A good example is illustrated by the recent confession of Paul Otellini, Intel’s former CEO who admitted passing up one of the biggest opportunities in Intel’s history — supplying chips for the first iPhone. Intel is not the first and certainly not the last of the big corporations who missed a huge opportunity: for instance Xerox did not believe in the potential of the personal computer invented in its own labs. Similarly Nokia did not believe smartphones would become big enough business.

This points to some critical issues handicapping large corporations as well as smaller ones:

1. It is easier to say No than to say Yes.
2. A decision maker who says Yes to the wrong project will be severely criticized. He might even get fired for a poor allocation of resources… It is thus always safe to say No
3. Very few decision-makers are criticized for saying No. I am not aware of too many managers being fired for concentrating on their routine activities and passing up nice opportunities. For some stupid reason missing an opportunity is not viewed as being as bad as allocating resources to the wrong project. It probably has to do with the fact that wasting money is (wrongly) perceived as being worse than not making money.
4. Many decision-makers require minimum thresholds to go ahead: a minimum market size, a minimum profit margin, etc. Such constraints prevent them from putting a foot in the door of huge opportunities such as the iPhone, the personal computer, the smartphones, etc.

Fortunately – even if I should say “unfortunately” because saying No slows innovation and prevents seizing opportunities – large corporations have so much muscle that despite missing an opportunity they can often still catch up and become the ultimate winners. To understand how Intel might nevertheless win the iPhone battle look at what the Atlantic has to say. Those who do not have such muscle will not be as fortunate. They have no choice but to exercise good judgment.

The bottom line is that there is no perfect recipe for success. It is all about judgment. Even the smartest, like Paul Otellini, can wrongly assess opportunities. If nobody is immune to poor judgment the minimum is to at least ask the right questions. Those questions are stated in Chapter 3 of “Winning Opportunities, proven tools for converting your projects into success (without a business plan)”. If fact the answers to each of the IpOp Model questions require judgment…

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Since prototyping is one of the ways to reduce IpOp Model Unknowns any smart and cost-effective way to produce objects is very valuable.

We knew of 3D printing but this technology seemed to be only for geeks or tech savvy experts. There is now a much easier way to produce 3 dimensional objects without buying a 3D printer: Shapeways.com will ship in a few days whatever 3D object you need for prototyping, for replacing a broken vase, for a personalized gift or just for fun.

And you are not restricted to plastic looking material. You can choose amongst more than half a dozen materials including steel. If you are not familiar with 3D software their website provides even resources and advice (including subcontractors to produce the computer file required by the 3D printer).

To find out how it works and more information look at http://www.shapeways.com/about/how_does_it_work

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There is no project or innovation without bad surprises or Hurdles. Scientific research shows now that resilience, a key success factor for innovators, entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs, is essential for dealing with adversity. See article below that also explains what behaviors and attitudes boost resilience.

For those who have attended my training seminar on Caring leadership (= mobilizing teams) or a session on positive leadership with Prof. Philippe Gabilliet this article also brings scientific evidence explaining the benefits of positive and caring attitudes.

Read the article: The Benefits of Optimism Are Real

Raphael H Cohen

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Constraints are a clear component of the IpOp Model presented in “Winning Opportunities, proven tools for converting your projects into success (without a business plan)” (free download on www.winning-opportunities.org). they must be respected or… circumvented.
For those who have doubt that Constraints (laws and rules) are too limiting. Here is a very good illustration of how with an agile mind they can be circumvented (effective Tactical Move):

A farmer was denied a permit to build a horse shelter. So he builds a giant table and chairs, which of course do net need permit . . .

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Survey on Decision Criteria for Allocating Resources to Projects

Do managers really know how to check if a project should be launched (and receive resources)?
Those who think they know can benchmark their set of criteria with other experts in a 5-minute survey.

With some other professors I am launching an online survey to find out how decision-makers are allocating resources to projects, including innovation projects. Our objective is to determine to what extent the decision process is based on a structured approach and also to bring this issue of decision criteria to the attention of upper management.

To answer the survey go to http://fr.surveymonkey.com/s/Decision_Criteria_-_ALUM

Since answering the question contained in the survey is not that obvious, it will be interesting to see how many decision-makers are up to the challenge.

