Blog | futurethinktank

Anticipate change. Activate innovation.

Innovation QuickWin: Re: THINK

This Innovation QuickWin is designed to help teams reverse the assumptions that they have around existing products or services and get them out of the mindset of what can’t happen and start to think about what can.

Next time, before a brainstorm, try this as a warm-up exercise. Get people into a room and maybe pair them up in teams of two or three. Give them everyday objects that they interact with all the time e.g. a paperclip, or a pair of scissors, or a marker; you get the idea.

Give them this challenge: let them know that the R&D group has just presented them with this new product and that it’s their job in the next 10 minutes to name it, come up with its benefits, and the audience that they would sell it to.

You’ll be amazed with what they come up with for everyday objects. We’ve had teams name a pair of scissors “The Budget Cutter,” and you could imagine whom they would sell it to. Other teams came up with the name “Kid Clips," which is a new jewelry business they designed based on paperclips.

For this tip and others, visit our website futurethink.com and check out our library of resources and tools, the largest in the world, to help you start innovating better.

By Lisa Bodell on January 5, 2012 at 4:25pm |

Comments

Submitted by Herrmann (not verified) on February 7, 2012 - 4:59am.

[...] is seitommes unsustainable using the “invent-it-ourselves” model, what I’ve previously termed self-oriented innovation. In addition, it seems reasonable that open innovation gains in strategic business importance to [...]

Post new comment

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.

Client Quotes

  • “futurethink's research and 'how-to' tools have been essential to building our innovation program.”
    Cindy Morgan, Innovation Manager, New England Federal Credit Union New England Federal Credit Union
  • “If you don't make innovation a strategic part of your business plan and you don't drive that into the culture, I don't think you'll have a strong innovation pipeline.”
    Mark Hausfeld, Innovation Manager, Global Business Services, Procter & Gamble Procter & Gamble
  • “If you don't innovate, be creative and look to the future and the possibilities of what will evolve over time, you will cease to be relevant.”
    Randy Voss, Senior Manager, Global Strategy & Business Development, Whirlpool Whirlpool
  • “futurethink made the topic of innovation, which means different things to different people, real, meaningful, and actionable.”
    Steven Rubinow, Chief Information Officer, NYSE Euronext NYSE Euronext Logo
  • “Working with futurethink was a very rewarding experience for our team. They brought a great combination of provocative outside ideas, market perspective and a program design that challenged us to think of our own business in more innovative ways.”
    Jim Daly, Vice President of Human Resources, Standard & Poor's Standard & Poor's
  • “futurethink's sessions included excellent examples and energizing exercises that brought innovation to life. They got us to look at our business with new eyes.”
    Joan P. Lawrence-Ross, Chief Learning Officer, AXA
  • “The futurethink team did an outstanding job in designing and facilitating an innovation event for our senior leaders, many of who regarded this as the best innovation workshop that they had ever been a part of. I would recommend futurethink to any organization that is looking for clear and actionable pathways to Innovation.”
    Wayne Pethrick, Director, Marketing and Consumer Insights, Pitney Bowes Pitney Bowes
  • “futurethink made my leadership team think in new ways and helped us develop winning business ideas right in the room. My team now embraces innovation rather than fearing it.”
    Mary Fennoglio, Managing Director, Citigroup Corporate Investment Bank Citigroup
  • “Innovation is deliberate, if done well. There is a science and process to it. futurethink has done their homework to provide a wealth of practical knowledge to their customers.”
    Senior Vice President of Innovation, Wells Fargo Wells Fargo
  • “futurethink is always thinking ahead about learning and 'innovate' it before we ask! Their programs have been a huge success with our teams.”
    Director of Learning & Development, Sunovion Pharmaceuticals Sonovian Pharmaceuticals
  • “The futurethink workshop not only provided an incredible jolt of energy to our collective innovation efforts and established the common understanding of innovation concepts, but it was also a wonderful team-building event. I don’t think it could have been organized and conducted any better.”
    Michael Ripa, Manager, FRI Infomatics
  • “futurethink is enabling us to build critical innovation skills and share best practices across our global organization.”
    Jeff Honious, Vice President of Innovation, Reed Elsevier Reed Elsevier
  • “futurethink's proven methodology, research, and tools help ensure we're always ready to meet the evolving public service challenges of tomorrow.”
    Sandy Stosz, Rear Admiral, United States Coast Guard United States Coast Guard
  • “Any innovative company must develop processes for understanding and responding to consumer needs in a very focused way. Otherwise, they're just inventors, they're not necessarily innovators.”
    Tony Tomazic, Director of Consumer Innovations, Humana Humana
  • “We need to look beyond our organization's walls to innovate.”
    Mehmoon Khan, Global Leader, Innovation Process Development, Unilever Unilever
  • “futurethink is the innovation expert. They fine-tune their training to our clients' needs. I'm constantly looking for new opportunities to engage them in our work.”
    Brian Weberg, Director, National Conference of State Legislatures