The Characteristics Of Successful Ideas
This just in from The Story of Telling:
In an era when we have self-driving cars and delivery drones it’s still possible to encounter:
- Underwear with five uncomfortable care labels sewn into the seams.
- A beautiful teapot that becomes too heavy to lift when it’s full.
- Inconspicuous assembly instructions that confuse rather than clarify.
- Sports shoes that give the wearer blisters until they’re ‘broken in’.
- And breakfast cereals that are one-third sugar.
While we’re busy trying to create brilliant, breakthrough ideas that win, we often overlook the opportunity to make something that’s simply thoughtful instead. Thoughtful innovation requires us to do more than to meet spec. It demands that we empathize and anticipate. That we measure difference as well as data, intentionally marry functionality with delight and strive to go beyond the good enough.