The document discusses the need for organizations to innovate or risk losing to competitors. It proposes using a curated knowledge base and relational database to map out opportunities by linking together things like customer pain points, trends, business models, and operations. An example prototype of such a knowledge base is shown using Airtable to link these various elements to help spur innovation. However, the document notes challenges in finding database software that is both enterprise-ready and user-friendly.

1. INNOVATE OR DIE
MAKE INFORMED DECISIONS
WITH A CURATED KNOWLEDGE BASE

2. INNOVATION IS THE GOAL, KNOWLEDGE BASE IS THE TOOL SUPPORTING IT
SLACK FOUNDER: "WE DON'T SELL SADDLES"
▸ What we are selling is not the software product...
▸ ... if we are selling “a reduction in the cost of
communication” or “zero effort knowledge management”
or “making better decisions, faster” or “all your team
communication, instantly searchable, available wherever
you go” or “75% less email” or some other valuable result
of adopting Slack, we will find many more buyers.
▸ That’s why what we’re selling is organizational
transformation. The software just happens to be the part
we’re able to build & ship (and the means for us to get
our cut).
We Don’t Sell Saddles Here - Stewart Butterfield
2

3. STAYING AWAY FROM THE EVOLUTIONARY BATTLEGROUND IS NOT AN OPTION
IF YOU DON'T INNOVATE, YOUR COMPETITORS WILL
3

4. YOU NEED A SUSTAINABLE STREAM OF IDEAS AND WAYS OF TESTING HYPOTHESES
THE USUAL SUSPECTS DON'T WORK
▸ Idea Box
▸ People are pushing their pet solution proposals,
not tested problem insights
▸ Innovation Theatre
▸ Beauty contest mistaken for prototype testing
▸ Design Thinking workshops
▸ The process is confused with the principles
▸ No commitment for whole sprints
▸ IDEO's "Bug List", "Tech Box" are missing
4

5. WORKPLACE BY FACEBOOK ET AL. MAKE UP JUST ONE OF THE 2 SIDES OF "ORGANIZED CHAOS"
SOCIAL INTRANET ONLY GOES SO FAR
▸ "We're removing hierarchies, removing silos and
creating organized chaos for ideas to flourish" - quoted
from Telenor CEO and president Sigve Brekke in "A
CEO's Guide to Working with Workplace by Facebook"
▸ Most useful for instant insights, not for knowledge
repository. The "chaos" part is easy, the "organized"
part is harder:
▸ Nobody uses hash tags to organize information
▸ Everybody jumps on the hyped topics
▸ WiKi format is too flat to represent multiple
dimensions of knowledge

6. FOR A KILLER BUSINESS MODEL, ALL PARTS HAVE TO BE ALIGNED
INNOVATION = MAKING CONNECTIONS

7. RELATIONAL DATABASES ARE IDEAL TO REPRESENT CONNECTIONS - FOR GEEKS
HOUSTON, WE HAVE A DESIGN PROBLEM
▸ Analogy: the OXO Good Grips peeler was
inspired by a woman with arthritis who
couldn't grasp the traditional one.
▸ Translation:
▸ Database technology is fine - just like
the blade of the peeler
▸ Non-geeks have a hard time using it -
like the woman with pain in her hands

8. ENTERPRISE-READY, USER-FRIENDLY RELATIONAL DATABASE SOFTWARE IS SO HARD TO FIND
BLIND SPOT OF THE WINDOWS-LINUX WORLD
▸ Can you imagine 10 year old kids using
Microsoft Access, like they can use cloud-
based Airtable?
▸ Have you ever seen SMBs using
Microsoft Access, like FileMaker?
▸ Who is using Microsoft Dynamics 365?

