Valarie Willis, principal with the Tom Peters Company tells us that Tom has come up with five P's of Innovation Success. She states, "As I read them, I thought about how I have believed for quite awhile
that innovation comes as a result of Pain, Passion or Need. Usually one of the three will move us to do something new, different and creative. Of course, Tom always has a different take on things so
here are his 5 P's:"
Pissed-offedness - Something that makes you so mad, that you decide enough is enough, let's fix this! Dick Nettel of Bank of America tells the story of how people had to press a buzzer to get in and out of the mail room at the bank. The buzzer was 'important' for security reasons. They figured out a way around that buzzer,Dick said, 'it was like a light bulb went off,fix the problem."
Passion - Passion drives most non-profit companies, so why not organizations? Dyson who invented the first vacuum that wouldn't lose suction was passionate about his invention, even though it scared the other vacuum companies. The other vacuum companies couldn't imagine a bagless vacuum, after all, bags were worth millions in sales. Dyson almost went broke bringing his vacuum to market. Passion prevailed.
Pals - Never go it alone. If you want to go out on the limb, be sure to have someone holding on to you so that you don't fall. LeJeune from Fabcon manufacturing came up with an idea to make concrete panels for building lighter. He had two other Fabcon employees in on the idea, who served as sounding boards. The company eventually created a new product called VersaCore, which according to Gallup helped the company to stay in business.
Politics - What is it that no one likes, it exists everywhere, and everyone is guilty of it but me? Politics would be the right answer. Think of politics like gaining sponsorship, and as a way to get your idea 'sold' in the corporate marketplace. We all need influential people who can help market and sell a good idea. Every project needs a project sponsor or champion
Persistence - Most ideas will get shot down before a person finish speaking, but those who prevail will not give up on an idea. There were two sisters who invented a product called Ghostline, this is a poster board with faint lines so that you can write straight on the paper, but it looks as if no lines exist. They invented this product after helping their young relative with a science project where they had to start over several times to get it right. They stayed with their idea until they found a paper company that would produce it for them. Their persistence paid off, they now get royalty checks in the mail, from not only the company that is producing the paper, but from a competitor that tried to copy their idea!
If you want Tom's PowerPoint slides on innovation, you can download them from his site:
http://www.tompeters.com/slides/uploaded/TRY_It_072407.ppt
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