What makes something appealing?

Is it price, color, or availability? A reliably consistent experience, flavor, or fit? A surprising new design, form, or function?

Obviously, appeal takes on many shapes and sizes. It can be timely or timeless, precise or amorphous, public or personal.

Consider A Tale of Two Hammers.
I recently found myself in need of a new hammer, so I headed down to the neighborhood hardware store. I had found a perfectly acceptable candidate – no-frills wooden handle, sturdy hammerhead, the epitome of utilitarian craftsmanship – at the very reasonable price of $11.99. I assumed my task was complete. But just as I prepared to head to the checkout counter It suddenly appeared: a masterpiece of steely sleekness – no ho-hum wood here – complete with an artfully shaped hammerhead and supple rubber handle stamped with a familiar brand name. Plus, the words “Anti Vibe” were emblazoned on its shaft. Anti Vibe! And the price? A mere $21.99. Sold! Why? Because it had appeal. This is what happens when both sides of the brain work together – emotion informs logic.

With a bit more personal detachment I offer A Tale of Two Handbags.
Observe two leather handbags, side by side. The Prada handbag is valued at approximately $380, the Kenneth Cole at about $900. Granted, there may be obvious differences in color and style, but both are made of high-quality, soft leather with sturdy handles, shiny clasps and ample storage space. Depending on the individual’s personal tastes and priorities one will win out over the other, regardless of cost.

Be it hammers, handbags or hammocks, we have the ability to capture the aesthetic, functional and emotional appeal of any given product opportunity. Henry Ford did it with the Model T, in your favorite color – as long as that color was black. Motorola did it, with a portable telephone that could leave home. Hudsonville Ice Cream continues to do it, with a never-ending cascade of ice cream flavors from Mackinac Island Fudge to Blue Moon.

As innovators, our capacity to understand what to see, connect and interpret is what ultimately will inform our success in creating a product or service that has appeal – and that people will want to buy.

Anyone who has read The Tipping Point is familiar with Malcolm Gladwell’s concept of Connectors, those individuals with lots of friends and acquaintances and a knack for introducing strangers who normally would never meet. Most Connectors earn this distinction because they move through the world via a variety of niches and subcultures. A dentist who coaches high school wrestling, takes weekend pottery classes and volunteers in soup kitchens most likely views life from a multitude of perspectives.

But there’s another, albeit similar, kind of Connector in circulation these days: those perceptive individuals who connect things they see in different corners of their world to create surprising and useful innovations.

Sometimes we connect as a result of serendipity. Consider the fellow out walking his dog one day who arrived home with his sweater covered in thistles. His interest in how the weeds held fast to his wooly garment inspired the ubiquitous hook-and-loop technology that we know today as Velcro.

Other times an inspired connection begins in a related field. This happened to the guy whose first business involved “dumping” European wines on the U.S. market. He went on to launch a chain of successful grocery stores by creating unique products with personality, set in a smaller environment that emphasizes great value and customer service. That guy’s name was Joe.

A momentous connection made by accident? Post-it Notes. Here’s an inspired story about a product first perceived as a failure and how it eventually turned into a staple of modern life. (Look it up on ideafinder.com.)

What about connecting the idea of a gathering place for adults with a premium product? That would be Starbucks.

The ability to connect what you see in the world in ways that deliver unexpected, elegant, useful and profitable solutions is a skill worth grooming. As you see from the examples above, this talent does not require you start from scratch, reinvent or emulate. Instead, it’s about nurturing your understanding of the relationships between products, processes and people – and connecting them in ways previously unimagined.

Where’s your next great idea coming from? Perhaps it’s out there in the weeds, just waiting to snag you.

Next up in The Innovation 5
APPEAL: Converting Ideas into Something That Causes People to Respond

My father is an art teacher – an exceptional one, in my opinion – and his influence unquestionably inspired me to pursue a career in design. I continue to draw from that well of inspiration to this day, as one of the great pleasures of my adult life is the time we spend together painting landscapes.

Early on, Dad taught me to see beyond the obvious, to recognize that not all trees are green, the sky is not always a single shade blue or gray, and mountains are not solely brown. Rather, each is a blend of colors and tones, darkness and light, and something more not always apparent to the naked eye.

When you look across today’s business landscape, do you see what everyone else sees? Or do you, or does anyone else in your company, have the ability to look past what’s immediately in front of you?

