All posts by wolfgang.cramer@gmail.com

a ‘quirky’ enterprise innovation model

I was recently checking out quirky.com and it occurred to me some of the elements/approaches they employ might alleviate some of the shortcomings found in enterprise innovation processes.?? In a nutshell, here’s how quirky works:

  1. People pay $99 bucks to submit an idea for some kind of cool thing.??
  2. That idea then goes into a kind of contest to become the next quirky product.??
  3. The contest part is where the quirky community rates and votes for the different ideas (they call it influence products) in a certain time period.??
  4. At the end of the time period, the winning idea in the contest becomes the next quirky product.??
  5. The quirky team then builds the product in a certain period of time.??
  6. The finished product then becomes available for sale.

———-

I’m sure you’re thinking “Ok Wolf, but how does that apply to enterprise innovation…”??

Scaling a promising concept or innovation to a larger audience inside an enterprise can be very challenging.?? I believe most of these challenges are derived from a flawed design in the innovation maturation / harvesting process.?? In many cases, the burden of getting the promising innovation to the next level falls on the shoulders of the innovator or intrapreneur. There may be innovation programs in place to raise awareness, but in my experience those programs often come up short in facilitating connections between the innovator and teams that have the broader skill set to help scale the innovation’s value to a more mainstream audience.?? I’ve discussed the challenges often faced by intrapreneurs in some previous posts (here and here).

But if we consider the quirky approach as a model for enterprise innovation, there may be a more valuable way to leverage the deep skills and talents found within an enterprise.?? Each step of the quirky process is interesting in some way.

  1. Submit idea — Have a small barrier for the idea submitter to overcome which helps to keep the idea pipeline clean.?? In the context of the enterprise, allow any employee/agent to contribute ideas.?? Innovation becomes relevant for all staff… not just techies.

  2. Idea in weekly contest for next product — I’m fascinated with this idea of a brief time period to keep the contest excitement going…. adding drama week in and week out.

  3. Idea review by community — Ideas are reviewed, collaborated on, rated, etc.?? Its the active community that defines the agenda and focus of the next great thing to be produced.?? In essence this pre-establishes that a ‘market’ for this idea exists right now.?? The enterprise leverages the community to build a portfolio of offerings the community has already validated as attractive.

  4. Weekly contest ends and winning idea is selected — After a fixed period of time, a decision to move forward or not is reached.?? That decision is derived based on employee input.?? Again, I think the “contest time period” is important here to provide the focus.

  5. Winning idea is executed by quirky team — A staffed. multi-disciplinary team then executes on the winning idea.?? In my mind, this is exactly where many existing enterprise innovation processes are weak.?? Idea folks aren’t always builder folks.?? Additionally, idea folks might not have the time, personal networks, or expertise (supply, manufacturing, marketing, sales, etc.) to execute the idea.

  6. Finished product becomes available — A place where the cool new thing can be leveraged.?? Although there’s often no money changing hands internally, perhaps there are other forms of capital (social, influence, recognition) which can serve as the ‘take’ for all those involved in the previous steps.

Ultimately a model like the above could provide a multi-audience value that complements the varied skills and traits found within the enterprise.

Value for the submitter:
  • In-depth idea evaluation.??
  • Detailed community comments and feedback.
  • Potential candidacy as the a product.
  • If chosen, the idea is executed by a defined team and becomes a product available for use in a short timeframe.
  • If it becomes a product, the idea submitter gets some form of award (monetary, patent, news story, etc.).
Value for the community:
  • Even if it wasn’t your original idea, community members divergent skills and perspectives can help to shape the idea into an even more powerful and valuable offering.
  • It is the community that is driving the decision-making as it represents the initial target market for the product produced.
  • The model appears to recognize that it takes a village to care for an idea.?? They do this by tracking “influence” for community members. In the enterprise this could manifest in the form of collaboration recognition and reputation building.
Value for the enterprise:
  • Great innovation to improve portfolio.
  • Majority of the benefits (whether financial or not).
  • Community-validated ideas prior to development expense.
  • Built-in early adopters and evangelists who supported idea from the start.

What do you think??? Where are the strengths and weaknesses of this kind of model??? What have you seen work?

Training to clarify expectations

There are lots of great points made in http://bhorowitz.com/2010/05/14/why-startups-should-train-their-people/ but I mostly enjoy the notion of managers training staff as a way of clarifying performance expectations. Too often there’s limited guidance so staff are left to try their best. But perhaps helping staff to understand what you think success looks like is an easy way to motivate and be transparent at the same time.

