Optimizing Innovation - Francois Ragnet of Xerox

by Braden Kelley

We are happy to bring you some of the key points and insights from Francois Ragnet's talk at the Optimizing Innovation Conference, which was held October 21-22, 2009 in New York City.

Francois Ragnet, Managing Principal, Technology Innovation at Xerox spoke about technology transfer and the paper-free office. Xerox generated 940 patents in 2008 and has 8,000 active patents and invests $884 million in R&D (5.2% of revenue). 5,000 world-class scientists & engineers are generating more than 2 patents a day for Xerox. They recently started an Innovation Hub in India where they will try to leverage open innovation.

From Francois' perspective, part of the difficulties in innovating in the services space is to create something that is repeatable and differentiated. Innovation in services relies on learning from failure.


"We learn wisdom from failure much more than from success. We often discover what will do, by finding out what will not do; and probably he who never made a mistake never made a discovery." - Samuel Smiles


"We can believe that we know where the world should go. But unless we're in touch with our customers, our model of the world can diverge from reality. There's no substitute for innovation, of course, but innovation is no substitute for being in touch, either." - Steve Ballmer


Xerox has an initiative called "customer-led innovation":

• We have technology showcase centers where we show people technology not products (researchers and customers coming together)


• We also do a lot of work practice studies (ethnography)


• Tthe naturalistic study and recording of human behavior


• Naturally occuring behavior, habitats, etc.

In designing our service solutions we also use ethnographic studies to make automated processes more intelligent and human.

While the paperless office has not become a reality, Xerox is still seeking ways to make this happen.

Xerox has an agile innovation pipeline that they use (FUNNEL top to bottom below):

1. Research (called Innovation)


2. Readiness


3. Productization


4. Integration


5. Operation

The traditional innovation funnel is very limiting and the handoffs from one stage to the next involve groups with different timescales and sometimes knowledge is lost in the handoffs between groups. The traditional innovation funnel approach is very much like a waterfall approach to software. But, that approach is very limiting, so we have tried to make this a more agile approach and create a group that goes across all of the innovation pipeline (to provide consistency and negotiate between the different stages and also to drive bi-drectional communication that involves passing potential research ideas back from the operations people to the research people).


"Too much process kills the process."


Key Xerox Innovation Criteria:

• ROI/Reusability


• Differentiation


• Cost


• etc.

Finally, there was a question from the audience about managing the necessary cannibalization of Xerox's existing business, and the response was as follows:

• We see services as a key part of the future of our company (documents and workflow)


• We don't see one replacing the other overnight

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Braden Kelley is the editor of Blogging Innovation and founder of Business Strategy Innovation, a consultancy focusing on innovation and marketing strategy. Braden is also @innovate on Twitter.

Optimizing Innovation - Simon Dewulf of Creax

by Braden Kelley

We are happy to bring you some of the key points and insights from Simon Dewulf's talk at the Optimizing Innovation Conference, which was held October 21-22, 2009 in New York City.

Simon Dewulf, Managing Director of Creax, spoke about how there are 67 million patents in the patent database and that a majority of them are 20+ years old and so they are free to use. And, how the other half are patents that could be applied for free to another purpose.

Simon spoke about an intersection example involving a Kraft need and a Goodyear expertise - cutting of viscous elastic material (cheese versus tires). There is no reason these two companies couldn't collaborate because they don't compete.

Amongst other things, Creax has software that helps people visualize connections and search terms from the information in the patent database. Apparently, less than 3% of patents make more money than they cost to file.


"Research is often re-search - the solution is often already existing."


In addition to companies with problems that are looking for solutions, there are also a lot of materials companies that have developed lots of solutions that are in search of a problem. This can be solved somewhat using the patent database.

Four ways of looking at your search for innovation:

1. Value and function

• What values do we want?

2. Out of the box in time and space

• What resources do we have?


• Utilizes the 9 windows method from TRIZ (surrounding, before/box/after, components)

3. Analogy across domains

• Where do we look for inspiration?

4. Variation of properties for new or improved functions

• What do we change, what do we gain?

All customer value requirements can be attributed to four main values:

• More performance


• Less harm


• More convenience (aka interface)


• Less price (aka cost)

They have simplified the TRIZ methodology down to properties and functions and brought in the patent database.


"Can you connect something that is different to something that is better?"


Finally, here are five questions you should be asking yourselves:

1. What can you achieve by changing properties?


2. What other industries should we be following?


3. Who should we be partnering with?


4. Who should be licensing to or from?


5. Why does it take so long to apply in a different domain?


• If you apply a surface similar to a golf ball to trains, you get 30% less friction.

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Braden Kelley is the editor of Blogging Innovation and founder of Business Strategy Innovation, a consultancy focusing on innovation and marketing strategy. Braden is also @innovate on Twitter.

Do Patents Hinder or Help Innovation?

by Stephen Shapiro

Some time ago I received a newsletter that had 10 wacky patents. Here's my favorite:

Apparatus for Facilitating the Birth of a Child by Centrifugal Force: With this invention, the mother-to-be is strapped down to a table that is then is spun to allow centrifugal force to take its course and aid in childbirth. This invention by a husband and wife team was patented in 1965, but surprisingly hasn't caught on in maternity wards around the country.

This raises an interesting question. Do patents help or hinder innovation?

The intent of patents was to protect those who make large investments in innovation. For example, a pharmaceutical company that spends billions of dollars on drug development and testing needs protection. Clearly these patents help innovation. No one would invest that much money if someone could come in and replicate their idea.

But what about patents that protect ideas; concepts where no real investment has been made, other than the expenditure of a few brain cells. Do these patents help or hinder innovation?

I have a patent pending for my "Innovation Personality Poker." My investment to date has been thousands, not millions of dollars. The main cost has been the design and manufacturing of the cards (and legal fees). But the patent is a process patent; it is the methodology I am protecting. Therefore, the investment I am protecting is my time. Is this really a proper use of patents?

What about patents where no investment has been made.

I have an idea that I may patent. It could save the planet through reduced landfills and reduced reliance on petroleum. My investment in this has been limited to thinking. If I pursue the patent, it might stop others from developing a similar invention. Wouldn't this stifle innovation? If this idea is so great, shouldn't we stimulate its development?

What are your thoughts? Do patents help or hinder innovation?


For more on the patent topic, check out Braden Kelley's interview with Jackie Hutter.


P.S. I will probably not patent my idea, but instead will find a manufacturer to partner with.

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Stephen Shapiro is the author of three books, a popular innovation speaker, and is the Chief Innovation Evangelist for Innocentive, the leader in Open Innovation.