What's the problem with the "D" word?

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"I think true innovation wins over false marketing. It just takes longer." - James Dyson

Dyson is an industrial designer who is doing less than glorious work - innovating and improving vacuum cleaners. Vacuum cleaners - can you image spending your days thinking about dust, dirt, and all the other goodies sprinkled throughout homes and tucked inside couch cushions?

 

But, he toils away each day, getting his hands dirty, digging into the challenge - thinking about new ways - meaningfully different ways - to solve people's problems.

 

His motivation - TRUE innovation.

 

It's the only thing worth fighting for - every day - consistently.

When you do something different, truly different, it's exciting!

 

Internal managers and leaders get excited because they can see the potential for growth.

 

Consumer tests go well because you are making a meaningful difference in their lives.

 

R&D makes it happen because they have a clear mission that's full of purpose.

 

Sales gets it and runs with it - making distribution a snap.

 

When you have something real, something that makes a difference, everything becomes easier. But creating and developing something that's truly different IS NOT EASY. It is hard, tedious, continual work.

 

It's waking up every day looking for meaningful differences. It's real research and development. It's leveraging your existing assets and adding new ones when you need them. It's knowing where the marketplace is today AND anticipating where the marketplace is going tomorrow. It's doing all of this, over and over, every day.

 

That's DISCIPLINED INNOVATION and disciplined innovation is something you can build a system around. Getting lucky or leveraging gurus is not something you can own, or sustain.

 

For many, discipline is a bad word, but in the world of innovation, where the average success rate is 15% or less and the R.O.I. is D.I.S.M.A.L. it seems to me that the only realistic solution is discipline. Maybe discipline - as opposed to innovation - should be all the buzz!

 

Note: Disciplined Innovation is our specialty. We work with clients to discover and develop meaningfully unique options that drive sustainable growth. If you're ready to make a meaningful change in how you create, identify and implement ideas, let's connect.