I also think many of the compelling arguments raised about the value of training can also be applied to social media, particularly blogging. Sharing a little of your time now can bring back exponential future value to others.

Innovators: Looking for Mr/Ms Right Now?

Do you remember the last time you were infactuated?  You saw someone who caught your interest and chased after them.  You thought they were the hottest thing you had seen in some time. Your passion flaired.  Your excitement level increased.  Spending time with them or thinking about them was the best part of your day.  Your attention was largely focused on them.  You talked, you laughed, you did things together… things were going along just fine. No strings.  No commitment.  Just get together when you could and things would be cool.

But after some time other things started to get in the way.  No longer could you dedicate as much time / attention to each other. Maybe one of you wants more than the other.  Things get complicated.  They want to know where things are going… if you have a future together.  It becomes clear that if things are to continue, someone needs to get serious. 

Less calls.  Less meets. You get distance… which leads to feelings of guilt.  “Maybe we can spend some time together next week.”  “I haven’t talked to them in a week.”  It gets easier to avoid and harder to rekindle that initial passion. 

You just stop talking.  No breakups or bad feelings.  You just stop. 

Life goes on. You fall for someone else.  Rinse & repeat.

Face it… you aren’t ready for a commitment. You love the chase, the excitement, the adrenaline!  You’re looking for Mr/Ms Right Now.

———————–

Maybe this is the same chase, excitement, adrenaline that fuels innovators to innovate?  You get excited about an idea, give it some focus, even make some initial progress.  But then things deflate. Maybe its too much… maybe it needs different skills than you have…. maybe it takes up too much of your time… maybe you need more money.  Whatever the case, you lose focus and then interest and passion.  You still like it and think its cool but it just sits there… dying on the vine.

———————–

Perhaps this is why we hear venture capitalists and entrepreneurs talk about how the team is more important than the idea for a new venture.  Maybe what they are really trying to determine is your level of commitment.  They want to know if you’re flirting with your idea and playing it cool or if you are ready to settle down and get serious.  They want to know if you are looking for Mr/Ms Right… or Mr/Ms Right Now.

 

What do you think?  Good or bad analogy?

The role of business in society… in more than 800 characters!

I’m in the process of applying to participate in IBM’s Corporate Service Corps program.?? It’s a wonderful program which some have described as a sort of “Peace Corps for business” and I desperately would love to be selected.??

Part of the application process is to respond in essay form to several questions.?? One of the questions was quite thought-provoking but I wasn’t able to completely respond since there was a character count restriction on the application form.?? So I decided to blog about it.?? Here’s the question:

What, in your opinion, is the role of business in society? In particular assess if, how and why businesses should address core societal, environmental, educational and governance issues.

After getting over the initial “wow, that’s a big & complex question” and working through a few revisions, here’s what I included as my response (limited to 800 characters):

I believe ???Think Global, Act Local??? applies directly to the role of business in society.

On a global or aggregate level, “Business” has an important role in facilitating and leading widespread change for the benefit of mankind.?? Capitalizing on science & research advancements, collectively “Business” can scale those innovations to span a very wide spectrum of humanity’s challenges & opportunities (societal, environmental, educational, etc.).

On the local level, I believe the bedrock social issue of any individual business is to provide employment & stability to the community???s citizens.?? Beyond this foundation, it is often the values (soul) of the business that influences the focus given to ???greater good??? deeds that stretch beyond the company???s markets, offerings, and missions.

??
Adequately answered I think, given the character count limitation.?? But I wrote much more and feel as though my response, while adequate, was somewhat unfinished since I was unable to reflect on the inherent conflict of global corporate growth at the expense of local corporate pain (lost loyalty, jobs, security) and what I think about that.

Luckily, there’s avenues such as this blog which allow me to finish this philosophical debate with myself.?? So here’s what was left unsaid in my application:

Personally, I fear the soul of business (its values) is being enveloped by corporate goals which rock the very foundation of our global society.?? When the loyalty between individual employers and employees erodes as a result of corporate cost-cutting initiatives to fuel growth, it is the very communities in which the business operates which are poisoned.?? That’s not very socially beneficial, at least in the communities where it happens.

Consider just a few significant examples of how business has shifted more and more of the heavy load of risk to their employees over the last decade or two.

  • Business-managed pensions shifted to individual-managed retirement accounts (401k, etc).
  • Sourcing of employees from local markets to global markets in pursuits of cheaper costs.
  • Healthcare cost shifts from employer-provided to employee-financed.
  • Vacation and “unlimited” sick time evolving to become capped Paid Time Off.

