Innovation process - Divergence then Convergence

It is easy to think that innovation is born out of being innovative. Or simply in the minds of one or selected few.

Well, the initial times - maybe. But for a company to grow, it has to be a build-in capability to be acquired.

Systems and processes have to come into play as a growing business has no way be dependent on only a few smart people.. This is where the company must tap on every soul's to generate the ideas necessary for next level of growth & play.

I recommend adopting the divergence then convergence concept to innovation. It can well be turned into a process where you first diverge to gather as much ideas as possible without shutting off seemingly foolish or crazy ideas. This gives opportunity to build up more ideas from existing ideas.

Only when it's about to be exhausted, convergence should take place. Filtering process is needed here. Ideas can be grouped and those that can be tested or prototyped fast should be given a chance.. adopting fail early, fail fast concept. And of course, done within budget..

Not all innovation processes are the same. Every company will, in the end, end up with their own unique innovation process. This is because the process is very much influenced by the culture, people, practices, industry,.. So no two company will share the exact same process.. But the macro thinking and concept remain the same.

Some more pointers:

Divergence - motivation, teamwork, brainstorming, field trip, ethnography, ideas generation, build ideas on ideas, forums, leverage on Internet..

Convergence - preliminary & staged filtering, criteria, prototyping, testing, market soft launch, reward system, risk mgmt,..

9 things start up must know but no one tells you so!

From my working experience with small & medium size companies, these are the 9 key things that most are unaware.. especially for new startups..

1. Sustained earnings within 3 months. It is tempting to spent plenty of time looking for money and developing products.. and unintentionally loose focus on earning money in the beginning months. People wanted to improve & perfect their products first before rolling out to the market. But that may be a mistake. Learn from Google in this business era. Roll out fast. Improve later. Fail early. Fail fast. Early revenue will boost confidence & morale in the company.

2. Receivable management. Cash flow is the name of the game in recession. But actually it is a day to day operation imperative. Issuing invoice is not the end. You must monitor the process & progress. You may even need to call the client's accounts dept. Make friends with them. Understand their process. Who's signature required. Timing of their invoice processing. Active receivable mgmt is needed. Dont just sit there and expect people will write you a cheque.

3. Be close to the customer. Never, never leave your clients to your sales folks! You must go out and meet them. Get to know them. Get close to them. Know their needs and wants. No matter how busy with other operations activities you must never make this mistake.

4. Public relation. People thinks PR is expensive. But Internet is reducing the cost and you can do it for free by doing it yourself! Do your own press release. Write your own blog. Submit your release to news agency. Do it consistently overtime it will bear fruits.

5. Brand is not just a logo! It is everything! From people, process, product, company.. all represent the brand. Learn key elements of branding and protect it no matter what.

6. IT as an enabler. IT is not the business unless you are one tech firm. But leverage on IT to improve your efficiency & effectiveness.. especially customer experience.

7. Know your IP. Intellectual property is very important today since everything we do is in the form of intangibles. Tangibles such as hardware, equipment & building values are not as high as the intangible assets in today's context. Therefore, learn about the most common forms of IP and how you can protect & exploit them eg. copyright, patent, trademark, design,..

8. Competitors' response to your moves. If you play chess, you will know you need to think a few steps ahead and predict the opponent's moves and respond accordingly. But surprisingly, few does this mental exercise in real business world. Many have this great idea and implement it without considering how competitors will react and how you would need to respond.

9. Exit strategy. Most people hate to think about business failure. But over 90% of businesses failed in the first few years due to various reasons. Also, exit strategy doesnt cover only failures. It also include selling the firm at a good profit or go IPO at a right time, or exit the market you serve.

If you have more ideas to add or comments, please let me know. I love to learn from you too.

Comments/Input from others:

- Good Partner. Having a good partner is a must. It's really tough to do everything on your own. That's not running a business. That's self-employed! yes, many people have told me that good partner is hard to find.. thus, many gave up.. They dont trust any partner anymore! But how can anything progress without trust in business? We just have to be vigilant, have check & balance and lookout for good people.

