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

Chapter 2. Step 1: Fixing the Faucet

STEP 1 ASKS THE MOST IMPORTANT QUESTION, SO WE SHALL spend a good deal of time on this step. But it represents a concept that is neither complex nor hard to implement in the end. It is a concept that arises in every form of business that has a “product.” The problem is that this concept very often gets lost when the day-to-day demands of operations dominate time and thinking.

Fixing Faucets

Our quest begins in the kitchen of an ordinary house—your house. That kitchen has a sink in it, and the sink has a faucet. That faucet has many attributes. It may be chrome or gold or bronze or white or any of several other colors. It may have two handles (one each for hot and cold), or it may have just one handle ...