Managing Automation - November 2007 - (Page 50)

robert malone NEXT Innovation’s Pull rmalone@tpmgnet.com Problem-solving is so yesterday. Now innovation and opportunity come from observing and acting upon changes in the environment, no matter how small. The old order gives way to the new, and part of the new order is a refreshed view of what innovation is. Clearly it’s no longer simple problem-solving. It is thinking outside the box — or the circle. There was a time when corporate directors gave the charge: Find a customer problem and solve it. But organizational experts Peter Drucker and Kevin Kelly view that approach as non-productive. They see it as concentrating on failures — that is, problems. It is thinking inside the box and being boxed in by it. Managers who think outside the box concentrate on ever-changing opportunities, which lead to more opportunities. This position is rooted in the theory of evolution: Successful creatures respond to challenge, Darwinian thinking goes. They adapt to changes in the environment and seize opportunity for advantage. Innovation, therefore, means observing and acting upon what appears to be a change in the environment, no matter how insignificant it may seem. Take Apple Computer as an example. It produces a winner in the iPod, but, as with all products, there is a sales saturation point. Management has to decide whether to solve the problem of fading sales or move on to new opportunities. If the company concentrates solely on fixing the problem by adding features, cutting prices, and introducing marketing enticements, Detroit-style, it might end up in a box. On the other hand, if Apple jumps to new opportunities, it might concentrate on a new product, such as the iPhone, that swallows the iPod’s technology and advantages. Apple, consequently, can have its iPod and eat it, too. As I wrote in my book, Chain Reaction: “ Innovating does not occur by command It is not an assignment and, therefore, innovating is not done 2007 maonline managingautomation.com For more of Robert Malone’s views, visit: ❑ Quality Thinkers www.managingautomation .com/next42 ❑ Made in the USA www.managingautomation .com/next41 ❑ This Thirsty World www.managingautomation .com/next40 Robert Malone, based in New York, is principal of Robert Malone Associates and former editor-in-chief of Managing Automation. ma 50 November Photo: Dirk Kikstra like homework. Innovating is not practicing, as in a piano lesson. Innovating may be more like waiting or paying attention. Innovating may be more passive than active.” Wait for that opportunity, that barely noticeable change in the environment — for example, a different attitude (download music; don’t buy CDs). Then act on that perception. Astronomer Johannes Kepler wondered why there were aberrations in planets’ orbits. The classical explanations had to do with adding circles to circles. After all, the heavens had to be perfect and circles were perfect. What a stretch to suggest an ellipse, a distorted circle. How could the planets travel in an impure orbit? Well, they did and they do, and our understanding of the heavens has never been the same. For years, manufacturing was synonymous with productivity. The National Association of Manufacturers appears to think this way still. It was all productivity or pushing products out the door. Now, push has turned to pull, and manufacturing functions in a demand-centered universe. The customer’s demand dictates what is made, how much is made, how fast it is made, and how fast it can be changed to a new design or product. No one can pinpoint when or where push became pull. The manufacturing and marketing environment changed ever so slightly and, boom, an avalanche came about. Perceiving the change was, in itself, an innovation, and acting upon the opportunity now is another innovation. ■ http://managingautomation.com http://www.managingautomation.com/next42 http://www.managingautomation.com/next41 http://www.managingautomation.com/next40

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Managing Automation - November 2007

Managing Automation - November 2007 Contents Take 1 Mailbox SAP's Business ByDesign to Validate On-Demand Model for Enterprise SW Portfolio Management Specialist Losing Ground to Rivals At Incor, It's Time for Some Deep Breathing Can HART, ISA Get Together on a Wireless Spec? Mesa Tries to Help Improve Plant Metrics Notes Cover Story: The Digital Factory Special Report: Breaking Down Walls Integration: Dreaming of One ERP Industries: Locking onto Cyber-Security Transformation: Not Your Father's Time & Attendance Program Product Scan Advertiser Index Next

Managing Automation - November 2007

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