Don’t get trapped by innovation methodologies- learn to weave the useful bits together
More MacGyver less Spock
To quote Mephistopheles, one of the chief devils, and tempter of Faust,
“…My friend, I shall be pedagogic, And say you ought to start with Logic…
…Days will be spent to let you know that what you once did at one blow, Like eating and drinking so easy and free, Can only be done with One, Two, Three.
Yet the web of thought has no such creases and is more like a weaver’s masterpieces; One step, a thousand threads arise, Hither and thither shoots each shuttle, The threads flow on, unseen and subtle, Each blow effects a thousand ties.
The philosopher comes with analysis And proves it had to be like this; The first was so, the second so, And hence the third and fourth was so, And were not the first and second here, Then the third and fourth could never appear.
That is what all the students believe, But they have never learned to weave.”
J. W. von Goethe, Faust, Walter Kaufman trans., New York, 1963, 199.
Like styles of Kung-fu, there are a great many fantastic names for logical approaches to innovation.
1. Eric Reiss gave us “the lean startup”
2. Clayton Christensen gave us “Jobs to be done”
3. Larry Keeley gave us “Ten Types of innovation”
These offer excellent distillations of knowledge and approaches on how to tackle innovation in the corporate environment. Stand on the shoulders of these lessons but don’t be a purist. Corporate ventures are a realm of opportunism, politics, and speed. Logical frameworks can be inflexible traps.
Treat each methodology as you would a Lego kit when you were a kid, follow the instructions, build the Pirate Ship… then add rocket engines and lasers to it!
Books and methodologies are products, they capture a trend at a point in time in the market. Blitzscaling, the High Growth Handbook, Hacking growth all draw on startup growth because we are in a market of exceptionally fast technology growth due to all the liquidity in venture capital. It’s hard to read these from a corporate perspective and know where to start, you’re trapped in “One, two and three”.
Ground yourself in a foundation, making it the bedrock of your venturing purpose: Growth, Value Creation, Define a new market segment or Build a Cause. Then begin to weave, use all you learn- any structure/methodology that gets you to your goal.