9. THE STRENGTH OF TRENDWATCHING IS ALSO ITS WEAKNESS
THE SOURCE OF THE IDEA: TRENDWATCHING
▸ TrendWatching is a relational
database
▸ Examples of business
innovation are arranged
under megatrends, trends
and industries
▸ It is a custom web app: user
friendly - and walled garden

10. EXAMPLE: THE MEGATRENDS MOST RELEVANT FOR THE TELEKOM INDUSTRY
TRENDWATCHING: INDUSTRY HEAT MAPS
10

11. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE LAYERS IS MORE CHAOTIC THAN ON THE PICTURE BELOW 11
SOME MORE TRENDS

12. WE COULD PULL IN TRENDS FROM MULTIPLE SOURCES, AND LINK TO PROJECT DETAILS 12
WHY NOT OPEN UP THE WALLED GARDEN?

13. A "CRIME BOARD" OF KNOWLEDGE FOR FINDING UNHAPPY CUSTOMERS AND MAKE THEM HAPPY 13
ENTERS "OPPORTUNITY RADAR"
FIND AND
UNDERSTAND
SOLVE THEIR PROBLEM
AND MAKE A PROFIT

14. A "CRIME BOARD" OF KNOWLEDGE FOR FINDING UNHAPPY CUSTOMERS AND MAKE THEM HAPPY 14
ENTERS "OPPORTUNITY RADAR"
Bugs/Pain points
‣ With benchmark bugs
‣ Who is affected
‣ How serious
‣ Missing consumer value
‣ Psychographic (Big 5)
profiling
Proposed direction of solution
‣ Business Model assessment
‣ Strategy fit
‣ Affected elements of BAU operation (eTOM, SID by TMForum)
Environment
‣ Consumer & Technology trends
‣ Market intelligence
‣ Tinkering platforms
‣ Potential partners
Definition of done
‣ How to check if they are
happy

15. SEQUENCE MATTERS 15
FROM PAIN TO OPPORTUNITY

16. PAIN POINT = SOME EXPECTED CONSUMER VALUES ARE MISSING 16
DISSATISFACTION BROKEN DOWN
▸ The layers of (missing)
consumer value:
▸ Functional
▸ Emotional
▸ Life changing
▸ Social impact

17. DATABASE ITEMS CAN BE LINKED TO OTHER PIECES OF INFORMATION, UNLIKE COLLECTIONS 17
TREND REPORTS CUT UP

18. BASED ON STRATEGYZER’S "7 QUESTIONS TO ASSESS YOUR BUSINESS MODEL DESIGN" 18
BUSINESS MODEL SCORING
▸ Switching Costs - 0 = Nothing holds my customers from leaving me / 10 = My customes
are locked in for several years
▸ Recurring Revenues - 0 = 100% of my sales are transactional / 10 = 100% of my sales lead
to automatically recurring revenues
▸ Earning vs Spending - 0 = I incur 100% of my costs of COGs before earning revenues / 10
= I earn 100% of my revenues before incurring costs of goods & services sold (COGs)
▸ Game-Changing Cost Structure - 0 = My cost structure is at least 30% higher than my
competitor / 10 = My cost structure is at least 30% lower than my competitor
▸ Others Who Do the Work - 0 = I incur costs for all the value created in my business
mode / 10 = All the value created in my business model is created for free by external parties
▸ Scalability - 0 = Growing my business model requires substantial resources and effort / 0 =
My business model has virtually no limits to growth
▸ Protection from Competition - 0 = My business model has no moats*, and I’m vulnerable
to competition / 10 = My business model provides substantial moats that are hard to overcome
* A moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that surrounds a castle, fortification,
building or town

19. BAU OPERATIONS DIFFER COMPANY BY COMPANY, BUT CAN BE MODELED BY ETOM BY TMFORUM 19
TELEKOM OPERATIONS MAP

20. THIS CONCEPT WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN BORN WITHOUT A TOOL THAT WORKS LIKE A CHARM 20
1ST PROTOTYPE ON AIRTABLE

21. CON: LESS USER-FRIENDLY - PRO: GRAPH REPRESENTATIONS, ENTERPRISE FRIENDLY 21
2ND PROTOTYPE ON ARCHITECTURE CATALOG APP

22. BETTER TO FIND A STRING THAT GETS PULLED, THAN TRYING TO PUSH ON IT 22
BEYOND THE TOOL: INNOVATION CONSTRAINTS
Almost every annoyance, every
point of friction, hides a design
opportunity. Instead of just
complaining, ask yourself, “How
might I improve this
situation?” (IDEO founders Tom
and David Kelley)

23. SELL YOUR BY-PRODUCT 23
BEYOND THE TOOL: INNOVATION CONSTRAINTS
Edge opportunities:
▸ Leverage a set of existing foundational
assets.
▸ The effort (both in terms of labor and capital)
to deliver is incremental.
▸ The add-on should be presented as a
separate option, for separate financial
consideration, that customers can use to
customize