Innovation is one of those topics rife with debate and often what is innovation to one person is business-as- usual for the next. Communicating an innovation is often half the job of getting it on the shelf and innovators and designers alike, regardless of where they work, often have to be relentlesss lobbyists and use sophisticated tools of persuasion to further their concepts such as fancy presentations, multi-media, eye-popping visuals – you name it, these are the tools of the designer witch-craft. Needless to say, invariably the more skilled you are in all this, the more sought-after you are as a designer.
What we did at LEGO revamping our innovation process flew in the face of a lot of this. We recognised that some of this 'witch-craft' was getting in the way of making solid business decisions. Concepts were bought into, not because they had a solid business case behind them, but because people developed emotional attachments to them or saw it as their ticket to career advancement to push something through, regardless of the cost. To be fair, this happens all over the place, not just LEGO, but the difference is we chose to do something about it. Arguably some of this, along with the very hard work of the entire organisation in many different areas goes some way to explaining our remarkable turnaround from the doldrums in 2003 where our survival as a company was at stake. Last year, we posted our best results ever in the company's entire 75 year history. Perhaps just a little bit of that remarkable turnaround was down to this.
http://www.designcouncil.org.uk/en/About-Design/managingdesign/Design-at-LEGO/
The link above leads you to the full case study published at the Design Council site and it makes not only for some very good reading, but also is a timely reminder of the value a common tool can have in bringing different disciplines together working on innovation that combines design and business thinking instead of encouraging a war between the two. Having a shared language is tantamount to bringing people together and this model in particular has helped us have some hard-hitting, but objective debates about the merits of concepts and collectively understand how to improve them. Only by creating a shared foundation can you have any hope in trying to solve a problem together.
Hi!
I’ve enjoyed reading your blog, and just wanted to send you some news about a great entrepreneurial opportunity I thought you’d be interested in and perhaps share with your audience.
I want to make you aware of Everyday Edisons, a nationally televised PBS reality show that documents the product development process (from start to finish) of approximately 12-14 inventions and the parallel stories of the inventors who created the original idea.
Everyday Edisons is holding one last casting call to select new product concepts for Season Three. Instead of visiting another city, this casting call will be hosted online through http://www.EdisonNation.com. At least one of the online submissions will be selected for the show. Participants can upload as many idea submissions as they like now through Monday, June 23.
If selected, you will have your invention/new product concept commercialized by Everyday Edisons and enjoy a 20-year annuity on future product sales. The television show takes care of all expenses involved in bringing the product to market.
Everyday Edisons is looking for inventions in all stages of the production and development process, from rough ideas to refined prototypes and manufactured products.
In order to be considered, all you need to do is log onto Edison Nation (www.EdisonNation.com) and create a profile. Look for the Everyday Edisons logo to submit to the sixth, virtual casting call. Register to become a Gold Member and enjoy many benefits, including the opportunity to submit your invention for the virtual Everyday Edisons casting call. The Web site will walk you through the submission process step-by-step and you can follow the status of your submission with the “idea review timeline,” which will appear on your Edison Nation home page when you log in with your user name and password.
If you haven’t had a chance to catch an episode of Everyday Edisons on your local PBS affiliate, you can check out a clip or two on http://www.youtube.com by simply searching “Everyday Edisons.” There are several fun things to view, including a behind-the-scenes clip; interviews with our engineers and Season One inventors; a Season One series recap and product “commercials.”
I just thought you and your readers would be interested in this opportunity. I hope you will encourage them to take advantage of it. Best of luck in all that you do!
Melissa
Well I agree with you that concepts are being brought into for personal gain all over the place..but the thing is if higher management doesn’t clean such things up..it leads to bad business..meaning losses…and in the very long run maybe even financial instability…believe me I’ve seen it happen in a firm I worked some 5 years ago…people did what they wanted with the purpose of self promotion..the management didn’t care and in the end the firm bancrupted…