Working in the industry we do, we see a great deal of disruption taking place in our business environment, and from working with some great and innovative clients, I can’t help but be inspired by what is happening. I regularly get a crazy idea that I can’t believe doesn’t already exist, or there must be a reason why no one else has done it yet. Often what stops us taking our ideas for new products and services to the next level is fear of risk, or not knowing what the “right” way of proceeding should be. This book addresses these concerns with “the innovator’s method”. The innovator’s method is a set of tools taken from lean start-up, design thinking, and agile development that are changing how new ideas are created, developed, and commercialised.
The Innovator’s Method, by Jeffrey H. Dyer and Nathan Furr, follows on from The Innovator’s DNA turning the framework for generating ideas into action and hopefully commercialisation. It fits in with the suite of Innovator’s books with the classic The Innovator’s Dilemma, and The Innovator’s Solution.
The tools are essential for anyone in business working on an innovative product, service, or process to manage the uncertainty via cheap and fast experiments to lower failure rates and minimise risk. They are difficult to adopt, because as I have seen in quite a few books I have read recently, we as managers have a hard time accepting tools that run counter to traditional thinking.
The book is very practical and based on modern and relevant examples from corporations and successful start-ups. It shows how & when to apply the tools to create, refine, then bring ideas to market, how to adapt them to your business, and how to address common questions that arise from using the method. Questions such as: Is the idea worth pursuing? Is it the right solution? What is the right business model? What problem is it solving for the end user? What will it be hired to do? The book details the process required: the spark of the idea, understand the customer’s problem, quickly develop “an awesome solution” to that problem, and create a business model that generates revenue and is scalable.
If you are launching a start-up or developing a new idea, process, product or service, I recommend this book. I also recommend it for any business manager as it serves to encourage creative thinking in looking at your business offering. Look out for some of our service ideas coming out soon!
