Guy Kawasaki’s Lessons on Innovation
Written by: Leezia Dhalla at Rackspace Fostering innovation is hard. It’s a lesson Guy Kawasaki, tech evangelist, author and chief evangelist of Canva, learned in the mid-1980s while working alongside Steve Jobs as Apple’s former chief evangelist. On Monday morning, Guy, a self-proclaimed “very happy Rackspace customer,” kicked off the third Rackspace::Solve summit, held at The Peninsula in downtown Chicago. Here are Guy’s top 10 strategies for fostering innovation:1. Make Meaning
Great innovation starts with people who want to make meaning—not money. Most great innovators don’t have a grand vision for the future. Instead, they have a desire to change the world, one step at a time. Apple brought computers to people who had never had access to them before. Google made it easy for people to access information quickly. eBay made it possible for people, not just corporations, to sell products online. The desire to change the world can be lucrative — but if you dive into innovation with the goal of making money, you will likely fail.
2. Make Mantra
Great innovation starts with a powerful mantra — a common piece of language that outlines purpose and the reason for existence. The most effective mantras are three simple words. Nike believes in authentic, athletic performance. FedEx exists to deliver peace of mind. At the end of the day, personalized mantras are better than generic mission statements.
3. Jump To The Next Curve
Great innovation happens when you jump to the next curve, not when you duke it out to the same curve. That’s where the real action happens. In the printing industry, great innovation started with the daisy wheel printer and evolved to the laser printer and 3D printer. Those inventors knew that innovation didn’t just mean creating Helvetica font in 24 point. Great innovation means jumping to the next curve. Don’t die on the curve you started on.
4. Role The DICEE
Great innovation means creating DICEE products or services that are Deep, Intelligent, Complete,Empowering and Elegant.
- Great products are deep because they have lots of features and functionality, like dual-purpose sandals designed with a bottle cap opener underneath the sole.
- Great products are intelligent and help the user feel luxurious, like a remote control operated car.
- Great products are complete. Imagine the totality of Google, which is not just a search engine; it’s also analytical and offers Gmail, Google+, Google apps and a host of other offerings. Totality makes it great.
- Great products are empowering. They make it possible for the user to take the wheel.
- Great products are elegant. They show that someone took great care to consider the user and the design.
If you wait for the perfect time or for the perfect product, you will never ship and life will pass you buy. There’s a difference between shipping something crappy and shipping something that has elements of crap to it. Look at Apple in 1984. Apple revolutionized an industry by unveiling a product with 108K of RAM. If they had waited for chips to be fast enough or cheap enough, they never would have shipped. You should ship something that’s DICEE and something that has jumped the curve—even if it has elements of crap to it.
6. “Let One Hundred Flowers Blossom.”
Take your best shot at gravity and market your position. Who is your customer? How is your customer using your product? You should put your product out there and see what happens because many times, people use products and services in unintended ways. Identify how people are using your product, and capitalize on it.
7. Polarize People
Great innovation polarizes people. Advertisers and Fortune 500 brands aren’t the biggest fans of TiVo because it enables people to bypass television commercials, which can be a huge source of revenue. TiVo is polarizing, but it’s also a revolutionary product. At the end of the day, great stuff polarizes people.
8. Churn, Baby, Churn
The hardest part of innovation is churn. A great deal of time, you have to refuse to listen to other people because there are people who are going to tell you they want better “sameness.” What this means is that they want a slightly different version of a product that already exists. True innovation means jumping to the next curve. Evolve your product, but listen to the consumers once you ship. User feedback will help you move from version one to version two—but this is often the hardest part of innovation.
9. Niche Thyself
Positioning yourself to target a niche market, like Fandango, is critical for great innovation. The most effective innovators are both unique and valuable. A parent’s worst nightmare is showing up at a movie theatre with several tiny humans in tow, only to learn that the long-anticipated film is sold out. Fandango is unique because it’s the only service that allows people to buy movie tickets in advance, which adds value by saving time for busy parents who don’t want to spend a half hour waiting in line at the box office.
10. Perfect Your Pitch
Great revolutionaries can pitch. Create an enchanting elevator pitch and customize your introduction so you can build a connection with your audience. You want your listener to feel that you are well informed, and that you know exactly whom you’re talking to.
