Have you ever thought about why is Apple so successful? How is it possible that they remain the innovation leaders for so long? Is it even possible to beat Apple?

The answer is yes.

If we look on the market Apple is producing high quality products accompanied by perfect customer services. This is why people love them. They are remaining the innovation leaders because they look for disruptive innovation. But they also concentrate just on a part of the customer segment and on sustaining innovation. Thereby they allow other market player to enter the market with their lower cost products that are sometimes even better, when it comes to the hardware, than Apple.

After all Apple isn’t as innovative as it was 20 years ago. Their products are not miles upfront others, they are just a few steps, but it is enough to reach to the customers and to be the technology and innovation leader.

I always liked to take pictures and so my hobby turned into a bigger hobby. And this bigger hobby needs little more equipment than just a phone camera. I love to buy my camera stuff in one particular shop in a center of Prag. It is one of the largest stores in the Czech Republic for cameras and equipment. I like this store for one particular reason: there are people that share the same interest in photography, mechanisms of the cameras and most importantly in taking pictures.

Most of the time I know from the beginning what I want to buy, but sometimes I just go inside to see what there is. I like to take a look on the different products and read their specifications.

Below you can see my simple outline of my customer journey in this shop.

How do we and up to be winners?

Well there is nothing that important than persistence. Persistence of your doing, of your trying and of your learning. You have to step out of your comfort zone and start doing things. I am sure you have heard that before – but here are some additional mindsets to achieve even bigger goals.

Aim high and you won’t shoot your foot off.

Phyllis Diller

If you have higher expectations than you also try harder and you will eventually become more successful that those that aim lower. It is logical, because if you know that you have to achieve a high goal, you do everything to make it true. If you have low expectations of yourself, then you will eventually end up achieving these lower goals. The important thing is not to become frustrated that you haven’t achieved the higher goal. Be persistent. Try it again.

Aim for the sky, but move slowly, enjoying every step along the way. It is all those little steps that make the journey complete.

Chanda Kochhar

Smaller steps are better that one big. It is all about getting satisfaction from what you are doing. It takes less time to get a small part of a picture done, than to paint whole one. If you divide your work in smaller parts you can easily track your progress and get satisfactions out of it. So aim high in small parts.

Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships.

Michael Jordan

Work with others. Divide your responsibillities.

In a class of Innovation and Creativity we did an exercise – each team had 12 straws. The goal was to build as big tower as possible from those straws. At first, we had to guess how big it will be – many said 1,5 meters, 2 m maximal. But we aimed high – 3m. It was a big number, a high target to achieve, but not unrealistic one. Then there were some games we could win additional 5 straws and 1m of a tape. At first, we all played the mind games, but later 2 of us concentrated on building the tower and the others on solving those puzzles. That’s why we were able to gain many points from the game and build the highest tower. Persistence, work division, high expectations and teamwork. That´s how you win.

Thanks for reading my blog. If you have any thoughts you want to share, please feel free to contact me.

DV

Problem solving process involving creativity – that´s Design Thinking.

When talking about solutions and innovations, there is one must question: “what is the need?“. In Design Thinking process we try to understand the problems and needs of the customers to be able to offer a creative solution. Therefore we put the human into the middle of our solving.

I have prepared a Design Thinking Checklist for you, so that you don’t miss anything (download PDF):

Don’t forget to ask as many questions as possible. Don’t defend your product too much – try to find out what your customer does not understand, what he wishes.

Also do not forget that your product must be viable and feasible.

Hope I could help you guy´s. If you want to find more about design thinking go check the masters in the design-thinking form Stanford.

What strategy did Elisabeth Holmes used and how did she managed to get with her lies so far? Can we use her strategy somehow?

There are many ways to achieve success in the world of startups, one of them is the “fake it till you make it”. Elizabeth Holmes gave this strategy new dimension. She had the ability to reach out to powerful people with contacts and great social status, in order to convince more investors and protect her vision. This was possible just due to her ambition and determination. Her vision was revolutionary, but it wasn’t the only factor making her startup so successful. She aimed her campaign on different social groups, all her posts on the internet, all the discussions on the television were perfectly designed to make us feel special emotions like empathy, need, trust. These can be investigated by different methods of creative thinking and innovation management – for example design thinking, bench marking, empathy maps.

