The second observation was how unhappy folks were in the life they’d created for themselves. These are intelligent, driven people. Some hated their jobs, others were in simply lost, while still others apathetic to their lives. My first response was empathy. But this quickly led to questioning. If this fairly large sampling of intelligent driven people are unhappy with their lives, how does that translate into the organizations within which they spend their days. How can organizations be innovative when those charged with leading and growing the organization exhibit lackluster and indifference?

Simply put, they can’t. Organizations stagnate and fall short on performance when they lack passion and enthusiasm. They aren’t able to focus their energy to produce tangible results. Simple problems seem enormous and complex problems insurmountable. They simply can’t be creative and as a result, innovation escapes them. Ralph Waldo Emerson is famously quoted for saying – “Enthusiasm is one of the most powerful engines of success. When you do a thing, do it with all your might. Put your whole soul into it. Stamp it with your own personality. Be active, be energetic and faithful, and you will accomplish your object. Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.” In no time in history do we need this advice more than now.

1. Passion is key to innovation and creativity.
This is true in every organization whether it provides a service, produces a product or simply attempts to better the world. Can innovation and creativity exist without passion? Perhaps … but with difficulty and likely accidentally. The birth of a game changing idea is undoubtedly inspired by excitement and spirit and will succeed only with the continuation of that passion. Target’s ClearRx prescription distribution and communication system is a great example of how innovation was driven by the focus to improve usability and consumers’ quality of care

2. Passion ensures an organization’s values are protected
To care about something deeply is to ensure the integrity of its meaning and existence are preserved. It is easy in the complexities of day-to-day operations to lose way and focus on the wrong things. This happens often when politics, alternative agendas and external forces are allowed to take over and drive decision-making. Focus, drive and the preservation of integrity ensure that the values of an organization are upheld even in the most difficult of circumstances. The Grameen Bank clearly defines its key principles of discipline, unity, courage and hard work (the first of 16 core decisions) in its endeavor to break the cycle of poverty.

3. Passionate employees translate to passionate customers
Passion is infectious. When an organization fosters passion, it exhibits in its employees who in turn carry it through in their interactions with the outside world. What better endorsement for a product or service than those who live with it day in and day out? From Apple’s geniuses to Lululemon’s educators, these employees are the last mile to your customers.

4. Passion ups the game
Competition is a great motivator. Passion an even better one. High performing organizations are filled with passionate people who create and pursue what they believe are valuable. They experiment, play and drive change. Just as passion is infectious when transferred from employees to customers so is it contagious when passed from employee to employee. This inevitably results in a higher quality of work, which leads to successful projects, which in turn inspires more passion. I don’t need to venture beyond the walls of Idea Couture to see this in action. From discussions on service design to new business models, social corporate responsibility to new research methodologies, Couturians not only “up the game” for each other, but also for our clients and collaborators.

Is not life a hundred times too short for us to bore ourselves? – Friedrich Nietzsche

With few dedicated bike lanes, sparse parking facilities and a passive aggressive car vs. bike culture relationship, it’s amazing that people in this city even cycle at all. But we do – and particularly at Idea Couture, we have strong group of dedicated cyclists. So – for all the devoted cyclists out there who have cursed when unable to find a decent parking spot for one’s 2-wheeler, this innovation from Japan will delight in its ingenuity – solving practical problems such as theft, space constraints and weather.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/video/2009/nov/05/bicycles-japan-bike-tree

Idris wisely notes that “as the pace of innovation accelerates and expectations rise, executives are experiencing two other kinds of crises, 1/ declining bottom line results caused by the credit crisis and 2/ declining consumer attention as customers become increasingly desensitized and unresponsive to traditional marketing. The ones that are smart will look for ways to improve their innovation capability and process; within their organization, externally with specialists in the field of innovation and even with their consumers who can help them to detect early trends.” In this way, companies can manage this double-edged sword looming over them.

