innovate big

motivations driving open innovation online

I started this blog over a year ago now. At the time, I was interested in further exploring my passion for innovation, technology and business. As a bonus (I was hoping), my experience would also allow me to share any interesting findings with others along the way. Alas, it’s been fairly easy to get distracted but I still plan to stay true to my original vision.

In fact, since I started this blog and launched dotherightthing.com, several innovative consumer Internet product opportunities have surfaced and continue to keep me happily consumed. I love it. As an entrepreneur, it’s easy to get caught up talking about meaningful ideas but bringing meaningful ideas to life is where it’s really at for me. This is why we have plans on extending dotherightthing.com in the months to come; fertile grounds to continue to experiment in the world of consumer-driven Internet products.

Along these same lines, McKinsey Quarterly recently put out an article about “open innovation” (free registration required to read the complete article, I don’t quite understand why. Sorry.)

In this article, McKinsey refers to “distributed cocreation” to describe the effective use of open-source type initiatives and consumer-driven participatory marketing campaigns (initiatives where consumers help companies create marketing campaigns to build brands and awareness).

What’s worth noting here isn’t the thorough or rather obvious analysis of how the world has changed but instead the insightful research data that helps us understand what is motivating companies and consumers to get engaged in “distributed cocreation”.

So what and who cares… well, companies care about this new kind of collaboration because it allows them to:

1. Decrease research and development costs – companies get to try things before having to convince you to buy them.
2. Increase brand awareness, consumer loyalty and trust – it’s no secret, if your intentions are transparent, people are more likely to trust you or your company. McKinsey calls this “enhanced strategic position”, I would call it a requirement.
3. Increase innovation and competitive advantage – although the process is open, you will stay leaps and bounds ahead of the competition because you are now engaging your customers throughout not just at the point of sales.

Of course, this may differ from industry to industry but for most consumer product companies these rules apply.

Meanwhile, consumers care about this new kind of collaboration because it allows them to:

1. Be heard – feeling heard is an essential human thing but unfortunately for us, not an available option when we need it most.
2. Be famous without the fortune – similar to the desire to be heard including the companies you care about, the potential of becoming famous as a result of your contribution is also a key driver for most participatory consumers. Our independent research echoes these sentiments as well.
3. Make an impact – people want to see their ideas come to life, I can empathize with this motivation to be sure.

What do you think?

Posted in business, innovation, technology | 2 Comments »

github has re-shaped version control

Historically, version control and all its variant forms has been a pain. The entire experience of working with repositories and maintaining code is (for the most part) boring.

Meanwhile, GitHub has added a social and visual element that has totally re-shaped the version control experience. The command-line for geeks only tools are even fun to use. Nice work, we have migrated all our projects over. Often times it doesn’t take new features and fancy language to totally change the way you experience something both on- and off-line.

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explore needs first, tackle products later

User research and ethnography are nothing new, hot or sexy. From basic usability testing to in-depth market research, it has become a standard in one form or another in a variety of industries. Google does it, Procter & Gamble does it… everyone does it (and should continue to) but what is less common, particularly here in Silicon Valley, is a kind of ethnographic and needs research that supports the design of successful Internet products before they have been scoped out. Of course, this applies best to consumer Internet products rather than pure technology products.

Traditionally in the online world, research won’t come into play until *after* the product has already been scoped. You build it (or something close), test it and iterate accordingly. Even though this process appears on the surface to support, in some cases, successful consumer Internet products, I would argue the most successful consumer Internet products started with lean and simple objectives and *then* evolved as the “real” needs became clear over time (or when the users identified and adapted a completely different use for it: MySpace). I believe this can also apply to business models as well; start lean, simple and build around “real” needs accordingly.

What I am advocating here is a process that goes beyond product ideation and explores “real” needs in order to drive the design of consumer Internet products (not the other way around).

I think what Stan Shroeder describes as “the magic formula” is right on:

“Determine a basic need -> Create a service that satisfies it in the simplest way possible -> Open it up”

(Fred at A VC also discusses Stan’s perspective in an interesting related post about online group solutions)

But I would modify this magic formula slightly to read:

“Explore, research and understand a basic need/problem -> Create a service that satisfies it in the simplest way possible -> Open it up”

It’s not just about identifying or determining a “need” but understanding that “need”. How can you create a service that satisfies a “need” if you don’t really understand it? Of course, without proper execution, why even bother…

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building trust with relevance

Google’s search results are as relevant today as they were when their search technology was still experimental.

