JOBS SEARCH TIPS

Forget, borrow,learn

Tuck School's Dr. Vijay Govindarajan, a world authority on innovation, has been touting what seems an epistemic paradox - forget,borrow and learn.

New innovations, be it creativity innovations, technology innovations, service innovation or inventions should first learn to forget as, forgetting is a prerequisite for learning.

Innovation, according to him is an experiment-and –learn process. He says that “When a company clings to established mindsets and assumptions—when it fails to forget—it cannot learn” and as a result fail in their innovations.

Take his case study of the New York Times attempts to transform itself from a traditional newspaper to its now successful online version. Its success was ensured when it was spun off and treated as a new entity.

Dr. Vijay Govindarajan, says there are lessons one can learn from the New York Times story.

“What NewCo must forget and learn are mindsets, assumptions and decision biases. On the other hand, what NewCo borrows is assets with concrete value – such as brands, manufacturing capacity, sales relationships or technical expertise.”

To be innovative an organisation should weigh what should be forgotten,learned and borrowed.

Disruptive innovation

Can companies use disruptive patterns to increase their chances of creating attractive-growth businesses?

Scott D. Anthony and Clayton M. Christensen say that by following the following five principles they can have their own disruptive success stories.

1. Look for the “job” that cant be adequately or affordably done.

To find growth opportunities, then, look for customers who are frustrated with their inability to get an important job done.

2. Remember that non consumers can be great customers.

Sometimes, the best target customers are those that lack the skills, wealth, access or time to consume existing products. Removing a barrier that constrains consumption can be the ticket to growth.

3. Don't let the pursuit of perfection crowd out the "good enough."

In the pursuit of perfection, companies often create over-engineered products that are complicated and expensive. The customer might prefer a simpler, cheaper solution with less performance.

4. Do what competitors don't want to do.

Generally, disrupters follow an approach that established market leaders consider unattractive or uninteresting. By doing so, the disrupter can turn a competitor's greatest asset into a liability.

5. Focus early activities around testing key assumptions.

When you are going in a new direction, pick an early point of learning and adjustment where you can invest a little, earn a little, learn a lot and adjust your strategy to wards success.



*Clayton M. Christensen is a professor at the Harvard Business School. Scott D. Anthony is the managing director of Innosight, a Watertown, Mass., innovation consulting firm founded by Christensen (www.innosight.com). The two co-authored Seeing What's Next (with Erik A. Roth).

* SOURCE : Forbes.com