TEI 015: Using the 4 Lenses of Innovation – with Rowan Gibson

Global Product Management Talk is pleased to bring you episode 015
of... The Everyday Innovator with host Chad McAllister, PhD.
The podcast is all about helping people involved in developing and
managing products become more successful, grow their careers, and
STANDOUT from their peers. Our Guest: Rowan Gibson is a
best-selling author and sought after speaker. His latest book is
“The Four Lenses of Innovation.”  Earlier this year he
received the 2015 Global Leader of Innovation Award. Highlights
from the discussion include:  How do we come up with the
important insights that lead to breakthrough ideas? That is the
purpose of the “4 Lenses” – a focus on the front end of the fuzzy
front end.First Lens.  Challenging Orthodoxies, which is
questioning entrenched beliefs and assumptions and then exploring
new and unconventional answers. These are people who don’t want to
just play the game, they want to reinvent the game.Second Lens.
Harnessing Trends – recognizing the future potential of emerging
developments and leveraging those trends to open new opportunities.
Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, is a good example of “harnessing
trends” by seeing how the growth of internet usage would impact
commerce.Third Lens. Leveraging Resources, which involves
understanding our limitless capacity for redeploying skills and
assets in new ways, combinations, or contexts. Rowan shared that
Walt Disney, the person and the company, are good examples of
leveraging resources.Fourth Lens. Understanding Needs – paying
attention to issues and frustrations others have ignored and
experimenting with new solutions to problems. A way to identify
unmet needs is to ask what is wrong with a product or service from
the perspective of a customer.