Thoughts on a Theory of Innovation

Posted on May 3, 2013 by Gary R Schirr

Do you have thoughts about a theory of Innovation?

Over the past 50 years, researchers have learned a lot about innovation, including:

  • Classifications: there is incremental, innovative, radical and also disruptive innovation,
  • Collaboration: Innovation should be open and collaborative with suppliers or outsiders, 
  • Customer or user collaboration is especially effective (VOC, Lead Users, Co-creation),
  • Another form of collaboration is to bring a product (minimum viable?) to market and learn real-time from market reaction (experiment, probe and learn, lean innovation or effectuation)
  • Product innovation and process innovation are not easily separated in services, and most product now have a major service component,
  • A formal innovation process seems to help incremental innovation but may inhibit, radical or disruptive innovation and may also hinder organizational learning.

But what would be the central theory or theories of innovation?

I see three key pieces of innovation:

  1. Discovery or recognition of a solution to a customer problem or need,
  2. Evaluating the potential of a solution (regardless of source), and
  3. Orchestrating a collaborative effort to bring the solution to market.

The last two pieces match famous Steve Jobs observations:

  • Good artists copy; great artists steal.
  • Real artists ship.

Why am I asking for your help today?

Suppose that you volunteered to talk for 10 minutes to a conference about my thoughts on a theory of innovation… And suppose you realized that the audience would include:

  • Innovative leaders from several industries,
  • The former and current editors of the leading academic journal of innovation,
  • Leading academic researchers, including the authors of Serial Innovators, Will and Vision, “Voice of the Customer”, and other key innovation books and articles.

Wouldn’t YOU be asking everyone for their thoughts?? So…

Do you have thoughts about a theory of Innovation?

Posted in Customer Research Methods, effectuation, experiential innovation, Experiment, Innovation education, Process Innovation, Slow Burn Entrepreneurship, Stage-Gate® | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

Web Credulity

Posted on April 24, 2013 by Gary R Schirr

Do you believe everything you read on the Web or see posted, tweeted or pinned on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest?

Yesterday on my Facebook feed there was a serious discussion of an article from the Daily Currant claiming that Sarah Palin had advocated invading the Czech Republic to thwart radical Islam in Chechnya.

Of course the article was a fictional satire, which would seem obvious from:

  1. A cursory reading of the article,
  2. The article being in a publication which describes itself as political satire, or
  3. Even the name of the publication – isn’t a currant a tasteless raisin?

Yet some web-savvy Facebook friends and acquaintances were seriously discussing what their European friends and the rest of the world would think… (The thread has been removed, so don’t bother trying to find the conversation…)

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Posted in Content, internet, Social influence, Social Media | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Teaching SMM – METRICS #6 ROI of Social Media

Posted on April 22, 2013 by Gary R Schirr

Note: This is a continuing excerpt from what I teach my social media marketing classes on introduction to metrics and measurement…

Calculating the ROI of Social Media

In five previous posts the importance of measuring social media efforts and a broad array of metrics tied to social media activity have been discussed. All of these measures can potentially have value to assessing what is currently going on in the SM effort and trends for the organization’s social media presence. But what is the bottom line? What is the ROI of social media? As discussed in the next and final chapter of this text, organizational goals and objectives will be set based on the organization’s mission and strategy. Therefore the goals and measures used by different organizations will differ. In this section some of the possible return on investment or success metrics for a social media campaign will be discussed.

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How should you Tweet during a Tragedy??

Posted on April 18, 2013 by Gary R Schirr

My first attempt at using Storify:

http://sfy.co/dHK4

(I failed at inserting the post into my WordPress blog…)

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Teaching SMM #5 – METRICS Monitoring and Listening

Posted on April 15, 2013 by Gary R Schirr

Note: This is a continuing excerpt from what I teach my social media marketing classes on introduction to metrics and measurement…

Monitoring and Listening to Online Conversations

There is an incredible amount of information, discussion, and “content” being created and posted on the web every day. Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt was quoted in 2010: “There was five exabytes of information created between the dawn of civilization through 2003, but that much information is now created every two days, and the pace is increasing.” Even though Schmidt may have exaggerated a bit—the exact figures are subject to some debate (Finley 2011), there is no doubt that we are living through an information and knowledge explosion. As noted several times, social media marketing is commonly referred to as “word of mouth on steriods.” Key metrics of social media efforts should logically include what is being said about an organization in social media or other online conversations.

