3 Cycles Remote Innovation - Build

Cycles
The simplest, proven way
to build your business.
Build !

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Content today..
What is really known about Idea Building
A proven 7-step process to build more ideas

Deliverable
7 Step Idea building
Morning work (11:00‐12:30)
1. Familiarize yourself with the objectives and challenge
2. Challenge the problem definition
3. Effectuation
4. Stimulus Mining== > spark decks (11:30-12:30) – 3 slides per person !
Meet Mentor – Ask questions + break time
Afternoon work (14:00 – 17:00)
1. Review spark deck (write ideas) 60 min –(18 slides @ 3 min per slide =54 min)
2. Individual brain writing + Improvements -60 in pairs
3. Group Work – 30 min
4. Re-work – 30 (individual)
DONE for the day. You will vote tomorrow morning

Question.
What is a Spark Deck ?
Why Useful ?

My Personal Views
We dramatically overrate the value of ideas
You shouldn’t worry about people stealing your ideas
It is not the easiest step to outsource
 Alignment takes strategic insight
 Communication and checking usually requires domain
expertise
 Systems thinking takes time
Idea Building is easy…. and the easiest to outsource

2 similar views
 It is the process of building
 It is the execution that counts
 It is not about what you have, but
what you make out of it
Steve Jobs Interview

Steve Jobs on idea building Build_media1.mp4
https://youtu.be/E1muuId9A7g

What we really
know about idea
building…

“Inventions Are
Ideas That Have
Sex”
Some say everything has already
been invented. We are just looking
for new combinations

MU =
S
F
D
Meaningfully
Unique Ideas!
Leverage
Diversity
Drive out Fear
=
Explore Stimulus

Ways to build
better ideas
7 + 1 because you’re smart

More
Stimulus
=
More Ideas
(Quantity &
Quality)
Where to go
on vacation?

Better = Associations
Spain Foodie Budget of
a student
+ +

A quick test
Al the things in your fridge
all the things that are white

9 out of 10 people identify
more white things than
things in their refrigerator

Spain Foodie Budget of
a student
+ +
Best = HARD Associations
“How could
you do it for
free”
“How could
you get paid”

Build_media2.mp4
https://youtu.be/REk9afFvsh8

It is more impressive than you
think
More stops than leading bands
Stride Gum
Visa
Samsonite
Make a wish
foundation
Plus speaking
Estimates:
€ 600‐800 K / year
plus expenses

Imagine this…
BMW has some of the best
designers in the world and sells
their designers by the day
below cost
Why?
To build creativity…

The world’s biggest ideas
are built around needs

Better ideas are about
Staying focused
on consumer
(customer) value
Being committed to
better satisfy unmet
unarticulated needs
Working to
build insights

Why?… Needs first, not ideas
first !
Develop
a solution
Find
a need
Find
a need
Develop
a solution
Find
a market
IDEAS first
NEEDS first
5 - 10%
Find
a market
70%
Success rate *
* According to Strategyn research on outcome driven innovation…

JTBD: Create a mood with
music
1984
Optical
2001
Hard Drive
2007
Cellular
2015
Streaming
Better Mood / lists All in one place Simpler

It is more
than talking to
consumers
Many times the
consumer can NOT know
today’s
business
unexploited
opportunities
unexploited
opportunities
unexploited
opportunitiesArticulated
needs
Mobile
phone
Computers
Internet…

It is about hard questioning…
You can't just ask consumers what they want
and then try to give that to them.
Sometimes (actually often)
they don’t know what they want.
It is often about
“golden questions”.

Example Cat food
I was running a data company with data on 8 million household in the UK
Analysed socio-demo
Psychographic
Nothing worked !
One questions to identify to Sheba buyers
Hint: Think of the role of the cat in the family
JTBD : Part of the family
What is the question ?