The becomes – “What types of innovation activities can and should companies partake in? The answer is – it depends. The most common types of innovation are differentiated by distinct characteristics:

1/ Innovation activities that are based on improving the underlying the process of producing or delivery of products and services that sometimes appear to be invisible to customers. The manufacturing world is rife with examples – think Toyota in the 50’s, Dell in the 90s. A great example today is Spanish retailer Zara’s “fast fashion” supply chain – with the ability to design and distribute current fashions in just 15 days.

2/ Innovation that encourages the adoption or co-creation of a new customer behavior through new technologies, new interfaces and new connectivity. Apple’s iTouch technology in conjunction with the App store epitomizes new technology driving customer adoption and usage.

3/ Innovation that focuses on radically rethinking the whole business eco-system and re-designing its role in the value chain. Generally this leads to business model innovation. A great example is Netflix which turned the traditional video rental industry on its head, changing the way consumer’s pay for and consume entertainment. Another example is Amazon’s Kindle – changing the way consumers purchase literature.

4/ Innovation that allows an introduction of a second or third bottom line – initiatives that are socially oriented, sustainable and ethical. Take Clorox Greenworks – the company’s first new line of products in over 20 years. It’s a shift away from traditional chemically based cleaners to products that are certified by the EPA through their Designed for the Environment program. American Apparel, by selling a simple collection of basic items being produced domestically in the US, also in some way creates a second bottom line.

5/ Innovation that allows the redefinition of players and co-creation of value among those players in the system, including the consumer. Streaming video platforms like Joost and Hulu are changing the game of quality media consumption. By cutting out cable networks in favor of direct to consumer delivery supported by shifting ad spend creates value for those players that remain relevant.

I’ve excluded marketing innovation and channel innovation as they are some tactical elements of the above. I’ve also excluded technological innovation as it refers to the advancement in R&D. What are the core values that support the development of a corporate culture that can be typified as innovative? Values such as room for play, the ability to look outside of traditional sources for inspiration, being future oriented, teamwork, respect, the ability to be self-critical, dedication, initiative, trust, open mindedness, the aptitude to view with multiple lenses, collaboration and most importantly, strong leadership that drives the organization to a common vision.

These values can often be found in companies that have a good innovation track record like Apple, Google Nokia, and 3M. In addition to embracing these values themselves, innovation leaders should always look for creative ways of embedding these values in a meaningful way in their organizations from HR policies to operations to front line customer service reps. Through my experiences working with large enterprises, including big Telco’, has taught me that it’s difficult to alter a firms DNA to move at the pace of innovation if the roots of innovation haven’t been planted. While that seems obvious, I’ve found that organizations often will begin to use words like “innovation” without any understanding of how to institutionalize and end up wondering why it doesn’t take hold. To make this real, they need to fully understand their current corporate culture through constantly asking questions such as:

1. How important does senior management think innovation is to the future of our company?
2. Are there clearly defined mandates for innovation?
3. What common behaviors do we see around us that would both support and detract from innovation?
4. How do we compare to other innovative organizations?
5. How well do we handle external shock?
6. How good of a picture do we have in terms of our different futures?
7. Which are the core values that drive our behavior?
8. What are the dogmas / unwritten rules of the organization?
9. What behaviors encourage innovation? What behaviors hinder it?
10. How open are we working with outside partners?
11. How much tolerance do we have for risk?
12. What are our expectations from innovation efforts?
13. Do we have a process for innovation?
14. What is the make up of your human capital?
15. Is there support from corporate finance to fund innovation-based projects that may have longer paybacks with larger ROI?

Ask these questions and it will become obvious whether an organization is “innovation ready”. Those firms that are, will be able to overcome the crises – those that cannot will continue to be at the mercy of external market forces.