What do you think Steve Jobs saw when he looked at the world? Clearly, he observed opportunities beyond what’s already there. He saw possibilities others didn’t. Apple’s vision of personal communications has taken us from the Mac to the iPod, iPhone and iPad, consistent game-changers in their field. Jobs and company see technology that’s clean, simple and user-friendly.

But Apple’s vision looks beyond technology the way Nike sees beyond shoes, Starbucks beyond coffee, and Trader Joe’s beyond grocery shopping. In each case, someone saw past a product’s or service’s basic attributes to something bigger, and used this information to create a cultural and marketing phenomenon.

As human beings we are trained to observe and learn. And learn we do, whether it’s to avoid touching a hot stove, crossing on red or kicking a hornet’s nest. The next step is to develop these powers of observation to freshly translate the information the world gives us in powerful and profitable new ways. Our value in business is to see beyond the way things are to the way they could be, to describe and validate new solutions for present and future challenges.

What do you see your business becoming?

Next up in The Innovation 5
Connect: Creating New Ways to Put Things Together

1. : the introduction of something new
2. : a new idea, method, or device: NOVELTY?

[Courtesy Merriam-Webster.com]

In my conversations with CEOs, I often ask them what innovation means to them. Inevitably, most answer in one of two ways: There’s the “I want to be like Steve Jobs” response, which suggests they will one day discover the essential magic fairy dust of innovation; or the inexpressible, “You know, technology and stuff” reply.

From our perspective, innovation is neither magical nor obtuse. Instead, innovation is a process that begins with imagination, i.e. the facility to think and visualize. What is the output of imagination? It’s creativity, which springs from personal ability and the quality of one’s imagination. People often believe that when I am discussing creativity I’m referring to drawing, painting or a similar artistic activity. But creativity can also be expressed through a Word document or a spreadsheet. Whatever the medium, eventually we must plug the output of our imagination and creativity into a process; that’s where innovation comes in. Ultimately, we arrive at design, the development of something for a purpose.

Since “Design in Business” is the stock-in-trade of NewNorth Center, we approach innovation as a strategy for influencing design-driven thinking with the goal of enhancing our clients’ business.
To accomplish this we have identified what we call The Innovation 5, the elements that enable us to leverage design thinking. In order, they are:

1. See
2. Connect
3. Appeal
4. Synthesize
5. Influence

These elements can be applied to people or a business, but I’m always especially interested in learning how individuals rank in each area. Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses, so it’s helpful to know where improvements can be made to establish a greater flow across the five elements. And, since each element falls into either a right-brain or left-brain-focused activity, the ability to “toggle” between the two is a discipline worth developing.

In the weeks ahead I will be blogging about each of The Innovation 5, starting with “SEE, The Ability to See Beyond the Ordinary.” Among the first questions we’ll ask is, “What Does Steve Jobs SEE?”
Your questions and comments will be welcome throughout the series.

I look forward to furthering the innovation dialogue with you, magic fairy dust optional.

History is full of examples of great results that were followed by less-than-stellar ramp-downs. I think among the most triumphant yet tragic is the story of the Lewis and Clark expedition.

President Thomas Jefferson had the vision to map the new Western frontier, and he commissioned the right team to accomplish it. Lewis and Clark were wildly successful; they achieved their objective flawlessly and with only one casualty. Upon their return to the East, they were greeted almost as moon-conquering astronauts. Their discoveries were unprecedented. Yet they never formally documented their journey. In fact, other than Lewis’s journal, very little was recorded.

It gets worse. After their return, both men suffered lackluster careers that ended in tragedy.

What Jefferson failed to consider was how the Lewis and Clark project should conclude. To achieve truly successful innovation and for the good of the enterprise going forward, leadership must plan how to redeploy talent and document the real project findings. Sound familiar?

Here are some simple tips on what to include in innovation planning. This list can apply to any kind of innovation development, big or small.

1. Make sure that project findings are not only documented but communicated.
2. Develop a drawer-pulling process to revisit ideas that may not have been right for the time but could be freshly relevant. We often experience A.D.D. when it concerns some of our best ideas.
3. Try to invite fresh eyes to critiques and presentations. On our own we become organizationally bored and lose interest, often leaving innovation orphans in our wake. Minus a new perspective, we are doomed to repeat exploration when not attentive to our initial results.
4. Build active web-based archives. Document the project in such a way that anyone individually can review it.
5. Design a redeployment strategy for each person on your innovation team. If Jefferson had already identified another task for Lewis and Clark, they would have become reenergized and remained engaged.
6. Create a plan for the capture and redeployment of the team’s intellectual assets. Has the team’s IP potential been captured? What did they learn in process development? Was it documented and shared with those who design your company’s innovation process? How could the project have been better?
7. Recognize the company’s cultural contribution to projects. If I were a CEO, I would ask my team to come talk to me AFTER all of the presentations were complete. I would want to know what it was like to navigate the company’s resources. Who gave them support? Where were the barriers? Was the collective culture a help or hindrance?

