It's OK if People Don't Understand Your Idea

by Glen Stansberry

When a new idea strikes me for a website, I typically try to run it by a close friend. And usually, I get a really blank look.

It's not that the ideas are bad, it's that the person I'm explaining it to doesn't really understand my idea. Unless he/she sees a prototype, it's incredibly difficult to follow what's inside my head. Why? Because it's inside my head. I'm the only one who can fully grasp the concept.

Truly innovative ideas take a while to get used to, or even understand. History is riddled with inventors who were mistaken for crazy, only later to have made some of the most groundbreaking discoveries. Yet had they listened to their friends, we probably wouldn't have many of the cool technologies that exist today.

• Alexander Graham Bell: "I'm going to try and make a machine that allows two people to hear each other's voices with a wire."


• Friend: "Riiiiiiggghhhht."

Fortunately, people like Edison, Bell and a slew of others didn't listen to their friends or critics. They forged ahead because they believed in their ideas. And they weren't afraid of failure.

It's your idea. Nobody understands it as well as you. You are officially the authoritative expert on your idea. I eventually stopped telling people my ideas until I could show them a prototype, but even then I take their opinions with a grain of salt.

A major obstacle in completing ideas is getting over the "is it good enough?" stage. Honestly, you won't truly know how innovative your idea is until you actually create it.

Instead of spending your time asking everyone around if they think your concept will work, spend that time developing the idea. Let it marinate and take shape. And develop the snot out of it. Once you've got a bangin' prototype, then see what people think.

An article was published recently chronicling Zappos and their successess in internet marketing. One of the main reasons for their success is that they stopped listening to consultants to tell them how to run their business.


"You have to avoid falling into the trap of a consultant telling you that, "If you spend a large amount of money with us, all of your problems will be solved, and you'll never have to worry about this again." In the end, they are outsiders and do not understand your business as well as you do."


As originator of the idea, it's your responsibility to see that the integrity of your idea is kept. Don't try and let outsiders tell you what they think of your idea, or how to implement it. Think of the idea as your baby. You wouldn't let somebody else raise your child, would you?


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Glen Stansberry writes at LifeDev, a blog that helps people make their ideas happen. You can follow him on Twitter here.

Is China an Innovative Society?

by Stefan Lindegaard

I tapped into an interesting discussion on LinkedIn. Chris Gelken, who is host and co-producer of Today, a live news magazine, asked whether China is an innovative society.

Personally, I find the development of China to be both fascinating and a bit frightening seen from a Western perspective. Based on several visit, my take is that if China avoids too many financial bubbles, then the drive and ambition of the Chinese people to climb the value chain ladder will turn it into an innovation hotspot sooner than many think.

There are many great comments in the discussion and I have inserted snippets from a couple of them below. Check out the rest for yourself: Is China an Innovative Society? (requires group membership to China Networking Group)


Zhiyun Chen, Vice President at Pixelligent
I think as indivduals Chinese are very creative. It is result of strong natural selection by firece competetion in a closed society. The problem, though, is Chinese society still lacks mechnisms to channel the creativity of individuals into constructive innovations.

Edward Eng, Copywriter at Getchee
Rather than ask if China is innovate or not, people should focus on how China needs to improve its global marketing skills. The reason why many people think China isn't innovate is because no one knows what they are doing in China. People and businesses in China have great ideas and products but sometimes they just don't know how to effectively market them to the global consumer market. This is where China needs to strengthen its innovative juices.

John Walmsley, MD at Scot Lift Systems
They have the ideal situation for innovation as the Universities concentrate on designing and developing products which will meet a market need and not play around learning things which do not relate to Industry and Commerce. Where there is a gap is in Product design where they seem to lack the skills in making their products look modern and appealing. If they get that right then look out World.

Stephen DeKuyper, Managing Principal at CresaPartners
My experience tells me an overwhelming "no". Good at copying, good at driving costs down, but not innovative. I would be interested in seeing how many patents are applied for out of China. I guess it would be very low. I think with the size of the population, it will go up, but on a per capita basis, I think it will remain low. This does not equate to being smart or not. I just don't think there is an environment for innovation.

Bill Dodson, Principal at TrendsAsia
China excels at innovation, but not disruptive Innovation. "Small i" innovation is about patching and work-arounds. "Big I" Innovation is about changing the course of markets and even of societies. Chinese culture and history have always been supportive of "small i" innovation, due to the capricious nature of local government policies and decisions; and due to dramatic turns of events - revolts, revolutions, banditry, dynastic dissolution - that quickly destroy the fruits of labor. Hence, the tendency of so many constructions and creations in Chinese society to be just "good enough"; after all, who knows how long such works will be able to stand?