Houndstooth Pattern in Parking Lot, at Disney World, FL by Alex MacLean

Aesthetically, the impervious asphalt surface lacks dimension; a visual void of white lines on a graying black canvas, it is splashed with a temporary palette of colors during business and shopping hours only. Culturally, the business of automobile storage squanders social space; vacant for all but the most shallow of interactions, it is a transitional zone designed to send people out rather than draw them in. A few innovations in vertical parking exist today. Others meant to green the ground-level void are underway. And there is talk of some cities developing municipal ordinances and review processes to refashion the parking lots of the future. In the meantime, citizens of the cities and suburbs need an immediate innovation in reclamation.

Painted Parking by Benjamin Moore changes the aesthetic of parking lots. Drawing on its network of 4000 independent retailers across North America and their relationships with local customers, it partners the world’s leading paint manufacturer with home-owners, artists, community centers, schools, Boy Scouts, Girl Guides, architects, contractors and designers to take back and transform the asphalt. For urban and suburban communities, Painted Parking becomes a collaborative space where people gather on weekends to interact, explore the arts, express themselves and improve their neighborhood one parking space at a time. For cities, malls, parking management firms and land developers, Painted Parking is a quick, cultural solution to the aesthetic blight of squandered space.

For global brands and local businesses, Painted Parking presents a new opportunity to engage consumers in the creation of customized advertising – one that might pave new avenues for CSR should those businesses and brands financially reward community centers, schools, Boy Scouts and Girl Guides for their artistic efforts. And for Benjamin Moore, it offers more than simply an opportunity to educate consumers on product uses, colors and innovations. Painted Parking is a natural extension of a brand philosophy that believes paint and painting have the power to create beauty and to invoke transformation with every brush stroke.

• Sure I’m upset that the smug not-so-genius bar told me the problem was my fault.
  [Poor Customer Service]
• Sure I’ll have to spend 30 minutes on the phone negotiating to fix the problem with Apple Care – who, from all accounts is basically useless unless you push them to the edge. (As an aside, I’ve seen Dell’s warranty program in action – next day product replacement – no questions asked) [Poor Product Support]
• Sure Apple’s being irresponsible by not owning up to this obvious manufacturing defect and at the end of the day, I may need to shell out $800+labor+tax for a new screen[Poor Corporate Policy]

But to top it off, this issue exposes such a fundamental design flaw in the Mac Air that they are unwilling to take responsibility for [Poor Product Design]. Oh Apple – can your ego really be that inflated you can do no wrong?

Let’s have a look at Apple’s environmental policy taken from their site:

“Protecting the environment is critical to the conservation of precious natural resources and the continued health of our planet. Apple recognizes its responsibility as a global citizen and continually strives to reduce the environmental impact of the work we do and the products we create.”

The way this laptop is designed, this little hing issue requires a complete replacement of the LCD screen. This one design flaw, negates all their talk about lower carbon emissions. Cradle-to-Cradle? More like Cradle-to-Dump. The back half of the life cycle hasn’t even been considered. This is not environmentally sustainable. Another highlight from their history of environmental achievements:

“In 2008 MacBook Air is the first product to use mercury-free back light technology with arsenic-free LCD display glass.”

Great – so when my perfectly functional screen ends up in the dump, at least there won’t be any mercury leaking into the soil. Who thought it was a good idea to attach a constantly moving part to a major (expensive) part of the computer? This machine needs to be redesigned. Message to the industrial designers at Apple – think, prototype, build and test before you send your machines into the market. While some have had their airs fixed with a brand new screen, and others have put knives through theirs,

to save one more perfectly perfectly good LCD from ending up in the Apple graveyard, you’ll find my air fashionably affixed with duct tape.

Thank you Apple.

1. It’s just good business to be sustainable Reducing consumption is good for business and good for the environment. Dell is walking the talk with reductions in waste from manufacturing process and packaging. Mattel has reduced unnecessary packaging by redesigning the boxes that toys come in – no longer do they use the little plastic twist ties. Barbie and Ken are held in place by pop out cardboard slits made in the external box.

