Innova block IICInvestigación, desarrollo e innovación |
rugal innovation takes advantage of available resources, but it doesn’t just put them to use in an obvious way. Materials, skills, and tools are combined in creative and surprising ways. Like the bespoke character in MacGyver, a frugal innovator pulls together whatever is at hand to get the job done.
Would you buy the record or a sandwich if you were down to your last dollar? This question was the final test for any new song at Motown – The music production company that has been producing hit records for over fifty years.
One of the essential steps to successful frugal innovation — and providing benefits that are otherwise too costly — is focusing on what’s really essential. Determining what is “essential” goes beyond providing goods manufactured with the cheapest materials. There are always trade-offs. In the U.S., back when AT&T had a telephone monopoly, they provided users with rugged, relatively expensive phones. The purpose was to avoid the expense of service calls since customers did not pay for these. (Many of the first phones made available after the company’s breakup had more functions, but were much more fragile.)
Lanzar una innovación es un ejercicio de persuasión. Rara vez se puede llevar una idea al mercado sin ayuda (y, aunque así fuera, las innovaciones no se venden solas).
A lo largo del camino, el innovador necesita socios que le proporcionen acceso, apoyo económico, críticas, ideas, aptitudes, esfuerzo y perspectivas. Pero pensad en el reto.
En mi última entrada en el blog, “Saving Innovation” (“Al rescate de la innovación”) escribí sobre dar rienda suelta al potencial creativo que se encuentra bloqueado, marginado y reprimido dentro de las grandes organizaciones. Una de las claves es lo que vine a denominar “imaginación práctica”.