I have to wonder where the social benefits of many of these kinds of changes are leading us.?? We know they are leading business to less risk and oftentimes reduced costs.?? But what about society??? What about the communities??? What about you and I?

Now I’m not foolish enough to believe that all businesses have the luxury to coast indefinitely without making strategic decisions which can lead to changes. Businesses are constantly under assault as competition seems fiercely knocking down the door all the time. The unquenchable thirst of investors for faster & higher returns leaves many business leaders little choice but to go mainstream with soulless pursuit of profits and growth.?? Who cares about higher-cause values and social good when you are just as replaceable as any of the “resources” (nee employees) that work for your business?

I know there are countless counterpoints to the few examples I cited above, including the Corporate Service Corps program I’m applying for.?? I just think pondering business’ role in society is a complex question that has many sides.?? I’m worried about how the larger business/society trends will impact me in the coming years (and I’m getting more and more terrified of how they will impact my children’s future).

??

I’d love to know what you think.?? How will this play out for your career? And for your children’s career??? Please comment.

My tweet highlights – 1Q10

Highlights from http://www.twitter.com/wolfc for 1Q10.

30-Mar-2010 — We are all storytellers!  RT @ wjhuie For the record, MarkLogic has the most beautiful ‘about us’ video; http://bit.ly/96FkLY
27-Mar-2010 — Having unforgettable ‘dad memories’ spring. Coaching 9yr old’s little league. Today 7yr old rides bike by herself. #appreciate #carpediem
27-Mar-2010 — 3d printers anyone? RT @fredwilson: @albertwenger has a great post about “the future of making stuff” http://bit.ly/dlumqG
27-Mar-2010 — RT @HarvardBiz: IT Leaders, It’s Time to Give It Up http://s.hbr.org/a6LEib “more power in positioning oneself as a coach” nice!
27-Mar-2010 — @sparklingwit do we ask innovators what went wrong? RT @HarvardBiz: Are You Squandering Your Intelligent Failures? http://s.hbr.org/bkpK1K
27-Mar-2010 — RT @timoreilly: How do we measure innovation? help construct better index than number of #patents http://oreil.ly/beJdvo / @roonoid tvi?
26-Mar-2010 — checking out http://pleaserobme.com/
21-Mar-2010 — RT @timoreilly: Why $33/mo in France buys broadband http://nyti.ms/bKkviH > I want 1 bill for any device access: Phone, tv, computer… Any
17-Mar-2010 — RT @dhinchcliffe: Why the New Normal Could Kill IT: http://bit.ly/bFJhnI > @roonoid must read based on our chat today
17-Mar-2010 — RT @timoreilly: Love @dries’ question: You’re busy? Fragmented busy or focused busy? Wonderful distinction > focus busy demands discipline
13-Mar-2010 — Messing around with iThought app. Pretty easy mind mapping capability
08-Mar-2010 — Really like ‘in the trenches’ aspect of undercover boss. Insights aplenty. Would like to see what changes the boss makes in 6 months.
07-Mar-2010 — Finding I tune to public radio more often now. News and such. Is that a sign I’m getting older?
03-Mar-2010 — agile and hitler…  too funny…
02-Mar-2010 — sigh, at times developer attitudes frustrate me. they want biz to appreciate how hard their job is… but they dont reciprocate to non-devs
28-Feb-2010 — Breakthroughs come from rethink, not rework. #innovation
24-Feb-2010 — Great chat with @rawn about social software, innovation, books, and working at IBM. Txs
21-Feb-2010 — Wisdom vs strategy. http://bit.ly/bZRfgX > aggressive but interesting. Like “Stop looking for examples. Set an example.”
