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Something Really New: Three Simple Steps to Creating Truly Innovative Products

Something Really New: Three Simple Steps to Creating Truly Innovative Products

by Denis J. Hauptly
Publisher: AMACOM
Release Date: November 2007
ISBN: 9780814400326
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Book Description

Product innovation is the key to business growth. But many books deal with innovation from the business process view alone, or confuse innovation with creativity. Written by an innovation expert whose products generate more than one billion dollars in annual revenue,

Something Really New

introduces a straightforward but powerful framework for creating exciting new product and service concepts . . . simply by asking three essential questions.

From an electronic hotel kiosk that provides return airline boarding passes for guests, to something as mundane as the evolution of the toaster, the book provides entertaining, illuminating examples that show how to determine what customer needs aren’t being met, using simple methods to arrive at revolutionary conclusions. For example, "What is a product really used for?" The question may seem elementary, but the right answer is far from obvious. This and other key questions demonstrate how readers can move beyond mere market research to get to the root of real innovation. Practical and eye-opening, this book shows companies how to take the kind of startling leaps that will leave their competition in the dust.

Table of Contents

  1. Copyright
    1. Dedication
  2. Acknowledgments
  3. Introduction: Let’s Get Started
  4. 1. Three Simple Steps to Innovation
    1. 1. Money Is the Root of All Innovation
      1. Innovation and the Bottom Line
      2. Innovation and Customer Perception
    2. 2. Step 1: Fixing the Faucet
      1. Fixing Faucets
      2. The Faucet Problem
        1. Go
      3. Getting Down to Tasks
      4. Finding the Task Underneath the Function
      5. Innovation Workouts
      6. Innovation Workout 1: Opening a New Window
    3. 3. But First You Have to Ask the Right Question
      1. Getting to the Right Question
      2. Finding the Right Answers
        1. Obviousness
        2. Observation
      3. Checking Your Answer
    4. 4. Mutation or Innovation?
      1. How Do You Know It’s a Mutant?
        1. Appearance
        2. Novelty
        3. Utility
      2. Just How Innovative Is This Concept?
      3. Net Utility
    5. 5. Step 2: Making Life Simpler
      1. Some Really Smart Ideas
      2. A Focus on Efficiency
      3. Applying Net Utility
      4. Reinventing the Picture Hanger
        1. Go
      5. A Quick Recap
      6. Innovation Workout 2: It’s Midnight on Christmas Eve
    6. 6. Making Innovation Happen
      1. Process
      2. Culture
    7. 7. Step 3: Taking It to the Next Level
      1. The Promised Land
      2. Contiguity, Loose Linking, and Leveraging
      3. Linking Tasks and Changing Business Models
      4. Innovation Workout: Your Midterm Exam
    8. 8. Spotlight on Services
      1. Services and Tasks
      2. Simplifying Services
      3. Joining Adjacent Services
    9. 9. Putting All the Pieces Together
      1. Part 1: Gather the Facts
      2. Part 2: Answer the Question in Step 1
      3. Part 3: Answer the Question in Step 2
      4. Part 4: Validate Product Concepts Through Net Utility
      5. Part 5: Answer the Question in Step 3
      6. Part 6: Product Approval
      7. The Short Guide to Innovation
        1. Part 1: Gather the Facts
        2. Part 2: Answer the Question in Step 1
        3. Part 3: Answer the Question in Step 2
        4. Part 4: Validate Product Concepts Through Net Utility
        5. Part 5: Answer the Question in Step 3
        6. Part 6: Product Approval
  5. 2. The Context of Innovation: People, Management, and Organization
    1. 10. The Human Factor
      1. Teaching Innovation
      2. Innovators in Name Only
        1. The Ladder Climber
        2. The True Believer
        3. Recyclers
    2. 11. Beating the Bureaucrats
      1. Creating a Culture of Innovation
      2. Managing Innovators
      3. Who Owns Product Innovation?
    3. 12. Straightening Out the Rest of the Company
      1. Business Case Approval
      2. Building the Product
      3. Sales and Marketing
  6. A. Sample Answers to Innovation Workout 3
  7. B. More Innovation Workouts
    1. The Case of the Abandoned Shopping Carts
    2. Sample Answer for the Shopping Cart Problem
    3. Making the Bed
    4. Sample Answer for the Bed-Making Problem
    5. The Dry-Cleaning Problem
    6. Sample Answer to the Dry Cleaning Problem
    7. The Buying a Car Problem
    8. Sample Solution to the Buying a Car Problem
    9. Going to the Airport
    10. Sample Answer for Going to the Airport
    11. Is This Any Way to Run a Restaurant?
    12. Sample Answer to the Restaurant Problem
    13. The Lost Baggage Problem
    14. Where Do I Put My Glasses?
  8. Suggested Reading
    1. Elaine Dundon
    2. Andrew Hargadon
    3. Thomas Kelley
    4. Michel Robert
    5. Evan Schwartz
    6. Anthony Ulwick
    7. Craig Vogel
  9. Notes
    1. Part 1
    2. Chapter 1
    3. Chapter 2
    4. Chapter 3
    5. Chapter 4
    6. Chapter 5
    7. Chapter 7
    8. Chapter 8
    9. Appendix B
  10. About the Author