Tag Archives: innovation

Missing opportunities?

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It is always interesting and sometimes surprising to find the number and quality of opportunities to be found in companies that continue to go unnoticed. I suppose a large part of being able to see opportunities is to see things with different eyes (or glasses). I have found that people that are new to a company are a great resource that is often not tapped into.

These people whether new employees, contractors or consultants – or even for that matter, visitors, will often ask some basic questions or have ideas that seem “silly” or not realistic. But it is just these questions and ideas that should be recorded and reviewed, before an arbitrary answer is given, such as “It’s just not possible, you don’t understand our industry/market/equipment/culture/etc,”

Seeing issues and other opportunities without the incumbrance of “history” gives weight to the benefit of these ideas. If effort is taken to turn these ideas into reality, or find the final reason why they won’t work will put your company ahead of the competition, they too – more than likely – will have the same blind spots or issues. Does your company have a full and clear induction program for new employees? I don’t mean those that state “this is where you sit and these are the OH&S practices we follow”, but one that covers all their requirements as well as asking them to document after one week and again after one month what they see as issues or opportunities. In fact, it may also be to your benefit to ask visitors the same thing!

Don’t be caught out, don’t let your competitors get the jump on you. Working on these, often, obvious questions will put you in the position of being forced to review the situation actively. Use the “5x why” method (drill down 5 times, don’t just ask 5 questions at the same level.) Yes, it is agreed, everyone has an opinion but learn how to manage these and put them to good use – plus the fact that just by listening you encourage other ideas (and respect). It becomes a win win for all.

Cheers Mark

Success via Creativity

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It is good to see companies making progress in creativity, despite the overall air of commercial trepidation still hanging around.

I would like to bring your attention to two fantastic “ideas” that are now being commercialized. The first is a new design by Tony Pike of Flat Technologies, who like the rest of us was rather annoyed at sitting in cafes with wobbly tables. He has put together a product that, once placed into position, will stay there. The really amazing part is that it is just hydraulics under the legs of a café table; there are four small interconnected cylinders with internal bladders. No seals, no locks, no electronics, no maintenance and it works. This product has a huge number of potential applications.

The second is a review of a current design then modifying this so it has nearly 30% reduction in parts costs and 50% reduction in labour costs. Sam Mikhail of IGT has used creativity and ingenuity along with the help of his team and use of DFMA software (taking the leg work out of standardising components and processes in manufacture) to re-design a gaming machine that is now versatile and customer friendly, with the “customer” in this case being everyone down-line from the engineer.

It is this type of creativity that needs to be found and encouraged in all aspects of business; real, live creativity. Improving the way things are done, how they are done and maybe even thinking about why they are done. It can be for a new or existing product, just as much, it can be for a new or existing process. As per my previous blog, use all the tools at your disposal – whether you have a huge tool box or a simple one – to help with your creativity.

Click on the links to see more about Tony and Sam.

Let’s celebrate real thought, real innovation, real action by acknowledging these people. We would love to hear of any great ideas for products or processes that you have heard of or even better come up with yourself.

Cheers
Mark