Creating Breakthrough Ideas

Research, design, and development firms are actively recruiting anthropologists and other social scientists, as ethnographic research becomes more central to the creation of appropriate new products, services, and marketing strategies for U.S. and global markets. To be successful designers, professionals must learn new processes, develop training programs, modify communication styles, and share their methods to make their work possible. The current volume is written by social scientists, designers, and entrepreneurs who create new products and services. They provide frank and insightful discussions about the opportunities and challenges facing researchers and designers who are learning to collaborate. The book highlights several major topics in order to focus on critical aspects of the industry's highly related features. It provides background information about ethnography, decsribes and analyzes the industry, presents case examples of working practices and discusses emerging methodology based on three fundamental kinds of projects (discovery, design, and evaluation). The book suggests ways emerging design professionals can (1) improve their own performance, (2) change the working processes of the industry itself, (3) contribute to basic ethnographic research, and (4) craft training programs for the next generation of professionals.

For years, Jonathan Cagan’s and Craig M. Vogel’s Creating Breakthrough Products has offered an indispensable roadmap for uncovering new opportunities, identifying what customers really value, and building products and services that redefine markets — or create entirely new markets. Now, the authors have thoroughly updated their classic book, adding new chapters on service design and global innovation, plus new insights, best practices, and case studies from both U.S. and global companies. Their new Second Edition compares revolutionary (Apple-style) and evolutionary (Disney-style) approaches to innovation, helping decision-makers choose between them, and make either one work. Cagan and Vogel provide more coverage of Value Opportunity Analysis and ethnography, as well as new case studies ranging from Navistar’s latest long-haul truck to P&G’s reinvention of Herbal Essence. Throughout, readers will find up-to-date insights into identifying Product Opportunity Gaps that can lead to enormous success; navigating the "Fuzzy Front End" of product development; and leveraging contributions from diverse product teams — while staying relentlessly focused on customers’ values and lifestyles, from strategy through execution. Using additional visual maps and illustrations, they’ve made their best-selling book even more intuitive and accessible to both industry and academic audiences.

Companies are experiencing a shortage of game-changing ideas that drive growth. This is a 'how to' book about generating a steady stream of breakthrough new product ideas. Experts, Dr. Cooper and Dr. Edgett, provide an unbiased evaluation of the top 15+ ideation methods used by leading companies. This book explains how to 'feed' your innovation funnel with a steady stream of breakthrough new product ideas. Through numerous examples of the methods, approaches and techniques being used by leading companies such as Motorola and Procter and Gamble, the authors confirm the importance of a robust Discovery Stage and illustrate how to implement such a system. For more information, visit: www.stage-gate.com

From Bryan Mattimore, innovation guru to Fortune 500 companies, comes a book for aspiring entrepreneurs, corporate “intrapreneurs,” and anyone else looking to break the mold. Bryan Mattimore is a big idea guy. For the past twenty-five years, he has helped Fortune 500 companies create over $3 billion in new innovations using his unique creative-thinking exercises. In 21 DAYS TO A BIG IDEA: CREATING BREAKTHROUGH BUSINESS CONCEPTS, Mattimore takes readers through a disciplined creative process to create original and practical new business concepts. By investing less than an hour a day for twenty-one days, you will: 1) learn a new toolkit of creative thinking strategies and problem-solving techniques that can be used for solving a wide variety of both personal and professional challenges, and 2) generate more than a dozen new concepts from which to choose the highest potential/winning idea for a new start-up. Entertaining and easy-to-follow, 21 DAYS TO A BIG IDEA is a must-read for all aspiring entrepreneurs, helping you to discover and implement your first—or your next—biggest idea. "Greatness starts with an idea, but the chasm between ideas and truly great ideas is vast. This terrific, approachable book provides a simple and straightforward method for bending and torturing almost any idea until it succumbs to greatness."—Bob Dorf, co-author of THE START-UP'S OWNER'S MANUAL

“An enthusiastic, example-rich argument for innovating in a particular way—by deliberately experimenting and taking small exploratory steps in novel directions. Light, bright, and packed with tidy anecdotes” (The Wall Street Journal). What do Apple CEO Steve Jobs, comedian Chris Rock, prize-winning architect Frank Gehry, and the story developers at Pixar films all have in common? Bestselling author Peter Sims found that rather than start with a big idea or plan a whole project in advance, they make a methodical series of little bets, learning critical information from lots of little failures and from small but significant wins. Reporting on a fascinating range of research, from the psychology of creative blocks to the influential field of design thinking, Sims offers engaging and illuminating accounts of breakthrough innovators at work, and a whole new way of thinking about how to navigate uncertain situations and unleash our untapped creative powers.