Fortunately, by maintaining their relevance, they quickly blew by their competitors. It’s the best way to build trusting relationships with your users (or anyone else).

I hope I can continue to stay relevant. It’s definitely a high priority

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befriend innovation not invention

(Yes. That’s me… attempting a bit of innovation.)

This important yet subtle distinction is too often blurred. The success of a solution or product is largely determined by how effectively it supports a given task or solves a specific problem; not by how inventive it is. The “execution” or “how” is far more critical than the “what” and, unfortunately, there exist few exceptions to the rule. Invention can be exciting and, at times, even revolutionary. But when haphazardly applied, invention just isn’t good enough.

In the end, it’s all about consistently re-working solutions around people’s needs in order to better solve problems.

Putting innovation before invention is when…

* Users feel understood – this means religiously putting less emphasis on target audience defaults or assumptions and more emphasis on relevance and emotional impact by researching users “in the wild”. Consider analytics and log analysis. Explore the competition, alternative solutions and keep in constant contact with users. And consider combining these efforts with off-line (in the real-world) ethnographic research to really get to know your users as people not just clicks. These insights can create remarkable results and as marketing guru Seth Godin continually reminds us: “Products that are remarkable get talked about.”

* Problems are sought out and quests are embarked upon – this should be done early and often. Sometimes the problem you think you are solving is very different from the problem you are really solving…so constant identification and re-identification of the problem is critical; this is at the core of both online and traditional product innovation. Facebook and the iPhone have done this very well. Any problem worth solving requires that it be considered something like a mythological quest to solve. Embark on a worthwhile quest and many others will join you in finding the right solution.

* Learning takes priority – The Internet makes it easy to acquire second-hand innovations by learning from giant, high-traffic sites. Particularly, those sites that take user-centered and data-driven design as seriously as Google or Amazon.com. I find myself considering this often. For example, you won’t ever find me re-creating a fancy new web-based shopping cart and checkout system.

I love hearing from you. Do me a favor and let me know your thoughts.

Related Posts You Might Also Enjoy:

an honest business model innovation?
disruptive innovations will drive “real good”
simple insights drive innovation

Posted in business, cartoon, entrepreneurship, innovation, technology | 1 Comment »

get intoxicated, boost creativity and solve the world’s problems

It has been longer than usual since my last post but I promise more interesting posts are on their way so stay tuned. Until then, here’s a fun one…

Recently, I posted about caffeine and innovation with the post “get wired and innovate smarter“. After coming across a post about the psychology of wine over at MindHacks, I wanted to share it as a follow-up.

According to the original article, the Ancient Persians used wine to facilitate decision-making and creativity. Solutions crafted while under the influence that later stood strong even in light of sober scrutiny were chosen over other solutions.

Posted in innovation, personal | 1 Comment »

authenticity: a brutal lesson from the “real-world”

Last week I had the best coffee experience of my life. And as a bootstrapped entrepreneur, I should know. I have done my share of time working from all kinds of coffee shops before being privileged with office space. Nevertheless, “best” is probably a bit of an exaggeration but this particular experience reminded me of what successful companies have done in order to stay relevant and attractive in today’s world of too many options. Don’t just take it from me, apparently I am not the only one who thinks this place in particular is awesome.

What made this experience different was the personal touch and authenticity of the owner Phill (who some believe to be a “local legend” of sorts) and the caring staff. Each cup is brewed individually just for you. The owner interacts with customers whenever possible and was even drinking his own custom brew while I was there. It is amazing how such human subtleties make a world of difference. I even overheard a kid say to Phill “my mom came here and said it was the best coffee she had ever had.” Truly priceless.

While at Phillz Coffee, I felt like I was a part of something. I wasn’t just another customer.

