The Overlooked Foremost Integrant in Innovation: Discovery
View(s):Introduction
Fundamental truths do not change even though they may be expressed with greater clarity over time and with the times. The marketplace, in contrast, is in a state of flux and the consumer is inconstant. Where change is continual, thriving – and indeed survival, demands constant innovation, whether of business strategies, business models, services, products or processes. In corporate environments, innovation is not an option for when time permits. Rather, it ought to be a key focus -more so in exacting periods; and integrated into the fabric of business operations.
Serendipity may bean actuality, but innovation isn’t spontaneous. It must be planned for and pursued. The first step is to recognise that innovation can – and should be, served by a process. The second, one needs to have the right innovation process in place, to suit the type of innovation sought. Third, this process needs to be holistic. Now what does that mean?
A simple understanding of the course of innovation may be expressed as a sequence of discovery, development and delivery. Applicable complexity is necessarily incorporated in practice. The foci are usually on the design and development activity – frequently, the realm of the R&D function, and on the delivery-which encompasses realising and marketing. These central and back-end activities are often mapped out to a passable degree. Even so, in order to eventually win at innovation – and to win big, the right input should arrive at the design desk. This is achieved through discovery.
Scope
The need to innovate, the need for a corporate innovation process, the need for governance of this process and the need throughout the ranks to be committed to the innovation mandate will remain outside the scope of this essay. Here, let us look at a part of the innovation process that is usually ignored and, even when acknowledged, remains indistinct, poorly defined, and inadequately executed.
The objective herein is to recognise that in an indefectible process of innovation, there exists what we may define as “discovery”; to assert its importance, to argue that discovery may be executed effectively via an analytical yet creative, exploratory yet systematic approach, and to dissect it into major components. The tools, specific criteria and measurements are alluded to but are not listed or described comprehensively here.
Practice
There are many practices or lack thereof, through which input is provided to design. Frequently, organisations begin design and development with an imperfect yet fair notion of what the need is. Frequently, the alleged experts provide compelling views on the solution, so there is no surprise when the retirement-age male MD of a business unit opines on the fragrance suitable for a toilet soap used by young women. The developers nod and get on with it,but perhaps a sub-optimal solution eventually gets to the delivery.
Random insight compilation is popular and coloured post-it notes look inspirational on brand managers’ cubicles. Brainstorming sessions, sometimes off-site, while motivational, often lack rigour of procedure, methodical idea capture and assessment of idea relevance, representation from relevant stakeholder groups and follow through of the outcomes. Market research and VoC-seeking activities are frequently outsourced at significant cost to agencies where the surveys may not ask the right questions and the person who ticks the boxes may not fully understand the questions asked – and may not be the right person to be answering them.
Due to financial or strategic factors, constraints may be imposed in terms of what methods, materials and technology solutions are permitted for consideration. There are situations where new products will be developed only if they can be manufactured on the existing machine which has to demonstrate an ROI to justify the decision to purchase it. Employment of such methods, approaches and their combinations are prevalent, and even though described critically herein, are useful in feeding development pipelines.
The question is, do these when conducted ad hoc and lacking a governing framework,provide sufficient understanding of the development need, offer sufficient consideration of solution opportunities and enable proposal of enriching and ingenious solutions chosen from among several exciting alternatives. Let us then consider whether acknowledging and operating via a driven and structured discovery process could meliorate the status quo.
Definition
What is this “discovery”, requisite within a holistic innovation process? Discovery, as defined by this thinker, is a concerted process of broad and vigorous searching founded upon and subsequently clarifying a problem; and the harmonising of compiled learning to formulate and preliminarily evaluate resonating conceptual solutions. This defining statement is loaded, and it will be deconstructed, albeit briefly, hereinafter.