Respondents to the survey will be informed of the results

In order to reach the right targets please ask all management and decision-makers you know to answer this brief survey.

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Sync your device enabled with Bluetooth

“Singing in the rain” becomes easier than ever with the Moxie, a new showerhead that contains a Bluetooth speaker.

Sound quality seems to be as good as it could be considering an environment that is not ideal for listening to music.

Moxie showerhead + wireless speaker

Batteries allow for showers lasting up to 7 hours.

Perfect present for gadget freaks and those who have everything.

Read more: http://www.us.kohler.com/us/Moxie%22-Showerhead-+-Wireless-Speaker/content/CNT16200089.htm

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To prevent car theft new technology relies on people’s rear end to verify that they are authorized to drive the car. With 98% reliability this security device with 360 biometric sensors is being developed by a team of Japanese engineers from the Advanced Institute of Industrial Technology in Tokyo.

It should reach the market in a couple of years but there is already a first question that comes to mind: what happens if people put on weight? Plus another question: what happens if someone hacks the device and posts other people’s rear end characteristics on… Facebook?

Here are more pictures from the  Advanced Institute of Industrial Technology in Tokyo.

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The underlying IpOp logic (IpOp Model vocabulary is in Orange):

The PND (Pain/Need/Desire): consumers do not like to see the wires resulting from the presence of electronic equipment. They also dislike have multiple remote controls. They aspire/desire for aesthetics and tidiness.

The Solution: integrating both furniture and electronics in an all-in-one system. The result: a home cinema with no apparent cables and only one user friendly remote control. The look of the furniture can also be customized.

The Benchmarking: since until now furniture and electronics vendors were not joining forces the synergy between furniture and electronics was not treated as a CDC (Customer Decision Criteria). By partnering with TCL Multimedia, the Chinese manufacturer supplying Thomson equipment, has identified a Tactical Move that gives a real competitive advantage. Introducing a new CDC is changing the rules of the game. This might be creating a ‘Blue Ocean‘ opportunity for Ikea.

At the Value Chain level: the partnership with TCL relieves Ikea from handling the electronics component of the Value Chain.

Since Ikea has no track record in electronics it anticipated consumer (= Stakeholder) Resistance to buy electronics from Ikea. The response is another brilliant Tactical Move:  offering a 5-year warranty on the electronics. As this Tactical Move also influences the Customer Decision Criteria Ikea kills two birds with one stone while consolidating its competitive advantages.

This is a perfect illustration of low-tech innovation and how good thinking at the PND and CDC/Benchmarking levels can create real competitive advantages and possibly a ‘Blue Ocean‘ without any technological breakthrough.

The base unit comes with a “smart” 1080p LED TV, Blu-ray player, and 2.1 virtual surround system that includes a wireless subwoofer that can be positioned anywhere in the room. Consulers can customize the TV size and cabinetry and even change the color of the frame for the TV.

*The book can be downloaded free of charge at www.winning-opportunities.org (PDF, Kindle, iPad/iPhone, ePub formats)

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This is an interesting example illustrating how one market player has identified a Customer Decision Criteria (CDC),  a key steps of the IpOp Model, that could  attract some travelers. This insight may open the door for a new competitive advantage.

With this feature KLM can actually deliver a really new Customer Unique Experience (CUE), as described in the IpOp Model. Since other airlines could also introduce a similar service it may not be easy to keep this competitive advantage unique on the long term but as long as KLM is one step ahead it can enjoy the ride, if I may say so…

It will be interesting to see what percentage of people use this service. As explained in the video below, it may or may not appeal to everyone but it is certainly an innovation…

For a better understanding on how Customer Decision Criteria can be used in identifying and acquiring competitive advantages look at chapter 6 of “Winning Opportunities, proven tools for converting your projects into success (without a business plan)”. This book that explains the IpOp Model can be downloaded free of charge at www.winning-opportunities.org (PDF, Kindle, iPad/iPhone, ePub formats)

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Major medical breakthrough: “The ability to diagnose an imminent heart attack has long been considered the holy grail of cardiovascular medicine,” study researcher Eric Topol from the Scripps Research Institute says in a release.

Scientists have identified a marker that could apparently be used to predict circulatory problems. A commercial test could be available within 2 years.

For a summary read the article in Smartplanet.com.

For the scientific paper read the study published in Science Translational Medicine

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