Do you buy you cat a
Christmas present
worth more than €20

Suggested Format for a class exercise
The learning objective is:
The Value of problem framing
Read the Train text
Watch the Train video
Frame hard questions to
get into the details of the
problem.
Identify 2 ways the
problem could be re-
framed
What should they do
Discussion about the hard
questions.
Future Proofing the
problem statement.
Negative feelings of sitting
Make standing more
attractive
How with they
evaluate their work
Empathize with the
situation of the customer
in bringing out a solution
to the need.
Notice how the problem
definition can lead to very
different solutions
And how the problem
definition can help you find
a solution
What is the reflection
moment
1

Bad and / or unoriginal
ideas are as important as
good ideas

The big innovation Paradox
Whoever Makes the
Most Mistakes Wins
Richard Farson & Ralph Keyes

Suggested Format for a class exercise
The learning objective is:
Identifying potentials from failed business ideas
Read the case handouts on
failed business ventures
Come out with possible
reasons for failure.
One big idea that would’ve
made it a success.
What should they do
Discuss probable reasons
for failure.
Present your idea of
revamping business to
others
Take a vote on potential to
succeed for the idea.
How with they
evaluate their work
Lessons from failure
What could go wrong when
not understanding the
need.
The problem with
communicating the
solution.
What is the reflection
moment
Breakfast Cola
Even big businesses make mistakes, and DailyFinance lists Pepsi A.M. as one of the biggest product flops of all time. Why did Pepsi think
people would want cola for breakfast? Well, it does have caffeine, so why not assume it can replace coffee? Yeah, right. By the way, Crystal
Pepsi, a clear cola, flopped as well.
One possible lesson: Base your products on market testing rather than assumptions.
Colgate Frozen Meals
Selling to the Masses says Colgate heavily marketed their line of frozen meals, but to no avail. The big Colgate logo on the boxes made people
associate the food with the flavor of toothpaste, which apparently isn’t what they want their meals to taste like.
One possible lesson: Like Ben-Gay Aspirin, be careful about the associations attached to your label.
3

Ideas come
when you have time to
think…

The test, solve a difficult task while…
Reading emails or smoking marijuana…
Test 1
Test 2

A few simple
ideas
 Stop the email notifications
 No internal email Fridays
 5,10,20% time like 3M, Google
 Get people to block (and keep) time for
creativity in their agendas

Execution is often more
important than the original
idea

The danger of Internet
A big
IDEA
Look it up on
the Internet
Someone has
done it already

How many people
think Apple invented
the MP3 player?
Almost
of US consumers

More memory
More features
Better song management
Simplicity
and
coolness

 Have each group work collectively
 When one agent gets stuck at a point,
another agent tries to find a further
improvement.
 Group stops when no one can find a
better solution.
BEST
20 agents
RANDOM
20 agents
1 2

The IQ View
Alpha Group
121
132 155
139
135
137
Diverse Group
121 84 111
105 135 95

The Toolbox View
Alpha Group
ABD
ADE BCD
ABC
BCD
ACD
Diverse Group
AHK FD AEG
EZ BCD IL

“Bringing new members into the organization, even if
they’re less experienced and less capable, actually
makes the group smarter simply because what little
the new members do know is not redundant with what
everyone else knows.”
James Surowiecki
author Wisdom of crowds..

How much are companies willing
to pay for diversity
Who earns more
Harvard MBA
UCLA Master of Fine Arts (Studying for
example Dance)
How much more

* MFA = Masters of Fine Arts
A UCLA MFA 3 X
harder to get into
than Harvard MBA
The bigger surprise…
Average starting
salaries for MFAs are
now higher than MBAs

What you can
do..
Read one of 2 books
“The Wisdom of Crowds” or “The
Difference” and follow their
simple advice
DIVERSITY
INDEPENDENCE
AGGREGATION
EFFECTIVE GROUPS
wise crowds

DIVERSITY
INDEPENDENCE
AGGREGATION
EFFECTIVE GROUPS
wise crowds
A sideline on brainstorming
1+1= 5
With individual first
1+1 = 3

What else …
learn to be
and enjoy being different

Why Persistence
 80% of the big ideas are after day 1
 Ideas need time
 Ideas need to grow
 Quantity is the best predictor of quality
Pottery (Students graded by weight vs. best 3)
90% of the top 3 in the weight group
 Persistence is what makes less creative people
usually better idea builders

What is Persistence?
 Modify expectations short-cut to long haul
 Learn to love NO’s and failures
 Think in terms of progress not perfection
 Focused, relentless idea building
 Act until Echo
Then repeat

What do you think is the
biggest difference between
highly creative people and
others ?