Most of all she used “fake it till you make it”. She isn’t the only one doing so – successful companies such as Uber, Tesla, wework are applying this method. This method is used mostly by innovative, revolutionary companies, that need time to develop their products and to find the technology needed. She went too far. This strategy is only good if your product is feasible, you have the viability in the business and the right people (desirability).

Watching interviews with her made me feel controlled – she had all her answers fully under control. Even her voice – she pitched it lower, because as the behavior psychologists say, lower-pitched voices evoke trust and confidence. She did not hesitate to lie about her non-success. She was convinced that it is the right way to continue lying and trying to develop her product at all costs. Her person was a very good combination of knowledge (on what the problem is and does she want to solve it), skills (like pitching and storytelling) and attitude (determined, having everything under control). There is very much good things what we can learn from her. For example how to find powerful people and convince them. How to develop our marketing and business strategy.

Most of the innovation methods can be learned, so if you are interested in how to get more creative, or how to develop a new strategy/ innovation, stay focused on the next posts.

This is the ultimate cheat sheet on how to win a creativity to innovation game.

There are some games you can play to evolve your creative thinking and to find the difference between these two. The one I’ve played consisted of four rounds in which we (the creators) were asked to draw some pictures into a circles printed on the paper. No further instructions, just one minute time. This was the phase of creativity – just draw whatever you like.

As a next step the observers counted our points and the buyers bought (took) some of our pictures they liked.

As the rounds developed, we got more rules and instructions. Additionally, we were able to purchase more information about our customers. This is when the innovation thinking comes to the front – we are no longer drawing random pictures, we are trying to solve the problem of our customer. In the end all points were counted depending on our creativity and satisfaction of customers needs.

So how do we win such a game?

1. Quantity is the name of the game

You draw as many pictures as possible – as long no rules are applied on how should these pictures look like. Later in the game your do the same, but with consentration on the customers needs.

2. Know your customer

Find out who your customer is and what problems does he have. Knowing him helps you think about products that can satisfy him – this is the phase where you do design thinking, it is still creative part, but it gets more innovation oriented.

3. Find what your customer needs

This is the most important thing in the whole game – and a game changer. If you have the opportunity to ask your customer what he wants, do so. There is nothing better in this game than developing a product fitting your customer needs. It is also the way to win the whole game.

To sum it up.

If you want to win a game like “from creativity to innovation” you first concentrate on the quantity of different products, and getting to know your customer. Then you start developing things you think your customer could use. And finally – knowing exact customer needs – you try to offer him the best quality product.

I wish you guys best luck and stay tuned for my next posts.

Last night before the exam? Still not ready? Still not able to memorize formulas for chemistry or definitions in economics? What next?

From where I sit you have three options:

1. fail the exam, which is not the best way of dealing with your problem
2. learn hard and try your best, or
3. make yourself a “cheat sheet”

A cheat sheet is mostly a small conclusion of most important information of some topic. It can help you memorize your topic even better and structure your knowledge.

Example of a cheat sheet.

Let´s take look on how to make one:

1. take a small piece of paper and a narrow pen
2. check your whole topic for most important information
3. write the most valued information as narrow as possible on the piece of paper, thereby divide your notes into clear structure, so that you are well oriented
4. add helpful charts and graphics to memorize the topic even better
5. read the paper through and make corrections

that´s it. Now its in your hands – just read it few times through and your exam should go well. Why?

Cheat sheets can significantly reduce the stress before exams (a) because, if they are handwritten, they provide a structured knowledge. By scanning the topic we are forced to find the facts in the text and thereby we learn it. Additionally, writing the facts down helps our brain to memorize the topic. That´s why it is recommended to make an own sheet other than to print out some from the internet.

From my own experience – a cheat sheet is always helpful. It is like taking notes in the class, just instead of professor you get a book.

I would not recommend cheating on the exams, because this is too risky – or are willing to risk your career just for one exam?

If you are more interested in why and how does the learning with the cheat sheet work, make sure to subscribe and stay ready for my next post.

Thank´s

DV

Sources:

(a) Brigitte Erbe, “Reducing Test Anxiety While Increasing Learning: The Cheat Sheet, College Teaching 55, no. 3 (2007): 96-98, DOI: 10.3200/CTCH.55.3.96-98

Hi everyone, I am David. I started this blog to share my new experiences and knowledge with you, so that you can gain information about new technologies, ideas and innovations of the future.