- Auto-pilot. Build systems. I was reminded and remembered that i always challenge myself to auto-pilot my team or dept within the shortest amount of time, say 9 months. To achieve that, you need to develop systems, processes & procedure, simple guidelines or principles. Most people prefer to made the decision themselves. Maybe they like to feel like boss. Maybe they just like to make all the decisions! But that's not the way forward. I prefer to empower my staff and set boundaries and markers. They still come to me for urgent & important matters. But most will be handled by them.

Cheers!

An Inspirational Video 1 - The Law Of Attraction

Nick Vujicic, No Arms, No Legs, No Worries! Part 1 of 3

This is really inspiring! I shed tears watching this very special person speaking.. guess i will watch his video every time i fall down..

Worth doing

"Anything worth doing

is worth doing well."

- Philip Stanhope

Interesting pictures

List of Twitter tools

Simplicity is no simple thing

"Simplicity is no simple thing"

- Charlie Chaplin

Bootstrapping your business

An interesting book on 'Bootstrapping your business' by Greg Gianforte with Marcus Gibson.. though i dont agree with everything but it's thought provoking enough to give me new insights..

On page 27, Sales = True Needs + Budget + Authority to purchase from you.

Think of it, i actually did test RightNow software before! and must say theirs really not bad.. ;-)

about the future

"One doesnt discover new lands

without consenting

to lose sight of the shore

for a very long time"

- Andre Gide

note: How true it is.. that sometimes the future's beyond our wildest imagination

Pedestrian Crash Test Dummy

How things have evolved.. from focusing on people inside the car to pedestrian in a car crash.. good thinking.. but wonder how it affects a car's design..

Much Ado About Nothing - theater cum picnic

For the first time, we went to Fort Canning to watch the open air theater cum picnic show Much Ado About Nothing.

And yes, we truly enjoyed ourselves! The weather was great.. just after a heavy downpour.. The atmosphere, the people, the theater, the acting, the comedy,.. everything was just fantastic! ;-)

A unique experience i will never forget.. think there were over 1,000 people on the green.. we sat at a nice spot.. just observing people picnicking in close proximity is already interesting enough for me.. more people should try this..

"A hilarious showdown between the sexes unfolds in Shakespeare's dark and dazzling romantic comedy.

Directed by Edward Dick who directed the hugely successful tour of Romeo and Juliet for Shakespeare's Globe as well as A Midsummer Night's Dream for the Sydney Theatre Company. He also directed Twelfth Night for Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre.

Starring Adrian Pang (MediaCorp Artiste) with Jason Chan, Michael Corbidge, Wendy Kweh and Julie Wee."

Interesting quote..

BG Chan said "Dynamism cannot be equated with age. It is a state of mind".

REINCARNATION, past life evidence, PART 1 & 2

This too shall pass

Once a King called upon all of his wise men and asked them,
"Is there a mantra or suggestion which works in every situation, in every
circumstance, in every place and in every time. Something which can help me
when none of you is available to advise me. Tell me is there any mantra?"
All wise men got puzzled by King's question. One answer for all questions?
Something that works everywhere, in every situation? In every joy, every
sorrow, every defeat and every victory? They thought and thought.

After a lengthy discussion, an old man suggested something which appealed
to all of them. They went to the king and gave him something written on
paper. But the condition was that king was not to see it out of curiosity.
Only in extreme danger, when the King finds himself alone and there seems
to be no way, only then he'll have to see it. The King put the papers under
his Diamond ring.

After a few days, the neighbours attacked the Kingdom. It was a collective
surprise attack of the King's enemies. King and his army fought bravely but
lost the battle. King had to fled on his horse. The enemies were following
him. His horse took him far away in the Jungle. He could hear many troops
of horses following him and the noise was coming closer and closer.
Suddenly the King found himself standing at the end of the road - that road
was not going anywhere. Underneath there was a rocky valley thousand feet
deep. If he jumped into it, he would be finished.and he could not return
because it was a small road. The sound of enemy's horses was approaching
fast. King became restless. There seemed to be no way.

