Prototyping Your Way To Innovation
While reading my books on IDEO I am constantly reminded of how important prototyping is to innovation process. Prototyping takes on a far more general meaning in a culture of innovation. It doesn’t refer only to the first draft of a new product - it could be anything from a new process to a new philosophy.
In my line of work the word ’strawman’ has a similar meaning but carries a bit of a more negative connotation. A strawman is something to be ‘knocked down,’ something to be beaten up and replaced with a better version. A prototype is better than that - a concept that represents the best current understanding of the task at hand, something to go forward with and tweak as we go along. One of my challenges moving forward is to replace the concept of ’strawman’ with the concept of ‘prototype.’
The prototyping philosophy seems to me to be an effective model for doing a lot of things. Instead of trying to sell a new end to end process, introduce it as a ‘prototype’ of the process that will likely require revision during implementation. Immediately you eliminate the perception that it will work exactly as planned. You’re going to put it in place, get it working, and monitor it to see what changes need to be made. Eventually you’ll have a finished product that represents an improved version of the prototype.
The primary benefit of adopting a prototyping philosophy, in my way of thinking, is that it eliminates the perception of failure. In some lines of business people propose ideas and changes that don’t work as planned, and are beaten down for it. They become gunshy. Prototyping changes expectations as the very word suggests future revision and improvement.
The outcome of an IDEO brainstorming session is a prototype. The goal of any ideation process is similarly a prototype, be it for a new product or process, an organizational revision, a strategic plan, or a set of solutions to a problem. It represents the best effort of the group, given their collective understanding of the goal. It is subject to revision as new information is acquired.
Got a problem? Find the brainpower, brainstorm a solution set, build a prototype, and put it to work.
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[...] Brand, Innovation, Creativity, Facilitation, Business. trackback Hello, kiddies. A while back I posted on the benefits of prototyping - creating a model product, process, procedure or solution based on the best information at hand, [...]