2. Customers drive requirements
Listening to consumers and solving consumer’s problems came across as the number one priority. Consumers vote for business practice with the dollars they spend. Organizations can use this basic premise to do two things. 1/ Redesign products and services that don’t meet consumer needs from a quality, price and sustainability standpoint. 2/ Look for those needs that are unmet, unarticulated and underserved and solve for x. This is where true consumer innovation takes place.

3. The reduction of risk is a key consideration in any operation – service or manufacturing
77% of Starbucks coffee is procured from free trade sources. While they spend a more for their green coffee, the reduction of supply risk is factored into the business model. Going with a cheaper source doesn’t guarantee translation to the bottom line if there is risk that the source will be cut off. Ben & Jerry’s mission of social and economic justice is well known. They have been a model for sustainability with their cow to cup philosophy. Neither company has sacrificed quality with their practices and as premium brands, can command higher price points from consumers.

Smart companies will find ways to weave sustainability into their operations – inherently lowering cost and delivering consumers economic and experiential value.

Think about some of these statistics presented by Jez Frampton of Interbrand at the opening plenary tonight:

• 95% of consumers say they would consider buying green products
• 25% actually do buy green products
• 45% purposefully don’t

Look at that last statistic. Why would a person choose NOT to buy a product that is better for the environment? Is there intent to destroy our planet? No – I would venture that consumers have been disappointed by green products – they have either performed worse and are more expensive. That is not a sustainable strategy – especially in our bleak economic times. Firms producing products and services must understand that consumers expectations are high. Recycled tissue shouldn’t irritate my nose. Environmentally friendly detergent must clean my clothes as well. It’s just not good enough to slap a “green” label on products and services and expect it to be a differentiator on its own.

To appeal with the masses, sustainable products and services MUST offer the same standards as other products. Quality, performance and price come first – sustainable, green, environmental friendliness are added benefits and eventually, should be a given. The economics of sustainability must align with a consumer’s personal economics and value. Some examples for sustainable experiences include:

1. Cleaning products made from all natural ingredients found in the home (baking soda and vinegar)
2. Small living spaces
3. Local, in season produce
4. Car sharing and car pooling

There are so many ways consumers can choose to be sustainable AND economical. Today, I rented a car to drive down from San Francisco to Monterey. I’d reserved a compact car for cost and fuel efficiency. The person at the counter told me I could get a hybrid car that was slightly larger, more comfortable and give me better the mileage than the compact – all for $4 more. It was a no brainer – the experience value of the hybrid far outweighed that of the compact car.

Sustainability simply must be sustainable economically to gain traction. Green energy must become cheaper, better and more available than fossil fuel energy. Green manufacturing must produce a quality product that rivals non-green product. Green service must be just as good as non-green service. There will always be a segment who can afford to choose sustainability – but to gain momentum with the general populous, the design of sustainable products and service must take into consideration consumer needs and expectations to service demand in a responsible way.

At Idea Couture, we speak often about consumers’ needs – unarticulated and unmet. These exhibits bring to the front of consciousness these needs in a raw, ‘in your face’ way. Who wouldn’t want the elixirs and cures filled with promises? As I head to Monterey for Sustainability Brands 09, I ponder questions about the human condition and what it will take to satisfy our subconscious, ego and superego in a way that is sustainable.

To check out Flow Market go to http://theflowmarket.com.

Idea Couture’s first book, No One Works Here, suggests a number of new doors that could be opened for old ideas. One of them is Kiva, the micro-lending site that, this year, we discovered was gathering even more steam as bundles of wrapped-up joy under the Christmas tree were increasingly replaced by certificates for pigs purchased and fabric facilitated to assist farmers in Vietnam or seamstresses in Laos.

