Innovators Don’t Ask
I’m usually a fan of focus groups, but not when it comes to introducing a cutting-edge idea or new product into the market. Focus groups might be a valid way to improve on an idea, or a help on choosing new features or services but they fail when they’re are asked to envision something completely new. This morning I read a comment on a blog that drove the point home:
I remember reading an article about the first-generation iPod and thinking, I can’t imagine ever needing one of these. Within two years, I had purchased one and I never went anywhere without it.
Can you imagine if Steve Jobs had decided to get validation from a focus group before building the first iPod? It would probably never have been built. I can see a room full of people and some market research guy trying to describe an iPod: “imagine you have this device the size of a card deck and in it you could have thousands of songs and blah, blah, blah. ” Oh, and can you see Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon.com trying to get a focus group to embrace his online behemoth concept? Most people cannot imagine a future; only after they experience it they change their perspective.
That’s why most entrepeneurs don’t spend a lot of time asking for validation. They spend their time and resources actually building and deploying their ideas. However, let me say that you can be successful and not be an innovator. I work with a lot of business that take a niche and explore it, that take a product and improve it, or that are good at marketing and selling products and services. But breakthrough companies are not afraid to spend resources on an idea before most people see its value.
Have you experienced true innovation lately?
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6 Comments:
I worked for a company that spent almost 50 thousands dollars on a study that killed a project. After months of working on this idea, it went away because of a focus group couldn't give us the big green light everyone needed to feel comfortable. We could have fund the product with that money and at least given it a chance to prove itself. I thought the whole process was a big waste.
April 8th, 2009 at 5:42 am
@Anonymous Did we work on the same project?
April 8th, 2009 at 5:43 am
I work for a newspaper that's about to go out of business. Talk about not understanding innovation and missing out on opportunities.
April 8th, 2009 at 6:01 am
I read a quote in the book "Founders at Work" that I'll paraphrase as "If your idea is good enough, you don't have to worry about people stealing it. If it's a great idea, you'll have to cram it down people's throats."I think that sounds appropriate. I'm sure focus groups are useful in certain situations, but it was market research that lead Coke to believe New Coke would be a smash hit. In blind taste tests, people genuinely preferred it. That turned out to be a disaster.
April 8th, 2009 at 6:41 am
I think you are exactly right.However, the other side of this coin is that most innovations fail. A big swing is a big risk. I think real innovators understand that and are prepared to accept it.
April 15th, 2009 at 3:27 am
@Lawrence,
You’re absolutely right. If failure is not an option, then innovation does not have a chance.
April 15th, 2009 at 5:39 pm