• by Bill Lawrence , March 1, 2010

True innovation can start simply

By now, we are nearly through the first quarter of 2010, and have been inundated by all of the forecasting and crystal ball observations. All of the end-of-year wrap-up stories and predictions last year coincided with my family vacation to Disney World. As I was bombarded with views from expert after expert, I couldn't help but relate all of this to what I saw during a trip through Epcot Center's Spaceship Earth exhibit. The purpose of the exhibit, which opened in 1982, is to take visitors through communications "innovations" over time, beginning with prehistoric man and culminating with visitors creating a future for themselves.

Over the years, thanks to sponsorship departures and renovations, the exhibit has gone through several iterations and upgrades, but as I experienced it in December 2009, I couldn't help but think about what was considered "innovation" in 1982 and how a simple word has had so many meanings over only three decades. Think about it: In 2000, what was innovation? It was clever entrepreneurial shops that housed ping-pong tables, pool tables, and flash-in-the-pan ideas. It meant garage ideas, born in the middle of the night, with little thought about long-term survival.

Fast forward to 2009. In 2009, innovation was about creatively doing more with less, and for many, it meant manufacturing opportunities out of crisis. Sure, in 2000, you could fail, but failure for some seemed to come so much faster in 2009 (especially if you were too big to do so).

And in 2010, the word "innovation" has changed meanings once more. Maybe it's the old-school thinker in me, but in just the few months that we've been in the second decade of the 21st century, the definition of innovation has returned to its roots: the notion of introducing new ideas or new methods. It's about speed to market; it's about moving the needle; and perhaps most importantly, it's in the eye of the consumer.

What we've already seen is that innovation isn't simple automation, and we're learning that it's not about social media for social media's sake. It's not always the sexiest concept (think: the Post-it note); it may not always work the first time around (think: Amazon's early days with consumer exchange fiascoes); but its concepts are usually driven by the notion of a guaranteed improvement.

One of my favorite movies is Night Shift starring Michael Keaton and Henry Winkler. The premise of the film is that Keaton, along with co-star Winkler (both employees at the city morgue) can start a less-than-respectful side business while working the night shift. In one of my favorite scenes, Keaton (whose name in the movie, ironically, is "Bill") comes up with an innovative way of making the conventional tuna fish salad. Rather than incorporate mayonnaise with the tuna in the can, it would be simpler, and much more effective, to "take live tuna fish and feed them mayonnaise."

Now, while Bill's concept never came to fruition, it does have innovative legs. It may not be sexy, it may not be the biggest idea, but like so many ideas that have stood the test of time, it's useful, it's consumer led (making it easier on the consumer), and it moves the needle (in this case, it moves the needle of efficiency). And speaking of moving the needle, I challenge those of you pushing to be more innovative in 2010 to move the needle - in both directions. Raise the bar with your innovative solutions, but also look at your starting point and be sure that your innovation is as much about pushing the envelope as it is about ensuring that if you fail, the failure is survivable.

In 2010, remember the 2000-2009 decade and the journey we've taken when it comes to innovation. Remember that innovation isn't about being bigger: It's about being provocative, useful, consumer-driven and, most of all, improved.

Note to self: Be sure to call Starkist. I think this whole mayonnaise thing just might have legs.