If you’ve read Dead Aid, Zambian economist Dambisa Moyo’s book on how foreign aid is essentially pimping out Africa, you’ll be familiar with the argument that we need to help people there by lending a hand in developing business opportunities and skills training. Her book makes it very clear that now, more than ever, is the time for tractors, irrigation systems and seeds – not bags of food. That necessity is part of the inspiration behind introducing an innovation intersection for Kiva. In short, the opportunity for the brand is there: take an innovative idea and extend it to meet more needs, more experiences, more social relationships and more financial connections between everyone involved. The idea?

As a portal to connect people through lending for the sake of alleviating poverty, Kiva’s micro-financing model has transformed the way many Third World entrepreneurs do business. For social investors, however, the relationship with these entrepreneurs and the products and services they offer their communities can be disconnected and distant. Presented with a very brief business biography and engaged with entrepreneurs in little more than a quick transaction, few, if any, lenders truly understand the economics of the seamstress in Tajikistan, the lumber delivery woman in Peru or the rice farmer in Laos.

Kiva Tea Gallery bridges this distance between investor and entrepreneur by extending the relationship from lending to spending. Designed to create a greater engagement between the cultivators and consumers of tea as well as a deeper appreciation for its economics and gastronomics, this brand extension connects people across borders through sharing some of the experiences that surround tea and global tea cultures. Indexing the very best of old and new world Japanese architecture, retail experiences initially located in San Francisco, New York and London offer customers a series of curated tea products, services and entrepreneurial opportunities. Through its online interface, Kiva Tea Gallery opens the gateway to new tastes, wellness therapies, social experiences, global stories and business relationships that allow lenders to understand, experience and reap the rewards of their investment.

Case Study: Kiva Textiles
With the boom in DIY and the growing craft movement, Kiva Textiles could be a great addition to a newly revitalized industry. With Kiva, you become familiar with the people who are growing and harvesting your raw materials. What if this was possible for textiles such as fabrics, wool and other fibers? Now someone who sells there wares on a site such as etsy.com or supermarkethq.com could link to information about the person who made their product possible. It could also step back one link, and become a resource for the crafters themselves. Say you were a seamstress, you could link up with specific individuals who could create fabrics and patterns just for you, making it easy to find quality, ethical raw materials. This would result in a much more transparent business model. As a consumer, you would know everything about the product you are buying, start to finish.

Problem solving is what business strategists, human factor specialists, designers, engineers do. It is what they are, trained for, or should be, good at. At one time the basic problem solving skills all engineers needed were developed in school. Sadly it is no longer the case. A look at system show us why many students going in to university have had very little basic training in the process of problem solving: the “problems” set tend to be largely single step tests of knowledge of individual principles.  Not many undergraduates today have the confidence and mental structure available to say “I really don’t know how to solve this problem yet, but if I’m given some time to set about it systematically and logically think about it I think I can work it out”

Let’s take an everyday common example faced by people in all types of organizations – writing business cases. Should you write a case top down or bottom up? The top down approach works as a high level guesstimate of a final value in a case  – you take some high level numbers, run a back of the envelope calculation and voila, you’ve got about 80% of the answer with about 20% of the effort. The bottom up approach advocates a different tact – meticulously including detailed numbers to build the case from scratch. The optimal approach is really determined by a number of key factors.

1. Do the methods under consideration differ materially in the end result? Identify these differences up front and eliminate any of those that likely will not provide you with desired results.
2. Are the methods proven? Proven methods are not necessarily the best, but do provide comfort and stability.
3. Are you under time constraints? Some methods require more time than others. – it obviously takes longer to construct a bottom up approach vs. a top down approach. Choose the method that gets you to the final product on time.
4. What is your team makeup? If you’re working with others that have expertise in one method vs. another, it will make your process decision easier.
5. Who is your audience? Will you have to explain or follow some pre-determined method? If so, choosing one that is structured and easily comprehensible is an important consideration.
6. Is there an industry or organizational “accepted” practice to be considered? An accepted practice is not always the best one to choose, but will often be met with less resistance.