Mapping Innovation: A Playbook for Navigating a Disruptive Age

Innovation is easily the buzzword for companies. If they dont know it, then they are out of business.
We know many interesting stories of how things were invented by accident. Greg Satell in 'Mapping Innovation: A Playbook for Navigating a Disruptive Age' shows how innovation takes a village and more and dispels the myth of lone genius accomplishing it all. He traverses the path penicillin took to discovery from labs to the pharma industry. The author provides the reader, a foundation and conditions that were necessary for the famous inventions. From this he draws what can be used for current situation.
The provided framework is a Matrix of 'Problem Definition' Vs 'Domain Definition' which shows you clearly where your company fits and the kind of innovation it should be targeting. Depending on the kind of innovation you need disruptive, sustaining, breakthrough - there are various options of achieving them. Just this matrix should reveal if your approach to innovation is right for your company and the industry you belong to.
I loved the example of Experian and their Innovation Matrix which explains how Eric Haller made problem solving for customers, rocket into consulting business which feedsback into Experian's capabilities and growth.
With examples like Afisha, Experian and Children's Health, Gregg illuminates how companies can modify their business models to inject organic growth.
Its back to the basics with Business Model Canvas by Osterwalder and Michael Porter's Five Forces Analysis
Three Horizons of Innovation with 70/20/10 lets you have all kinds of innovation instead of having to chose one by allotting time and resources for each. if you are familiar with Googles 20% for your pet project, then you get the drift.
P&G innovation matrix is a surprise with 'open innovation'. IBM and Microsoft examples show the advantages of courting 'open'.
With this orientation, you are well on your way to figure what works for innovation at your company.

Fresh air of Innovation

'Make your Mark: The Creative's Guide to Building a Business with Impact" introduces readers to never before heard of companies, the folks behind them and their secrets to success. Sugru with their innovative product, Warby Parker with their buy a pair, give a pair, Bonobos with their guideshops that a newspaper called 'that dont sell anything", DODOcase that robes your tablet in an elegant journal look. All those interviewed are very excited about innovation, letting the customers speak for the product and making the product an experience.
Its a good move from the well touted examples of past years.

The Innovators Hypothesis

Indian farmers receive prices by SMS
Electric starter for cars
Walmart partners - P&G, Colgate Palmolive
Exploding Coupons

To begin with, the innovations talked about in the book are not brand new like introducing an automobile, diaper or pharmaceutical drugs into the market but more about their easy adoption ad solutions to problems along, like an electric starter instead of a dangerous crank for a car, a diaper that glows in the dark, so kids dont have to be disturbed from their sleep, ways of making sure that the patients actually take the tablets. These alterations increase the value of a product, but the companies cannot increase the price way too much than they began with unless it is an earth shattering invention. Once we have that cleared, its easier to appreciate the book for its emphasis on quick experimentation instead of a blanket change of products all around the globe. In companies with fast turn around time requiremnt, the engineers are not left with the luxury of testing something, always trying to beat the competitor by bringing the actual modified product into the market.
The author mostly deals with fast paced companies like Amazon and Google that are required to come up with results faster than in quantity.
In the Fruit-Roll ups production line breakdown, when a statistician brought chemists, production engineers and line operators into a room to find solution o the problem. It brought home the idea of importance of TWI (Training within industry).
The author wants to show instrumentation engineering as the de facto route to success, but every experiment begins with an idea. Its the scope of the idea implementation that can save companies losses. Evident from the battered examples of Blockbuster, Netflix, it doesnt hurt to run some quick sanity check on your next moves.

Firestone crisis