We have dedicated ourselves to our passion for creativity, ideation and innovation for many years. The difficult challenge of finding good ideas and implementing them successfully is something we have been able to examine very closely in actual practice from two key sides of the innovation development process. For many teams Benno was and remains a trainer and innovation coach, someone who thinks outside the box and inspires new ideas. Tamer works on the industry side and in his roles as executive, project manager and consultant has accompanied numerous successful innovation development projects from ideation to global distribution. We met in 2011 at an “Open Innovation Day” hosted by SKZ, where we had both been asked to speak. We quickly discovered that our treasure trove of experiences not only complimented one another perfectly, but that combined, they could lead to exciting new approaches.
Our deliberations resulted in the birth of our method of “innovation digging”. The success and potential of this method became apparent during our first practical seminars at the very moment we presented the parallels between the world of archeology and professional treasure hunters. The understanding this gave the participants also gave wings to their imaginations – and that motivated us to write this book. Our illustrator, Susanne Ferrari contributed the wonderful images and graphics to the book you now hold in your hands. We are very excited to hear your feedback and especially look forward to hearing about your own experiences with innovation digging, as well as the ideas you have come up with that compliment the process. We kindly invite you to join us in an adventure dig in the valley of hidden search fields.
Benno van Aerssen
Tamer Kemeröz
Figure 1 – A Typical Search Area for Ideas and Innovation But Where Is the Treasure Trove of Ideas? Where Should We Start Our Search?
The biggest questions in regard to ideas and innovation are almost always: Where do we even start the search for new ideas and what is the best way to start the search? and How can we find ideas that no one else has found? – See Figure 1
The good news is: Most good ideas are basically just lying in wait to be discovered, right inside your employees’ and teams’ minds and desk drawers. The right inspiration and focus can pave the way for those ideas to become a reality.
Innovation digging performed with maximum motivation and creativity sets these ideas free, releasing them into the value creation process, but without ending up in an uncontrollable creative Sodom and Gomorrah.
Key phrase 1 – Innovation digging is the first systematic management method for a strategic and controllable bundling of creative forces, through which hidden search areas can be found, thereby verifiably and frequently increasing the probability that value-adding, relevant ideas and innovations will be discovered.
In innovation digging it does not matter whether your team is experienced in, e.g. creativity techniques (innovation digging is not a creativity technique!) or not, or whether it considers itself highly innovative or not. Your team can organize the innovation digging perfectly and can find hunting grounds for ideas that no one has conceived before. Innovation digging saves your team from being at a complete loss. – See Figure 2.
Figure 2 – Any Form of Innovation Search Will Be Difficult for Your Team without a Plan or a Common Understanding!
e have accompanied and observed teams searching for new ideas for real innovation for many years. These teams can quickly be divided into two groups – those who are successful and those who are on an eternal search.
However, when watching the two groups perform their searches, the differences in their actions may not be immediately apparent. Both use, e.g. creativity techniques, both try to think out of the box, both search for creative locations, and so on and so forth.
It is only upon closer examination that you can begin to detect a tiny, yet decisive difference, which is the biggest secret of the successful:
Key phrase 2 – 1. Successful teams know where they want to search for ideas, yet they also know where they have never searched before.
Key phrase 3 – 2. Successful teams agree on a specific search field in advance and enter into a team commitment for their collective search.
You could also say they are familiar with their territory and proceed with direction, focus and efficacy in a single search location! – (See Figure: 3).
Once we became aware of this situation and took a closer look at it, we quickly saw many similarities to archeological digs.
Figure 3 – Successful Teams Enter into a Commitment to the Collective, Bundled Search
Why, for example, are professional treasure hunters and archeologists more successful than hobbyists who go it alone? – Because they have a plan! – (See Figure: 4).
Successful archeology teams and professional treasure hunters also have an excellent knowledge of the characteristics of their search locations and the systematic development of those areas.
They are very familiar with their own horizon, are aware of the ambivalence of recommended search locations, are always pleased with accidental search locations and dedicate all of their combined team energy exclusively to the systematic search for precious hidden search locations!
Key phrase 4 – What lies at the core of successful innovation digging is a revolutionary combination of two methods that are easy to employ: The “search field analysis” and the “blind spot” method of prospecting.
This mix of methods renders the ideation performed in innovation digging much more efficient, due in part to the fact that innovation digging is compatible with all known creativity techniques currently used in ideation. These methods are then applied in a subsequent third step and the application of them is particularly effective and successful.
This book will present the headstand technique as an example that is representative of other creativity techniques. The technique is an exceptionally resourceful creativity technique that guarantees success, especially for teams with little or no experience.
Figure 4 – A Coffee Machine Manufacturer’s Search Field Matrix (Planum)
osses and the managers under them have most likely experienced the following situation themselves. Based on key figures or market analyses or simply business instinct, you give your team the following, rather vague order: “This year, we should look for ideas for new products and new fields of application for our current products.”
In our treasure hunter camp, this means everyone should grab their own shovel, disperse across the area and then randomly start digging in the hope of finding the next grand idea. However, at the end of the day when everyone returns to camp, almost no one will have found anything, or maybe one or two will have found a bit of something. In response to the question of where exactly that “bit” was found comes the answer “somewhere over there”.
This process is repeated day after day until the idea/treasure hunters grow frustrated and quit without having produced any results and everyone is of the opinion that not only are creativity and ideation unsuccessful, they are unreasonable and certainly not economic!
In a certain sense, innovation digging helps you span the string professional archeologists use to map out their search area, thereby creating search fields their team can work through systematically.
You can seek out advice on which search fields to select, expand your search terrain whenever necessary or you can gather everyone together in specific search field to better focus your ideas.
The “planum” (a term used in archeology), a big map of your search fields, hangs on the wall of the tent in your camp. It is a good tool and is an indispensable part of every dig meeting related to the ideation. (See Figure 4)
Key phrase 5 – True leaders enhance their team’s innovative capabilities by providing an environment and tools the team can use to combine and focus its creative efforts. (See Figure: 5)
Key phrase 6 – True leaders increase the probability of finding good ideas and innovations that are actually relevant to value creation.
Key phrase 7 – True leaders do not drag their teams behind them; instead, they create an effective gravitational force.
Figure 5 – The Planum with Dedicated Search Fields
nnovation digging provides your team and your company with an entire catalog of advantages and benefits. It is even possible to enhance innovative capability while simultaneously reducing costs.
Figure 6 – Reaching Your Goal Faster with Better Results and Maximum Motivation
Old truths must yield to new knowledge and ingrained beliefs must be questioned. It took us many projects and applications to discover the added benefits and extraordinary depth of our method as well.