Successful innovation

What’s the one thing you must understand?

Organisations are striving to innovate as a way to develop and maintain competitive advantage. An article by David Schonthal in the online magazine Insight draws on his experience as an entrepreneur and now business school professor to give a new perspective on increasing the chances of a successful innovation.

The essence of the article: it’s not the what that’s important, it’s the why. By this, Schonthal means people will adopt a new innovation when it “speaks directly to the progress consumers what to make, even when people can’t tell you that themselves.” That is, you need to understand how your innovation will help people make progress they don’t even know they want.

Schonthal notes there are three dimensions people think about when considering something that purports to improve their lives. These are:

1. Functional dimension—getting something done faster or better.
2. Social dimension—how the product makes them appear to others.
3. Emotional dimension—how a given purchase makes us feel about ourselves.

The article also appreciates that most “people can’t articulate what type of product they want or convey the specific kind of progress they want to make in their lives.” Therefore, it’s vital organisations connect with their customers and clients and ask them. However, as noted, this requires an indirect process because people don’t always know.

Following are the suggestions made in the article on how to do this:

1. Focus on the past, not the future—ask about most recent experiences looking for the “clues to the kinds of solutions needed, and how to communicate their value to buyers.”
2. Exchange breadth for depth—conduct interviews for at least an hour digging deep into the “whys” behind the experiences they share.
3. Reduce friction and stop adding fuel—focus on how to reduce obstacles to consumers adopting your innovation. Forecast and then remove the barriers to the functions, social and emotional dimensions.

By adopting this approach, “customers may not be able to tell you what they want, but they can most certainly tell you what they are hoping to accomplish.” Addressing that is the key to successful innovations