17-Feb-2010 — http://chatroulette.com is nuts, strange, gross, interesting, odd…. but addictively simple
17-Feb-2010 — incredible amount of free live-streaming of video at http://justin.tv  watching sherlock holmes movie right now
14-Feb-2010 — @eric_andersen interested in augmented reality future? What if you’re always connected and inputs are natural? http://bit.ly/cObto9
09-Feb-2010 — @terrigriffith wide for innovation? Check out http://quirky.com crowdsource ideas and selection; then build & sell winners. Value to all
07-Feb-2010 — Yeah baby!  Killed directv acct and went over the air for just $30. Getting about 20 channels for free now! FTW! Will blog how soon.
06-Feb-2010 — Looking forward to being panelist on consulting career at Santa Clara Univ’s career crossroads conf today!
05-Feb-2010 — I’m motivated by more than money http://bit.ly/blqsGp new post
05-Feb-2010 — checking out http://www.evri.com/developer api to analyze text, get recommendations, discover relationships, mine facts, get popularity info
31-Jan-2010 — RT @cshirky: here’s something on delegated vs. federated ID: http://bit.ly/b1oBGa > credit card example is insightful
31-Jan-2010 — RT @fredwilson: how to empower your team: @markpinc says “make everyone the CEO of something” http://bit.ly/arzuEW > transparent expertise
30-Jan-2010 — RT @venturehacks: Blunt advice for MBAs who want to work at startups: http://j.mp/dqIAzq. By @ceonyc. > job hunting 2010 for anybody
29-Jan-2010 — Checklist manifesto – 3 of 5 – article not book; same punchline everytime; checklists give discipline to simple & complex processes
27-Jan-2010 — @elsua email where knowledge goes to die? Do models like Posterous tackle that?
22-Jan-2010 — And so it begins…. In bolinas! #collab
22-Jan-2010 — RT @flowingdata Should you eat the food you just dropped? http://bit.ly/8lsC3N > hilarious decision tree, my fave = “is it bacon?” EAT IT
22-Jan-2010 — “Its model is about pursuing higher-margin recurring revenue and reducing volatility.” Guess who?   http://j.mp/774JKs
22-Jan-2010 — @catherine_pd read this and consider how it might play into your new role http://bit.ly/4nwckH
15-Jan-2010 — @subdigit Posterous is just sooooo easy. Have yet to find file it doesn’t take. I want it for work. Project blogs in a snap
14-Jan-2010 — new post – Innovation Lessons: It takes time to transition http://post.ly/Igoc
13-Jan-2010 — reading the checklist manifesto http://www.amazon.com/Checklist-Manifesto-How-Things-Right/dp/0805091742
12-Jan-2010 — new post – What if you’re always connected and inputs are natural? http://wolfc.posterous.com/convergence-opportunities
11-Jan-2010 — RT @andrew_chen: The Innovation Paradox http://bit.ly/4qV5bF > innovation requires risk not just polish
09-Jan-2010 — very easy twitter backup to spreadsheet – http://tweetake.com – even works for private accounts
09-Jan-2010 — RT @amcafee Cannot recommend strongly enough Gawande’s book The Checklist Manifesto – http://bit.ly/4pfSUg >> ordered and on the way
09-Jan-2010 — @roonoid sounds like tvi? RT @amcafee: My new post at HBR.org argues AGAINST relying on intuition – http://bit.ly/8H5ySe – do you agree?
06-Jan-2010 — RT @TechCrunch: Augmented Reality Vs. Virtual Reality: Which One Is More Real? http://su.pr/1gRibR > augmented gaining momentum for sure!
06-Jan-2010 — Unexpectedly got great constructive insight on myself from @acoven – can’t always have it my way. Wonder how much of a bully I really am?
05-Jan-2010 — checking out http://hunch.com – a q&a type decision-making offering that gets smarter logic the more its used.
04-Jan-2010 — RT @ViperChill 24 Things I Do When Launching a New Blog http://bit.ly/2rvRZ3 >> good tips
02-Jan-2010 — signing up for @tastyplanner http://tastyplanner.com/ gonna get ahead of the game in 2010!