Problem finding
instead of solution
finding…

Different Mindsets
Average Idea builders
 Let’s get started
 Where have I seen similar
problems
 What solutions come to
mind
Pattern Seekers
Solution Addicts
Expert Idea builders
 Why is this a problem?
 Do we understand this
issue correctly?
 Are there other ways of
looking at it?
Pattern Breakers
Problem Finders

Facts to Practice
7 Steps
Familiarize
yourself with
the objectives
and challenge
Challenge
the problem
definition
Effectuation
Stimulus
Mining
Individual
brain writing
Group Work Re‐work
Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4 Step 5 Step 6 Step 7
Just After Class After Mentor Talks

Start with a few questions..
Why do people really dislike standing ? (See text)
Questions to ask…
 What do you do when you can’t find a seat ?
 When you’re standing and see someone sitting what do you
think ?
 What would it take to get you another train if you knew no
seats would be available ?

Sutherland, Rory. Alchemy (Kindle Locations 732-757). William Morrow. Kindle Edition.
Why don’t people like being made to stand on overcrowded trains?
I once asked this question in a meeting with a rail company. Everyone looked nonplussed; I mean, it’s obvious that standing has to be worse
than sitting, right? Maybe so. But why? And if standing is always worse than sitting, why do people standing on trains regularly continue to
stand after seats become available?
There could be a whole variety of reasons but, fascinatingly, passengers themselves do not really know, even if they are able to supply plausible
post-rationalisations. But asking this question more broadly might lead to interesting new railway carriage designs that nobody has yet
thought of, or it might be solved by differential pricing. We don’t know yet.
So let’s ask again – why might people hate standing on trains? Is it about feeling cheated? After all, you’ve paid for a seat on the train, and the
rail company has taken your money and not given you a seat. Is that it? In which case, might you try offering standing-only carriages for
shorter rail and tube journeys? People using them could be refunded part of their fare, or rewarded with points towards free journeys. Would
they feel happy then? We could find out. Or perhaps it’s because it is tiring; it’s not just about having to stand, it’s also about having to keep
your balance. Or that, once you have to hold on to a pole to stay upright, you can no longer use a mobile phone, read a book or newspaper or
drink a coffee, so the journey becomes boring.
If these are the reasons, then a series of bum-rests might help. Perhaps it’s because they have nowhere to put their bags or they are paranoid
about people stealing from their backpack. Maybe though, it’s more a question of status; the people who have a seat have a view, control of
their personal space and space for their bags – while the people who stand get nothing. There is no story they can tell themselves about their
predicament that puts it in a better light. But this raises an interesting question: what if there were some benefits to standing? In other words,
is there a role for alchemy?
Imagine if commuter rail carriages were designed with the seats down the middle, with places for passengers to stand down each side, next to
the windows. People sitting might have cup-holders but nothing else; people standing would have a view out of the window, a cushion to rest
against and a shelf for a bag or a laptop, with two USB charging sockets.
Now there would be some clear advantages to standing over sitting, to a point where standing could be perceived – by others and by oneself –
as a choice rather than a compromise. Plans such as this only emerge when people ask a dumb question with an open mind. The commuter
knows he hates standing, but he does not really know why; if you ask him, he will demand more seats, but the only way to provide them is
through the huge expense of running more trains. The reason we do not ask basic questions is because, once our brain provides a logical
answer, we stop looking for better ones; with a little alchemy, better answers can be found.

A few facts on standing in Trains
 Less than 20% of commuters have to stand, but it is almost always the same commuters
(people at the last stations)
 2/10 people will volunteer to give up their seat to an elderly or handicapped person. If
asked, 6/10 people will give up their seat
 For a typical commuter, the cost of traveling by car is 40% higher and 50% longer
 People complain, but don’t change their actions (see actions in India , Japan , China where
there is severe over-crowding)
 Standing is only required at peak times
 At present, less that ,1% of train journeys are too crowded to get one