Standing out is no longer optional Too many people believe that if they keep their heads down and work hard, they’ll be recognized on the merits of their work. But that’s simply not true anymore. “Safe” jobs disappear daily, and the clamor of everyday life drowns out ordinary contributions. To make a name for yourself, to create true job security, and to make a difference in the world, you have to share your unique perspective and inspire others to take action. But in a noisy world where it seems everything’s been said—and shouted from the rooftops—how can your ideas stand out? Fortunately, you don’t have to be a genius or a worldwide superstar to make an impact. Drawing on interviews with more than fifty thought leaders in fields ranging from business to genomics to urban planning, Dorie Clark shows how these masters achieved success and how anyone—with hard work—can do the same. Whether it’s learning to ask the right questions, developing and building on an expert niche, or combining disparate fields to get a new perspective, Clark outlines ways to develop the ideas that set you apart. Of course, having a breakthrough insight is only half the battle. If you really want to share your ideas, you have to find a way to build an audience, communicate your message, and inspire others to embrace your vision. Starting small is fine; Clark provides a step-by-step guide to help you leverage your existing networks, attract new people to your cause, and, ultimately, build a community around your ideas. Featuring vivid examples based on interviews with influencers such as Seth Godin, David Allen, and Daniel Pink, Clark shows you how to break through and ensure that your ideas get noticed. Becoming a thought leader in your company or in your profession is the ultimate career insurance. But—even more important—it’s also a chance to change the world for the better. Whatever your cause, perspective, or point of view, the world can’t afford for the best ideas to remain buried inside you. Whether it’s how to improve the educational system or how to make your company more efficient, your ideas matter. The world needs your insights, and it’s time to be bold.

How do people come up with truly original ideas? The answer is to think outside the box—way outside. For the past decade, Cyril Bouquet, Jean-Louis Barsoux, and Michael Wade, professors of innovation and strategy at IMD Business School, have studied inventors, scientists, doctors, entrepreneurs, and artists. These people, or “aliens,” as the authors call them, are able to make leaps of creativity, and use five patterns of thinking that distinguish them from the rest of us. These five patterns—Attention, Levitation, Imagination, Experimentation, and Navigation—lead to a fresh and flexible approach to problem-solving. Alien thinkers know how to free the imagination so it can detect hard-to-observe patterns. They practice deliberate ways to retreat from the world in order to see the big picture underlying a problem. And they approach ideas in systematic ways that reflect the constraints of reality. Through surprising and compelling stories, the authors show how readers can use this method to develop out-of-this-world ideas. ALIEN Thinking can help any of us find innovative solutions to the most difficult problems.

Even world-class companies, with powerful and proven business models, eventually discover limits to growth. That's what makes emerging high-growth industries so attractive. Although they lack a proven formula for making a profit, these industries represent huge opportunities for the companies that are fast enough and smart enough. But constructing tomorrow's businesses while simultaneously sustaining excellence in today's, demands a delicate balance. It is a quest fraught with contradiction and paradox. Until now, there has been little practical guidance. Based on an in-depth, multiyear research study of innovative initiatives at ten large corporations, Vijay Govindarajan and Chris Trimble identify three central challenges: forgetting yesterday's successful processes and practices; borrowing selected resources from the core business; and learning how the new business can succeed. The authors make recommendations regarding staffing, leadership roles, reporting relationships, process design, planning, performance assessment, incentives, cultural norms, and much more. Breakthrough growth opportunities can make or break companies and careers. Ten Rules for Strategic Innovators is every leader's guide to execution in unexplored territory.