I’m motivated by more than money

Maybe it’s just because I came from a big family that didn’t have too much money? ??Maybe I feel more entitled than I should? ??Maybe I’m just needy? ??Whatever the case, I am greatly motivated by being recognized for the value I bring to my work. ??Sure I like monetary awards… but my personal motivation is fueled by more than cash.

In today’s workplace, there are lots of talented people and one way to stand out is to have your successes publicly documented by others. ??In other words, have a great reputation. ??While I can blog about my own exploits and triumphs, my reputation is really driven by awareness and/or validation from others. ??So I get a warm & fuzzy feeling when that validation comes in public settings.

Earlier this week there was a story featured on my company’s main intranet page regarding a recent announcement of CIO Leadership Awards. ?? This caught my eye as there appears to be an ever-declining trend to award programs as a result of the current economic environment. ??So I was really happy to see this high visibility recognition program. ??Reviewing the article, it certainly sounded as though there were several interesting projects recognized. ??However, I must confess I was disappointed to find I didn’t recognize any of the projects/teams. Where were my peers? ??Hell, where were my projects?

Regardless if these kinds of team awards have a monetary component or not, I think the broader recognition and visibility is a great motivator. ??I know I would feel proud if something I worked on was recognized publically in this manner. ?? Reputation building has always been important for career growth but it seems in today’s ‘flat’ and wired world, having electronic trails of your reputation has increasing value and importance. ??

As @ceonyc opined in one of his recent posts (Blunt advice for MBAs who want to work at startups), “wouldn???t I rather have a note from someone… (with) a twitter account where 500 more people follow you than follow you back???and indication that you say things worth listening to.” ??While having a twitter following is only one dimension of online reputation, it can provide validated evidence of your value…. just as internal recognition in the form of awards can. ??And many of these kinds of recognition & reputation building motivators don’t have any hard-dollar costs.

Seems to me that making people feel good and valued through recognition systems is more important today than ever before…. and its really inexpensive too. Of course I’ll still take cash but flattery and recognition can keep me motivated too.

Innovation Lessons: It takes time to transition

One important lesson I’ve learned the hard way is that transitioning an innovation to a new team takes much longer than one would expect. In fact, sometimes it seems transitioning the innovation takes longer than building the innovation itself. This seems counter-intuitive.

Why?
image

You created this great whiz-bang thing but might not be able to continue working on it (you know, the day job gets in the way). So you set off to find someone that’s willing to adopt your baby. Now you need to transform from an innovator and become a detective. I call this the Sherlock Stage. You scour your network, your users… frankly anyone that ever asked you about your innovation. You start turning over rocks looking for help. If you’re lucky, you find folks that are interested…. but this is just the tip of the iceberg.

 

imageNow you need to sell.

The people you are talking to now believe your innovation is conceptually interesting and potentially valuable…. but they need to figure out what you got and how it aligns with what they have or need. Now they start asking about feedback, usage, documentation, etc. This provides evidence to them that “buying” your innovation is a worthwhile investment for them in terms of their resources, goals, capabilities, etc.

Be warned. This is often a one-sided negotiation because you have a higher motivation to find a “buyer” than the folks you are courting as you are essentially asking them to take on responsibility. They will ask you to come back after you do this or that or that. So you often leave these conversations with more work… and you already don’t have time. This happens because as you were focused on building your innovation that you cut corners in order to achieve your vision (limited documentation, non-scalable design decisions, etc.).

OK… so let’s assume after all this you find a team that is going to adopt your innovation. Congrats you made the sale… but the details of the “financing” needs to get worked out. In other words, the team that has agreed to adopt your innovation needs to figure out how to balance absorbing your innovation into all their existing projects and business commitments.

stopwatch

Now is when the waiting and uncertainty begin.

My dad used to always say “beggars can’t be choosers” and that comes to mind. Since you are asking another team to take ownership of your innovation, it becomes harder to influence the speed at which that transition is executed. After the often-times lengthy planning process occurs, hopefully you’ll begin to see more transition. This means that some of the folks involved will start to look at the details of your innovation. This also means they’ll start to realize all the corners you cut when you pulled your innovation hack together. Not following the proper corporate guidelines, not using the “trusted sources”, passing inappropriate data, etc. Any of these things might present unanticipated (and perhaps insurmountable) challenges to the team adopting your innovation.

So a few things might happen.

  1. They might be coming back to you – There may be even more questions and requests for assistance coming your way. Perhaps this will require even more of your time than you had initially invested in creating the in novation to begin with. You’ll begin to wonder why you should even bother with transitioning if it takes so much time, is hard, and is fraught with risk.
  2. They might go silent – Watch out if they go silent. They may abandon the effort as the challenges coupled with their ever-changing business priorities may not align. Your innovation may suffer the fate of countless others… death. If this happens, you might have to start all over again at the Sherlock stage…. or give up entirely.
  3. They might step up – I hope you find yourself here. The adopting team believes and are committed. They take on the challenges and fight the good fight to bring the glory of your innovation to the next stage. They rally the right resources and get things moving.

The common theme in all these scenarios is that they take much longer to work out than you might have guessed at the beginning. Even then, there’s an emotional roller coaster every step of the way and death for your little innovation seems to be around every corner. Its hard to estimate how long it will take even if all the stars and planets align just perfectly. With that said, I’d recommend you plan at least as much time on making your innovation successful as you spend on creating your innovation. So if it took you 3 months to build it and achieve some early adopter success, plan on at least 1-3 times as long for it to get picked up by another team to help take your innovation to the next level.

My experience tells me the best you can do is to get smart about the hard road ahead and try to think about the next stage if your innovation is initially successful. Think about what success will look like when creating your innovation AND when you need to find a new home for it.