“Concerted” implies that discovery is a multi-activity, cross-functional operation that demands much coordination. Many persons within and without the organisation will necessarily be engaged simultaneously or sequentially. And all the knowledge and networking has to be orchestrated towards the process objective. The team compositions for exploration, idea synthesis, conceptualisation and prototyping may have to be different. Limits are required on the range and depth of exploration, and the exploration tool box should be smartly utilized.The efforts need to be guided towards convergence at the focal point, within timeframes and with consideration of strategic alignment.
The “problem” is the unmet, poorly met or even unrecognised need of the often undefined customer. This need may be problems present, future, or known to be evolving. The customer may be a user, consumer or other stakeholder internal or external to the organisation.
Specific outcomes of discovery are clear and deep definitions of the problem and of the market segment, consumer profile, affected party or inanimate objects to which it applies;and a conceptual solution vetted with a preliminary viability assessment. Discovery can, in some instances, be concluded partway with only the studied definition of a need; likewise, it may sometimes be begun with a pre-defined problem.
Explore
The “searching” requires the seeking out and capturing of diverse and even disconnected results in a context where industry and category boundaries cease to exist, and where understandings of problem and solution may intermingle. It seeks to probe deep into the potential receptacles of the potential innovation, and into potential means through which the innovation may be realised. Seeing, and even delving unrestricted into unchartered territory must be encouraged, and judgments should be deferred. Encourage creativity and divergence in ideation and suffer not to demotivate the explorers by rejecting the finds before they have been sufficiently assessed.
Here is a call to step back, to look beyond the obvious, and certainly to look beyond the low hanging fruits. This is where the grass may be greener on the other side of the hill – but you have to venture forth fearlessly in order to see it. The swatches in the sample room may serve the purpose and the familiar supplier’s suggestion may be great; the consultant may have done it before (10 years ago) and the point stressed in the downloaded market report looks good. But what and who else is out there; what could be found if it was sought? Without structured exploration, we would – and tend to, settle comfortably into acceptance of immediately available answers, and thereby meet deadlines more conveniently.
To gather insights on consumer needs various methods of capture may be selected. The roots of the solution may lie deeper than opinions expressed in focus groups and may require a journey into the dreams, aspirations and desperations of market segments, and considerations of their heritage. Other needs may be identified depending on psyche, geographical landscape and competitor strategies. Systematically seeking out new attitudes and predicting shifts in behavior and experiences may provide important inputs. The consumer might be a plant of which one may need to know not only the climate it is exposed to and the soil it is rooted in, but also the surface tension of liquid mixtures on its leaves in order to enable it to flourish without being prey to a biological pest. The solution may not even be in plant protection by chemical means, but an eco-friendly pest diversion into a situation where the pest will no longer be definable as a pest and could even benefit the farmer – if only the landscape of exploration extends beyond insecticides, and if the agriculturist asks the ecologist and not only the agrochemist.
Approaches partial to solutions could be seeking emerging or unaccustomed technology, materials, methods and their developers. Considering application of old technology in new situations may yield surprises. Unearthing an algorithm lost in vedic mathematics or plunging into an analysis of the behaviour of custard may launch you onto understanding of and a means of quantitatively describing the movement of muscles under compression, that could lead to novel protective solutions in impact sports. Reaching out to resources such as specialists in different fields may suggest opportunities to halve the complexity envisaged by specialists in the relevant field.
A prerequisite of exploration is that the easiest and obvious good solution is not to be immediately adopted. The outcome of exploration is a pool of knowledge, insights, relationships – and imagination on overdrive.
Synthesise
“Harmonising”is the studied and coordinated synthesis of the diverse fruits of exploration. This may be the most beautiful part of innovation – and it has to be executed willfully. Else the pool of ideas may remain like the theoretical primordial chemical soup, out of which nucleic acids will not randomly emerge. The compiled information and insights are developed, and potential collaborators are pursued. Connections are made sometimes using wires from different circuits, in order to switch on the green light, which makes that grass greener just over yonder. During this phase, ideas may be culled or stored.