Then suddenly he saw the Diamond in his ring shining in the sun, and he
remembered the message hidden in the ring. He opened the diamond and read
the message. The message was very small but very great. The message was – "
This too will pass."

The King read it. Again read it. Suddenly something struck him- Yes! It too
will pass. Only a few days ago, I was enjoying my kingdom. I was the
mightiest of all the Kings. Yet today, the Kingdom and all his pleasure
have gone. I am here trying to escape from enemies. However when those days
of luxuries have gone, this day of danger too will pass. Calm come on his
face.
He kept standing there. The place where he was standing was full of natural
beauty. He had never known that such a beautiful place was also a part of
his Kingdom. The revelation of the message had a great effect on him. He
relaxed and forgot about those following him.

After a few minutes he realized that the noise of the horses and the enemy
coming was receding. They moved into some other part of the mountains and
were not on that path. The King was very brave. He reorganized his army and
fought again. He defeated the enemy and regained his lost empire. When he
returned to his empire after victory, he was received with much fan fare at
the door. The whole capital was rejoicing in the victory. Everyone was in a
festive mood. Flowers were being thrown on the King from every house, from
every corner.
People were dancing and singing. For a moment King said to himself," I am
one of the bravest and greatest King. It is not easy to defeat me.:

With all the reception and celebration he saw an ego emerging in him.
Suddenly the Diamond of his ring flashed in the sunlight and reminded him
of the message. He opened it and read it again: "This too will pass" He
became silent. His face went through a total change -from the egoist he
moved to a state of utter humbleness.

If this too is going to pass, it is not yours.
The defeat was not yours, the victory is not yours.
You are just a watcher. Everything passes by
We are witness of all this. We are the perceiver. Life comes and goes.
Happiness comes and goes. Sorrow comes and goes.

Now as you have read this story, just sit silently and evaluate your own
life.. Think of the moments of joy and victory in your life. Think of the
moment of Sorrow and defeat. Are they permanent? They all come and pass
away. Life just passes away. There were friends in the past. They have
gone. There are friends today. They too will go. There will be new friends
tomorrow. They too will go. There were enemies in the past. They have gone.
There may be enemies in the present. They too will go. There will be new
enemies tomorrow and..they too will go.

There is nothing permanent in this world. Every thing changes except the
law of change. Think over it from your own perspective. You have seen all
the changes. You have survived all setbacks, all defeats and all sorrows.
All have passed away. If there are problems in the present, they too will
pass away. Because nothing remains forever. Joy and sorrow are the two
faces of the same coin. They both will pass away.

Who are you in reality? Know your real face. Your face is not your true
face. It will change with the time. However, there is something in you,
which will not change. It will remain unchanged. What is that unchangeable?
It is nothing but your true self. You are just a witness of change.

Experience it, Understand the spiritual dimension behind this

On Buddhism & the various sects

How to deal with difficult people

Value creation life

While money is important

in sustaining life,

living a value-creating life

is much more important.

When internal collaboration is bad

The problem wasn't collaboration is good or bad.

Research found that novice teams actually benefited from exchanging ideas with peers.

Rather, the challenge is determining when it makes sense and when it doesnt.

More often, managers ask how can we get people to collaborate more. That's the wrong question!

A better question would be, "Will collaboration on this project create or destroy value?"

In fact, to collaborate well is to know when not to do it.

Happiness is a by-product of life

"Happiness is a by-product of life,

not necessarily something to look for.

It's about being honest with yourself

and knowing what feels right inside.

I know people who find joy in seeing

their children grow up or

in engaging hobby such as hiking.

And they're happy with a regular job

because it helps to feed their

source of joy & passion.

Not everyone is going to start a company,

and that's perfectly okay.

It's people with no passion at all

that become the walking dead."

- Ms O'Shaughnessy.

Second trip to Malacca

I still love visiting Malacca.. for its food, peace & authentic buildings.. Hope the new developments in the area will not spoilt its identity..

(pic is Durian Cendol)