Larry Pendergrass

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Tenet of Innovation #5: Realize that innovation is not always customer driven

Some of the most spectacular innovations were not the result of carefully studied “voice of the customer” processes. Of course, for any business, it’s essential to keep listening to customers and to understand their needs, both spoken and unspoken, as well as to understand their applications, both current and future. But investing all of your resources in products within... More

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Tenet of Innovation #4: Accept that hierarchy and position are irrelevant and may be the enemy

Creation is more important than title. I give credit here to the company IDEO for demonstrating this on film better than any words can do. See the Nightline video . (This is Part 1 of the full version. Parts 2 and 3 are also found on YouTube.) See also The Art of Innovation: Lessons in Creativity from IDEO, America’s Leading Design Firm, by Tom Kelley, Crown Business, 2001. The video... More

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Tenet of Innovation #3: Realize that trust is a prerequisite for innovation

Fear kills risk-taking; trust releases it. Part of this principle has roots in the Pygmalion effect (also known as the Rosenthal Effect ) I discussed as part of the 10 Tenets of Leadership. Recall that this is a well-studied phenomenon by which our expectations of others drive how they view themselves and hence how they perform. The more faith we have in our employees to be innovative and... More

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Tenet of Innovation #2: Fail often; fail early

Innovation is discovery, in both our market and technology understanding. Failing often implies willingness and tolerance for this sometimes-painful discovery process. And we have talked about this to some degree in Tenet #1: Plan on failure; be delighted with success. But although we may expect failure, we wish to get to knowledge quickly, with rapid iterations, so we can make better... More

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Tenet of Innovation #1: Plan on failure; be delighted with success

Innovation is never without risk. In fact, it has become almost a basic premise of research and development that increased risk is a prerequisite to increased innovation. (This principle is at work in your personal financial investment portfolio just as it is in your product development portfolio. Just as you wish to have a balanced financial portfolio that represents a level of risk that... More