The 10 Signposts for 2015 — In Search of Innovative Problems

As the ball drops to celebrate the beginning of 2015 and revelers around the world count down to the moment, we thought it was the perfect time to review the 10 Signposts of Innovation.

In In Search of Innovative Problems, we identified a set of indicators that marked problem areas where patterns of innovation opportunity were hidden from plain view. The phrase “things that” became our mantra for flagging these ‘signposts’. As we observed product and service users and interviewed them about the interactions in their worlds, we realized that there was a fairly extensive set of signposts that reoccurred regularly. By recognizing these signposts, we were able to see connections to innovative problems that individual users could not.

So as we leave 2014 and forge into the New Year, we thought it was the perfect time to review the 10 Signposts of Innovation and get you started looking in the right direction in 2015:

10. things that are failing

9. things that address Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

8. things that involve a high degree of complexity

7. things that are perishable

6. things that are not mobile

5. things that are expensive or price supported

4. things that are slow or large

3. things that have substantial consequences

2. things that are repeated often — and

1. things that haven’t changed in a significant amount of time

Keep the Signposts in mind as you move through 2015 and you are sure to build your ‘problem finder’ mindset. You will be in a position to uncover hidden innovative problems and come to market with exciting new products and services that meet the needs of your customers before your competitors even recognize that the problems exist.

Happy New Year!

© Brian Leitten & Bradley Strock 2014