Here, drawing on experience and through intelligent permutation of previously accumulated and assimilated resources, information and partnerships, previously unimagined combinations inspire unforeseen possibilities and enable identification of white spaces. This is hindsight nourished by insight inspired by foresight precipitating eureka occasions. The understanding of the pain and of the pain point is deepened and precisely described. Opportunities for its cure are mapped – a cure that would resonate with and transform the defined pain into pleasure.
Harmonising culminates inconceptualisation- the translation of syntheses into a value-able concept. The concept is a specific offering or product. It will be more ingenious, simpler, and have greater potential to touch the soft spot in a niche or mass market segment for which it has been envisioned, if birthed via a discovery process. Where applicable, some experimentation or early prototyping may contribute towards refining the concept. The conceptual solution’s practical feasibility and financial viability, marketability, resource requirements, supply chain interactions, timeframes and corporate strategic alignment may now be considered at a primary level.
Closure
Discovery ends with the formal proposal and justification of the concept, in order to seek passage along the innovation funnel; and may be documented in the form of a design and development brief. A firm decision must be made by the corporate innovation gatekeepers to approve the concept or else to kill it. The top management, however well-intentioned, or smart, cannot decide right without context and rationale, however flashy the slides are or how enthusiastic the lobbyist is for taking a project through. The basis for informed decision-making is strong when the solution is derived through discovery. Further, marketing officers at such gates will have to understand that market share makes no sense in blue oceans, and accountants have to accept that even estimated numbers may not always be available.
If the concept is accepted as a development project, this counts as success. If the concept is killed, the organisation still benefits with acquired skills, partnerships, and learning–assuming it was the outcome of a discovery process as outlined herein. Concepts may be killed due to an inadequacy arising from poor compliance with discovery procedure, or due to poor decision-making at the gate. There may also be slow death due to chronic indecision.
Challenges
Lack of confidence in approaching discovery or overconfidence about perceived knowledge may prove hurdles in launching and sustaining a discovery process. Even if convinced of its benefit, doubts may arise about managing sophisticated cross-disciplinary thinking and multifarious research, and about the time and cost incurrable.
Once launched on the journey, the discoverers may be challenged more with breaking through internal obstacles to the operation of the process that disable the core activity of breaking through obstacles to the solution. A multiplicity of ideas and a myriad of options for assimilating and connecting these, uncertainty about interpretation of acquired information, risk-averseness and lack of interest from potential partners, inconvenient timelines and budgetary limitations, insufficient access to knowledge of market needs and evolving consumer trends will, inter alia, be encountered and are battles to be fought enroute.
Tailoring the process to adapt to technical, financial or other constraints, and even to the degree of corporate aspiration may, at times, be apt. However, availing of the entire framework and reducing as appropriate is superior to proceeding without and resorting to a convenient, familiar and incomplete approach. The stages within discovery may be fluid with lateral movements where some synthesis may require further exploration. Balancing formality with flexibility, firmness in idea filtering towards converging concepts without dampening curiosity, creativity and motivation in search operations,are skills required.
Conclusion
Discovery is not merely for reducing the risk of failure after launch. Rather, it enhances the likelihood of generating powerful concepts, and consequently, of more successful innovation. It mandates learning and the leveraging of ideas and networks to channel creativity towards optimal solutions that meet and exceed the need of the customer. Discovery unlocks greater possibilities and yields higher value than were it forsaken, irrespective of whether sustained, incremental or paradigm-shifting innovation is pursued. Organisations will benefit not only from greater revenue and profitability, but also with value of a reputation for ingenuity in business and empathy with consumer. Failure to invest in discovery may be immeasurable in terms of the cost of lost opportunity.
- Dr F E Dias, Chartered Scientist, Chartered Engineer.
The writer is a leading industrialist experienced in sectors as diverse as chemicals, agriculture, food, cosmetics, advanced materials, apparel, and personal & home care. He holds a doctorate in Chemical Engineering from the University of Cambridge. You may contact him at Dias@Cantab.net.