Although it’s true that what goes up must come down, planning when and how to go up again can help make your innovation process successes repeatable and robust.

The going-up phase is all about strategy planning and execution, and acquiring the goods or services that enable an enterprise to grow. It can also represent sales, profits, or just collective energy.

Let’s discuss this from the project perspective.

The process of innovation is usually under immense pressure on the up side of the bell curve. Designing a creative process that can solve problems, identify opportunities and operate within given constraints is a complex and challenging task. It can also represent the difference between following a market direction reflected in challenging margins or leading the market with much stronger upside potential.

To make matters worse, we all know how messy the ramp-up can be. There are scores of business books that tout some magic formula for success. At NewNorth Center, however, we believe that success results from hard work that’s customized and well-organized. It is a necessary step to getting to the top of the bell.

This brings us to the precipice, that tiny piece of real estate that everyone is aiming for. This is the summit. This is success. Oddly, I don’t recall many overhead projector discussions devoted to this space. We were always obsessed with what took us so long and cost us so much to get there. Then, there’s the inevitable slide down the other side! It made me wonder, what is life like on top?

Innovation requires motivation. It also demands celebration, if only until the next assignments are handed out. Creative professionals are driven by recognition. They thrive on the acknowledgment of their peers and leaders. They are less likely to put a news clip touting their team’s success on their mom’s refrigerator because, after all, what does Mom know? (No offense intended, Mom!)

Life on top of the bell curve is fleeting, often so brief that it’s over in a matter of months or less. In this fast-paced business climate, we have to reinvent or die. But in the midst of it all, do yourself a favor: Pause. Celebrate and recognize those who helped you taste success at the top of the bell.

Now let’s get back to work.

Even though I have faith in the resiliency of our West Michigan industries and companies, it is difficult to imagine a plausible scenario in which the growth and stability we enjoyed seven years ago will simply reestablish anytime in the near future.

There are certain financial, social and political paradigms that have significantly shifted as a result of this global economic downturn. The affects are long-lasting. We shouldn’t focus on any one of these factors specifically, but instead harness the possibilities that can sprout from the unique amalgamation of these three realities. There is significant opportunity for innovation – and a consistent focus on innovation could be our most powerful action toward reinventing our future. Albeit different than our past.

Accurately positioning a company for the next phase is critical right now. If we can be sure of one thing, it is the growing need for a corporate life-long learning mentality. Compartmentalized learning and skills training are obsolete models. Everyone must be in a continuous learning mode no mater what product or service they represent. Does your company require all team members to learn and to add to the creative capital? A versatile workforce equipped with knowledge and the right tools will be the fuel to drive your capacity to innovate in the new economy.
Yes, the world has changed dramatically over the last seven years. We have lost, adjusted, endured and learned – too much to ever resemble 2006. The only way to prepare for what may come is be open to a future quite different from our past.

Don’t depend on past practices. Heighten you ability to use your imagination, learn, expand your own capacity and to innovate.

Do we finally realize that we cannot optimize our way to a bright future? Have we looked in the leadership mirror and admitted that trusty QOS systems are not enough to shave off another layer of inefficiencies? Or have we simply run out of options — finally conceding defeat — and are ready to defer to the other side of our brain for answers?

Necessity is indeed taking us to the place where companies have no other options than to invent a new way to an optimistic future. I do not believe that the recession will be kind to organizations that are simply hunkering down in an attempt to weather the economic storm. So what can we do? What capabilities haven’t we harvested?

If necessity is the mother of invention then I believe imagination is the father of innovation. Think about it; innovation and invention are about bringing fresh ideas, processes, products, and services to light. The two words represent bright approaches and revitalized thinking.

I firmly believe that imagination is the fuel that drives a revolution – so much so that I am leading NewNorth Center in teaching innovation methods that help people tap into their right-brain capabilities.

• Imagination is where the seed of an idea begins.
• Creativity is the ability to access ones imagination.
• Innovation is the process of discovery.
• Invention is the solution.

To all enterprise leaders: may your imaginations run wild and help you rethink the future of your business.