Innovation tip - Flip the assumption
If you have been working at a job, involved in an organization or just been accustomed to a traditional way of doing things you may be in an innovative slump. In my business I hear a lot of assumptions for those I meet with in networking meetings, friends, family and potential clients. A fairly short list includes;
- Macs are good for graphics
- You need a top of the line expensive camera to take good photos
- Blogging is only about people writing about “nothing”
- You need expensive software to design a web site
- To make more money you need to work more hours
Those are just a few example of assumptions I hear every day and none of them are entirely true. Yes, Macs are great computers for graphics but what do you mean by graphics? Many people for some reason think you can’t run office productivity software on a Mac and not only is this not true you in fact have more choices! While it’s nice to have advanced camera equipment to have more choices and flexibility you can take stunning photos if you plan ahead, have proper lighting and smartly edit them. While a lot of “tire kickers” often blog about daily mundane thing more and more business people are using the technology as a way to update content on their web site, encourage repeat visitors to web site. You can design or rather put together a web site with as little as a free basic text editor like notepad in combination with a basic image editor. While you may get a bigger paycheck for working more hours you are not making the most efficient use of your time.
All this was brought to mind when reading an article called, What’s the Ultimate Creativity Killer? on Copyblogger.com in which the writer gave some quotes by very famous and influential people who were completely wrong in their assumptions such as;
“There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home.” ~Ken Olson, president and founder of Digital Equipment Corp., 1977
“We don’t like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out.” ~Decca Recording Co. rejecting the Beatles, 1962
“This ‘telephone’ has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. ~Western Union internal memo, 1876.
“What would I do? I’d shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders.” ~Michael Dell on Apple, 1997.
The lesson and tip of the day is don’t rest on your assumptions. The above quotes may sound crazy today but at the time they all may sense from a certain perspective. Western Union knew the telegraph was proven as opposed to the experimental telephone. As much as I love Apple products and think Michael Dell was crazy for saying such a thing I probably wouldn’t blink an eyes of somebody said something similar about another computer in financial trouble. Are you making assumptions about your business, marketing strategy, etc. Try this. Take those assumptions, turn them around and see what happens.