Monitoring the Conversation

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Posted in Klout, Social influence, Social Media, social media marketing | Leave a comment

Teaching SMM – METRICS #4 Influence Scores

Posted on April 11, 2013 by Gary R Schirr

Note: This is a continuing excerpt from what I teach my social media marketing classes on introduction to metrics and measurement…

Influence Scores: Interactivity, Performance or Nothing?

At the time of this writing, the growing influence of influence measures has generated considerable controversy. There are stories of otherwise qualified candidates allegedly turned down for jobs because their Klout™ or PeerIndex scores were less than 90th percentile level. Mark Schaefer (2012, p. 1) begins his book on influence measures with a story of a marketing expert who was turned down for a job because of a Klout score of 45. After a “tweeting rampage” to game the system, his Klout score reached 70 and he started received unsolicited job inquiries. Some applicants with high Klout scores have begun including the scores on resumes. This raises a fairness issue: Should people be evaluated for jobs and special marketing offers based on an ambiguous score generated by a secret algorithm?

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Posted in Social influence, Social Media, social media marketing, Teaching SMM, Text | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

#soslam: Great Talks! Live Networking!

Posted on April 8, 2013 by Gary R Schirr

Last year I spoke at Social Slam; this year I was an attendee-only, but it was still a real high! What makes this event so special? The presentations are excellent and motivating. Attendees have the opportunity to speak with social media luminaries, online friends they have never met in person before, and other people just as enthusiastic as they are about social media.

I think of the old Miller Lite commercials… Visualize the large crowd in a full session yelling: Great Talks! Switch the camera to the crowds at the TweetUp or after party who shout: Live Networking! …. Great Talks! Live Networking!!

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Posted in Blogging, Content, Klout, Social Media, social media marketing, twitter | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Smartphones make us rude…and stupid!

Posted on April 4, 2013 by Gary R Schirr

RUDE

I have heard smartphones referred to as “rudephones.” They certainly have coarsened behavior in the non-virtual world. Who hasn’t been stuck in a line behind someone telling the cashier to “wait a moment?” while they finish messaging or talking? Or been cutoff by a minivan or truck driving who seems to be texting while driving?

I know of a preschool that sent a note to parents saying that “The high point of your child’s day is when you pick them up after school. Please do not be staring at a screen or talking when they first see you. We will not release children to a parent who is using their phone.”

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Posted in Higher Education, internet, Mobile computing, Social Media, social media marketing, Teaching SMM | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Is Facebook about to be DISRUPTED?

Posted on April 2, 2013 by Gary R Schirr

The Wall Street Journal had an article about the growth of messaging apps and how their use threatened both Facebook and the mobile providers. Users spending hours a day messaging with friends are not using cellphone minutes or viewing Facebook ads. The threat is not just hypothetical – a study shows that mobile apps are already more used than either Facebook or Twitter in Japan and Korea.

Many observers including my friend Mark Schaefer believe that the size of the Facebook network and its value (“network effect”) make Facebook virtually invulnerable. I suspect, though, that Facebook is vulnerable to disruptive innovation….

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Posted in innovation, Mobile computing, Social Media | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Teaching SMM – METRICS #3 Measuring Influence: Art or Science?

Posted on March 29, 2013 by Gary R Schirr

Note: This is a continuing excerpt from what I teach my social media marketing classes on introduction to metrics and measurement…

Measuring Influence: Art or Science?

Wouldn’t it be great if an organization could identify people who were highly influential to their prospective users and customers and reach out specifically to them? This could be the key to “Word of mouth on Steroids.” Marketers have struggled for years with the idea of influence over prospects in choosing spokespersons and endorsers of products. Celebrity endorsers are measured with a Q-score, a metric that combines public awareness of the celebrity and the appeal of the celebrity. The Q-score is often considered a measure of likeability. However for many products and services, the endorser’s likeability is not enough; source credibility is also important. Source credibility[i] is seen as vital for products that are major purchases or perceived as complex. Source credibility, as usually measured, comprises expertise and trustworthiness; the spokesperson would be likely to know and understand the product or service and be telling the truth about it.(Hovland and Weiss 1951)

Multiple services are trying to measure the “influence” of social media participants.

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Posted in Social influence, social media marketing, Teaching SMM, Text | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment