Developing an "Eye for Innovation"

Some people have a great eye for photography.  Through years of practice, they develop an instinct or reflex that recognizes when an awesome photographic moment presents itself.  It could be the lighting, composition, colors, people, their facial expressions, and a host of other qualities in a scene that will make a good photographer take notice.  And long before you can explain what it is that he sees, he already has his camera out and has taken a few snap shots.

Now the question is, can you develop a similar "eye for innovation"?  I believe the answer is yes.

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Uncork Your Brain with Mind Maps

That great idea you are looking for is already somewhere in your mind or in the collective mind of your team.  The real effort in coming up with a great idea, is all about getting out of your own way so that your great idea can reveal itself.  I want to refer to this as the “idea release” process, rather than the idea generation process.

A very useful tool in the idea release process is mind mapping.  In this post, I will discuss how we inadvertently trap our great ideas in our mind; strategies for getting out of our own way; and finally how mind maps can help.

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Frustration ... Not All Pain Is Created Equal

An Actionable Definition for “Frustration”

Frustration is when ...

Someone has a very important goal that needs to be achieved, or task that needs to be accomplished.  But there is one or more barrier(s) to them achieving their goal which they feel is out of their control.  This results in a combination of helplessness and anger, which we recognize as frustration.

So how do you act on this?  You should set out to understand your customers’ specific goals.  You also want to find out what they see as barriers to achieving those goals.  Eventually, you want to provide a solution that eliminates any feelings of helplessness and instead makes them feel empowered.  We will touch on learning about goals and barriers in this blog post, and save empowerment (and it’s actionable definition) for a later post.

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Why are there so few “glorious” products?

A few years ago, I finally pursued a long time ambition to own and ride a motorcycle.  So I signed up for a motorcycle safety course.  On the first day of class, the instructor began by telling us stories of her favorite riding experiences.  This included her description of a “glorious” day of riding.  It was a cool and sunny day with a bright blue sky.  As they left the more congested areas of Massachusetts, it seemed that they had become the exclusive owners of the roads that they were on.  With no one in their way to slow down their brisk pace.  This allowed them to fully enjoy all the twists and turns that the roads had to offer.  After a wonderfully exhausting day of riding, they made their way to a favorite greasy spoon, for some of the best comfort food around.

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