TRUE
NORTH
TRUE Truly Simple Fix the standing issue
N
Narrative. Why it is
important (the story)
If we don’t change something, more people standing will get more
and more frustrated. This will lead people to choose other methods
of travel and increase road traffic.
O Objectives
How to reduce
1. standing issues and / or
2. negative feelings associated with standing on the train
R
Restrictions: We are not
interested in
Something that will take more than 2 years to implement
T Tactical Constraints: No new capacity (already full)
H Here is the place to start
Load Management via pricing / other techniques
New train design
Make standing more attractive
Make it easier for people that really want to sit to sit
Seats at a price

Elevator Example
A big NYC apartment building with slow elevators.
People complaining.
Solutions
1. New faster elevator
2. Second set of elevators
3. Ask people to take the stairs
A psychologist found another solution by
re‐framing the problem
How ?

How to reduce
 Change the desirability of standing (make
standing better in some ways)
 Change perceptions (are people really
standing as much as they think they are?)
 Make sitting worse (so standing looks
better)
 Give a few people an incentive to stand
(e.g. chargers next to standing places)
 Give people that really value sitting a
chance to buy / reserve a seat

CAUSAL vs EFFECTUAL REASONING
FIRST FIRST
GIVEN GOAL GIVEN MEANS
M1
M2
M5M4M3
M1
M2
M5
M4
M3
MANAGERIAL THINKING (causal)
Accumulate means necessary to achieve a
pre-determined goal.
THEN ACCUMULATE
MEANS
ENTREPRENEURAL THINKING (effectual)
Imagine many possible new ends using a given
set of means.
THEN IMAGINE ENDS
CAUSAL vs EFFECTUAL REASONING

Making a meal
Traditional
 Who is coming
 What will they like
 Plan a menu
 Go Shopping
 Make the meal
 Enjoy (Average)
Effectual
 What is in the Fridge ?
 What can we do with that
 Guess what is for dinner
?
 Enjoy ? (Variation)

4 Concepts of Effectuation
Bird in the Hand: What’s in the fridge
Affordable loss: Starting within budget
(knowing you can do it several times)
Make Lemonade: So pickles and peanut butter doesn’t
work, but sour and sweet seems to work together..
Crazy quilt: I have got a few friends downstairs maybe
they can help

How can we leverage our
passenger base

=
Stimulus
sharing
Idea
building

How to make a
Spark Deck
 Search, but search in more places than the
internet
 Look in patents, look in stores (keep your
eyes open)
 Make a Box
 Remember it depends on your questions

How to:
We identified a series of challenges / areas of investigation
Add 3 Sparks person What is a spark ?
On the right
• Questions
• Ideas raised
On the left
• Name
• Picture/QuoteTRUE Truly Simple Fix the standing issue
N
Narrative. Why it is
important (the story)
If we don’t change something, more people standing will get more
and more frustrated. This will lead people to choose other methods
of travel and increase road traffic.
O Objectives
How to reduce
1. standing issues and / or
2. negative feelings associated with standing on the train
R
Restrictions: We are not
interested in
Something that will take more than 2 years to implement
T Tactical Constraints: No new capacity (already full)
H Here is the place to start
Load Management via pricing / other techniques
New train design
Make standing more attractive
Make it easier for people that really want to sit to sit
Seats at a price

To get started
Make a copy of this presentation
Then in the new presentation, follow these steps to
share
with your colleagues (and me)
http://tiny.cc/sparkexample

Instructions (35 min)
1. Clarify the session objective. What exactly are we creating ideas for? (re-
read the TRUE NORTH) (2 Min)
2. Individually pick 1 spark you like and ADD 1 new spark (10 min)
3. Present your sparks to your group (10 min)
4. Write up a couple ideas individually (5 min)
5. Discuss ideas together
Reflection more idea than when you started ? (8 min)

How
 Read out loud
 Only questions of clarification
 Fast

Source:
www.Innovationengineering.com
Use this or the Mural
Build Template
https://app.mural.co/te
mplate/77a9399f-b6aa-
4440-b543-
ecb3de1b1021/893b305
3-a243-409b-b4f6-
56082484e64d
Individual Brain Writing

Choose an activity
From this book
https://1lib.eu/book
/693467/a2fc20
GROUP WORK
Choose an activity
From this book
https://1lib.eu/book/693467/a2fc20
or the Mural Build Template
https://app.mural.co/template/77a9399f-b6aa-4440-b543-
ecb3de1b1021/893b3053-a243-409b-b4f6-56082484e64d