What do you think? Is China an innovative society?


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Stefan Lindegaard is a speaker, network facilitator and strategic advisor who focus on the topics of open innovation, intrapreneurship and how to identify and develop the people who drive innovation.

Are you crimping your innovation funnel?

New Product Development Requires Fresh Perspective on 'Creative' and 'Structure'

by Robert F. Brands

New product development can be a misunderstood concept.

Is the "product" actually a product? Or can it be a process? Is it a mandate from the C Suite? Or can it be a suggestion from the factory floor, the retail showroom, the Idea Box or a customer tip?

How wide is your idea funnel? And how do you treat ideas once they land in the organization's "idea hopper"? (see the blog post on "Innovation and Idea Management" to discover how to handle in-bound ideas).

Answer these questions, and you've placed your finger on the pulse of how your organization embraces new product development (NPD).

NPD best blossoms in that place where creativity commingles with structure - where fresh thinking is fostered in a nursery of structured liberation. Think of ideas as if they were offspring: They should be free to roam and explore, but they need fences - structure - in their lives to ensure safe maturation in a controlled environment.

The same is true for NPD - regardless of whether products are widgets for sale or processes envisioned to improve the organization. For the concepts of "creative" and "structured" are not mutually exclusive. Creativity is the thinking that goes behind the ideation of a new product. Structure helps define and determine the vetting process that NPD must go through.

Keep in mind that each step of this entire process has distinct "sub-steps," if you will, that must be accomplished even before a Go/No-Go decision can be made. These often are done together - and simultaneously. This vetting and completed steps will than determine which products pass the Go/No-Go decision - regardless of the source or even the potential "profitability" of any new product.

These are important distinctions. When creating a foundational NPD process, all ideas should be welcomed from all sources - from the customer service rep to the C-level exec. No short-shrift or free pass here. If the structured vetting process, one established by the Chief Idea Officer and his/her team, gives a Thumbs-Down to a new idea, the source should not spin that determination.

Regardless of whether a product is seen as a revenue source, or just an internal concept or process, that, too, should have little impact on a product's viability or survivability in the organization. Good "products" don't have to result in revenues; they can enhance processes, that in turn, can boost profitability.

As you're pondering your NPD capabilities, consider whether your pipeline accommodate simultaneous multiple product development streams? A new, physical product for sale should not force a process-focused product to be shelved. This level of scalability ensures a wide "innovation highway" - one that is lean, adaptive and flexible, and can handle various products at the same time.

Finally, is your organization prepared to measure the results - not of the new product, but of the process itself? Do you have a system in place to gather, measure and share both the success and the stumbling blocks? Are you prepared to ask yourself, how did the process work?

The truth is, future success can be closely tied into past accomplishments - if you're willing to ask the right questions, create the right environment, and learn along the way.

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Robert F. Brands is President and founder of Brands & Company, LLC. Innovation Coach Robert Brands has launched a new site - www.RobertsRulesOfInnovation.com - to complement his upcoming book.

Book Review - "Inside Project Red Stripe"

"Inside Project Red Stripe - Incubating Innovation and Teamwork at the Economist"
by Andrew Carey
Published by Triarchy Press

I've been reading the innovation tome "Inside Project Red Stripe" off and on for some time now and I must say that it is unlike any other book on innovation that I have read to date. Instead of espousing a single innovation theory and taking 300 pages to do so, the book attempts to provide a neutral, anthropological look behind-the-scenes into the journey of Project Red Stripe.

Project Red Stripe was the code name for a discreet innovation effort at The Economist that brought together six team members for six months to research, select, and develop an internet-related innovation project for The Economist on a budget of £100,000. The project's aspiration was to deliver the organization's next big thing.

I found the book to be very well-written, interesting, and definitely worth the read if you are an innovation practioner or are fascinated by important project deconstructions. There are a couple of things you should be aware of before you begin:

• The book is written in an engaging research observation style, not your typical narrative or essay styles.


• The book is organized unlike most books and often feels more like a web site as you select a topic to follow and then jump around to read the installments relevant to that topic.

It was fascinating for me to see the human behavior challenges the group went through in gathering, selecting, and developing their ideas, and the downsides of conducting their project in such a public way.

If you are currently planning an innovation project or culture change at your organization, this book is an essential read to help remind you of the potential pitfalls that await you in such an undertaking. It also serves as a reminder of the potential disconnects between innovation theory and practice.

I won't spoil the ending and tell you whether Project Red Stripe was a success or a failure. You'll have to buy the book and read it in order to draw your own conclusion.

If you've already read it, what did you think?

@innovate