This experience (of which I hope to have more of) got me thinking about how businesses could replicate this in the online world. Yes; blogs, myspace pages and other personal online publishing tools are bringing personal and meaningful relationships to the virtual world but so much more is possible. As we already know, things are headed in a different direction entirely. The future is not in “selfish” publishing but “self-less”, co-created and relevant publishing. Including me (as employee, consumer or partner) is the most powerful and meaningful way a company can connect with me.

Consumerism and mass media aren’t dead. They are just evolving really fast. Thanks “facetube”.

Have you co-created something you believe in online recently?

Related posts:

why transparency = social responsibility
disruptive innovations will drive “real good”

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be careful what you attend to…

you might miss something important

Posted in links, personal | 1 Comment »

the power of meaningful conversations online

Social responsibility, sustainability and “green” business are definitely all the craze right now. We have witnessed this revolution (if that’s what you want to call it) first-hand and spoken to a variety of companies who are in the midst of significant change but, more importantly, we have noticed a shift in people’s understanding of what all this really means. It does NOT mean that everyone is suddenly interested in saving the world. It does mean our expectations of companies and organizations are changing… significantly. It is simple: consumers, employees and other stakeholders are just demanding more.

As an example, Ryan recently posted a great critical analysis of Timberland’s efforts to communicate their social responsibility and sustainability values. In short, communications about social responsibility and sustainability require engagement through meaningful conversations not traditional marketing. For companies, big and small, there is a lot to consider and learn from the tremendous success of online platforms used in this year’s election. As a subscriber to a number of these political communities, I have to admit that Barack’s use of this new style of communications is the most personal, transparent and meaningful. In fact, TechCrunch recently named Barack the most tech-enlightened Democratic candidate. Barack’s ability to authentically extend his leadership online to mobilize millions is nothing short of awesome. How would your company or organization leverage this kind of direct access to people?

Regardless of who we end up voting into office, companies should take note on how these new communications platforms are used beyond the election to forge personal and meaningful relationships with a variety of stakeholders. I can’t wait.

Posted in business, innovation, social responsibility, technology | No Comments »

make a great virtual first impression by actively managing your own online identity

I strongly believe there is something like a “virtual first impression”. At least there is for me because I often seek out and find information about people and companies well before I interact with them in the “real world”. What kind of virtual first impression are you making? Does a simple vanity search (aka egosurfing) of your name result in related information that is dated or you would rather not be associated with?

It is too easy for people to find information about you and your company online. But if you are not participating in the creation of that information someone else will because it is also very easy for people to publish information online. The earlier you participate in the creation of this information the better the results.

Others like Tom Peters say “Blog As If Your Life Depended On It!” Although I don’t necessarily believe everyone should maintain a blog (it is an amazing thing if you can), I do however believe everyone should actively maintain their online identities. Don’t let the web or search engines determine what information is important about you.

Fred at A VC for example, claims to have established many virtual relationships that later turned into real relationships. He goes on to say “I have rarely sized someone up incorrectly who I consider a friend online.” Something to consider when you are doing what you do online.

Here are 3 practical techniques I use to create and maintain my online identity:

1. Use an online id claim or professional network service to maintain a credible public profile – I maintain an updated LinkedIn profile as well as a ClaimID profile with related links about me. Both services are worth considering because they are regularly indexed by search engines which means your information will end up ranking higher and more quickly on Google than a site you create yourself (without the details, you will have to just trust me). These sites are also considered trustworthy, as compared with a site you may maintain yourself. Try to avoid the sites that found your name by crawling the web for people and pressure you to complete an empty profile (I really disagree with this tactic). Of course, I also maintain profiles on other sites like Facebook and, of course, DoTheRightThing but these typically do not rank as high. Maintaining too many online profiles is a waste of time so I have picked the most valuable ones that support and communicate my personal and professional interests; the association alone can communicate a lot about you.

2. Set up a Google Alert for your name -
The Google Alert beta service notifies you by email when your name, or anything else you want to follow closely such as your competitors or company name for example, is updated online someplace. Below is a snapshot of a recent Google Alert for my name:

In this example, the alert found my name on a reunion site that I never signed up for. A great example of the unethical crawling tactic I mentioned above. Although I would not rely on these alerts 100%, they are a good passive way of keeping tabs in the web world.

Read More →

Posted in innovation, personal, technology | 3 Comments »