innovado a través de su filosofía, abstrayendo la marca
más allá del producto. ¿Qué es Camper? Camper ya no son zapatos, Camper es
libertad, confort, creatividad, simplicidad. Esto ha llevado a la compañía a
poder aplicar su concepto a nuevos sectores, que nada tienen que ver con los
zapatos. Camper no alquila habitaciones con sus hoteles, sino relax,
tranquilidad y comodidad. En sus restaurantes no vende solo comida, sino
simplicidad, naturalidad y calidad. Todo ello acompañado por un diseño que
viene fomentado por la creatividad y la capacidad de ver más allá.
¿Serán capaces las grandes empresas multinacionales de romper su concepto de
negocio e innovar más allá?
Add comment June
14th, 2005
Una gran fuente de inspiración para la innovación son las webs que recogen
tendencias. Un buen ejemplo es mi web mensual favorita http://www.trendwatching.com/trends/ourtrendsindex.html
Tienen un newletter gratuito que recoge nuevas ideas de producto y negocio, y
es además una fuente de nuevas palabras que defininen nuevos conceptos (por
ejemplo Massclusivity, o exclusividad para las masas, que en otros lugares se
ha acuñado con Masstige, o prestigio par las masas).
Leí una vez también, que alguien había montado un negocio que se dedicaba a
recoger tendencias en el mercado y a vender informes. Su fuente de información
era una red de contactos bien seleccionados, que consultaba con regularidad y
le comentaba qué quería la gente, cómo se comportaba,…:
El portero y barman de discoteca que cada fin de semana está en contacto con
los jóvenes
La señora de la pescadería en el mercado que ve pasar y habla con mucha gente
El taxista que hace a menudo el trayecto aeropuerto-centro ciudad
….
Nuestro último recurso es nuesto sentido común, las experiencias diarias, lo
que vemos, lo que nos dice la gente, lo que se lee y oye,… El valor que tienen
estas empresas es que consiguen poner un nombre y definir cosas que seguramente
nos hemos dado cuenta, y nos confirman que es un dato
Pero la innovación real es la de quien marca la tendencia, los trendsetters.
Si alguien conoce una web que hable de trendcreation, bienvenida sea
Add comment June
14th, 2005