Based Day of week
Eg 24 = group 4 (scamper)
Combination & = 4,1,3

www.cyclesbook.com
Cwww.cyclesbook.com
C
Payoff
Dramatic difference
how is their life
different and better
Proof
Reason why should
they believe you and
dramatic difference
Visual
Explaining

Bonus : how to run an idea
building event

How to run an event
Prepare
1. Alignment (What and why)
2. Problem statement
3. Spark Deck
Audience Immersion
1. Your challenge
2. 15 minute introduction maybe a few sparks
3. Question the questions
Individual Brain dumps
Work in groups
1. 1 or 2 - 30 minute ideation cycles
2. Feedback
3. Re-work (maybe ideation cycles)
Communicate
1. Present / Vote
2. Death Threats
Personal reflections
80% of the work is preparation
The best are several day events
Interim period
Build ideas + Test if possible
Day 2
1. Audience Immersion
 Key Learnings
 Key challenges
2. Individual reflection
3. Question the questions
4. Work in groups
5. Communicate
6. Personal reflections
Then as they say.. Rinse, repeat

Your work today….
(the same process)

The keys to success
(Working alone together)
If I had asked you to simply build ideas together it would be
tough…
The better solution is
1. Ideas first individually
2. Then work together
Best practice 1+1 then as a group

7 Step Idea building
Morning work (11:00‐12:30)
1. Familiarize yourself with the objectives and challenge
2. Challenge the problem definition
3. Effectuation
4. Stimulus Mining== > spark decks (11:30-12:30) – 3 slides per
person !
Meet Mentor – Ask questions + break time (30 minutes)
Afternoon work (14:00 – 17:00 or your choice)
1. Review spark deck (write ideas) 60 min –(18 slides @ 3 min per
slide =54 min)
2. Individual brain writing + Improvements -60 in pairs
3. Group Work – 30 min
4. Re-work – 30 (individual)
Target = 6 solutions
DONE for the day. You will vote tomorrow morning
Deliverables
Timetable

Day 2: Build
Once you know what you want to do it is time to build ideas that have a chance to deliver on your objectives. Contrary to the belief that the
ability to build ideas is limited to a select few, there are tools, techniques that can help any team build better ideas.
1. Better problem formulation
2. Effectuation (looking for ideas at home with the resources you have)
3. A Systematic search for stimulus and diversity
4. Techniques to continue building ideas
With these tools and techniques the process is clear, but clear does not mean easy. Removal of fear and an ongoing action focus is the “secret
sauce” that can pull everything together.
Deliverables:
New ideas that have a good chance of being on strategy; meaningful and unique
1 Idea + Visual per team member

Target
6 good solutions to vote
on tomorrow

3 Ways to restate the
problem to make sure
you’re working on the
right problem
Resources: The Chapter ”Defining your innovation challenge”
Mural template: https://app.mural.co/template/87da7573-5e6d-48c6-8c5a-
5310320a4f3d/ab6080d5-bed9-4946-ae0e-5c9604d18e9b
PROBLEM DEFINITION

What can you do with
your means now ?
Resources: The Chapter ” 14 BC3 14_4 version_ Effectuation Chapter V3.docx”
Mural template: https://app.mural.co/template/8e15a44c-16e9-4ca5-808e-
d61745d966a8/99954c00-6194-42a2-99b8-0ce25be76266
EFFECTUATION

Use this Google slide
document to make a
spark deck
http://tiny.cc/Build-sparkdeck
STIMULUS MINING

Choose an activity
From this book
https://1lib.eu/book
/693467/a2fc20
GROUP WORK

Based Day of week
Eg 24 = group 4 (scamper)
Combination & = 4,1,3
http://tiny.cc/mural-build

www.cyclesbook.com
Cwww.cyclesbook.com
C
Payoff
Dramatic difference
how is their life
different and better
Proof
Reason why should
they believe you and
dramatic difference
Visual
Explaining
1

Deliverable
6 solutions (1 per team member)
X 6

3 Cycles Remote Innovation - Build

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