by Charles Plant | Jan 25, 2013 | Innovation
We celebrate successful innovation but rarely look back at the failures. Since Apple is a great example of successful innovation it is good to remember that not all things they tried were a big success.
- The Apple QuickTake 100, one of the first commercial digital cameras.
- The Newton, one of the very first smart pen-based computers.
- Cyberdog an OpenDoc-based suite of internet applications.
- Activity Based Computing.
- The Hockey Puck Mouse.
- The Macintosh Portable.
- Pippin, a gaming console and PC.
- G4 Cube.
- ROKR Phone
- OpenDoc, a multi-platform software componentry framework standard.
- The Apple Lisa.
In fact as I sit in my office today, surrounded by Apple products and working on a Mac, I am reminded that the Mac itself almost failed and was saved only by the fortuitous arrival of Adobe’s development of Postscript and Canon’s introduction of low-cost laser printing. Poor targeting, bad marketing, and internal politics all conspired against the Mac and enabled the Microsoft infused IBM PC to become the dominant personal computer.
There are three types of people in the world:
- People that are afraid to fail so they never try anything new
- People that fail at something and then just give up.
- People that fail often when trying new things and go on to become successful because of those failures.
Which one are you?
by Charles Plant | Jan 23, 2013 | Innovation
I’ve been out talking to a whole bunch of companies in the corporate training space about innovation wondering all the time why they aren’t using more tools such as digital media in extending their training offerings. I got a very interesting insight as to how market leaders think about innovation in talking to one of them.
When presented with the idea of using digital media in training, one training company responded that they thought that using digital media now was just too risky and that they couldn’t afford to take such risks. I asked them how this could be when one of their stated company values was innovation. Their response was that they love to innovate but only when all of their customers are asking for something innovative.
The next day I happened to be talking to one of their largest customers about the same subject, using digital media in training. Since this company was clearly interested in the subject I asked them whether they had asked their training supplier for solutions that included digital media.
Their reply: ” Oh we know they can’t supply solutions like this so we don’t even bother talking to them about it.”
To me this was an ‘ah ha’ moment. Big companies aren’t innovating because their customers aren’t demanding it and their customers don’t demand it because they know their suppliers can’t deliver. Perfect disconnect.
by Charles Plant | Jan 21, 2013 | Innovation
Did you wake up this morning, resolved to do exactly the same things you did last week? I hope not. It’s time to do something new but you better ask the question: Are you being courageous enough to wake up and smell the innovation?
Every morning you need to wake up thinking that everything you know could potentially be wrong. Yes, that’s right, everything you know could be wrong. Scary isn’t it?
But if you don’t think that way, if you think instead that there is something that you know that for sure is absolutely right then you’ll be reluctant to change and fail to innovate in that area. To be able to innovate you must think that everything you know could potentially be wrong and set out to challenge and question all that you know.
by Charles Plant | Jan 18, 2013 | Uncategorized
“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself.
Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.”
George Bernard Shaw
by Charles Plant | Jan 17, 2013 | Innovation
If you haven’t had a chance yet, then watch the movie Moneyball. It’s about the Oakland Athletics baseball team and its general manager Billy Beane. While other general managers made their decisions about player personnel using subjective and flawed criteria, Beane went so far as to see what evidence he could get on what actually worked. (Evidence Based Baseball).
Using rigorous statistical analysis he found that on-base percentage and slugging percentage were better indicators of success than other more commonly-used statistics. This allowed the As to compete against much richer teams by signing players that other managers undervalued.
How can you play Moneyball at work?
