Post #2

This was the second week of reading The Art of Innovation by Tom Kelley.  In the latest chapter that I read, it talked about the art of seeing and being that helps create true innovators.  He argues that looking at a picture or asking a focus group is not enough to find the true problems behind an object or service.  The true art of innovation, Kelley says, is being able to watch something and find problems within it that should be changed.  Kelley calls this a "bug list."  It is the mental notes, or even physical ones, that someone writes when they notice a problem.  This action has made people millions of dollars.  He describes how IDEO goes out into society when solving a problem to do their research.  While they do not always have a lot of time or funds to do their research, just watching and asking the right questions can help solve the problem.  He gives many examples, like when they invented a toothbrush with a bigger grip for children.  Intuition would say smaller kids need a smaller grip to hold it.  But as they watched children, they used their entire fists, while adults just used a few fingers.  So by marketing these big, squishy grips in different colors, it solved the problem and made the brushes more appealing to children.
I really like how IDEO has used this way of looking at a problem to make money.  They were one of the first companies to think like this, and ever since they reformed in 1991, they have not had an unprofitable quarter (book was published in 2001).  The book also talks about the unstructured, fun, and non-hierarchal way of working they have created.  The author compares it to a young version of Apple in the 70s.  Even more, both companies were startups in Silicon Valley and IDEO even helped Steve Jobs created the first Apple mouse for his computers.  This book has made me think about how to solve problems and make money.  Some good stuff. And well written.