Peer Beyond Your Sphere for Pioneering Breakthroughs
In a bid to foster creativity and avoid tunnel vision in product development, companies are increasingly turning to diverse, cross-functional teams with expertise from different industries or disciplines. This approach, which promotes cross-industry innovation, was recently highlighted in The Lean Startup, featuring SGW Designworks – a product engineering and design firm.
By drawing people from various fields, such as mixing architects with video game designers, companies can create a melting pot of perspectives that enables out-of-the-box thinking beyond the usual domain constraints. One example of this strategy's success is SGW Designworks, who, when faced with a manufacturing challenge, treated the problem as an industrial automation issue instead of a medical device one, resulting in a proof-of-concept system that cut production time by over 80%.
Forming cross-functional innovation committees, combining departments like marketing, engineering, design, manufacturing, and R&D, helps teams oversee the entire product development process holistically and generate fresh ideas while evaluating them rigorously. These groups, which encourage collaboration across departments, are essential in fostering creativity and challenging established norms.
Implementing structured frameworks and strategic roadmapping, such as open strategy, blue ocean, or stage-gate models, aligns innovation efforts with strategic goals, ensuring ideas are both creative and feasible. By keeping track of the latest trends, like AI, blockchain, and sustainability, teams can spot opportunities competitors might miss, further broadening their perspective.
Partnering with startups, academia, and experts outside a company's immediate industry exposes teams to outside insights and reduces innovation risks. Encouraging questions like "Why do we do it this way?" can foster curiosity and challenge established norms, while making it safe to propose unconventional ideas, even if they don't always succeed, can encourage lateral thinking.
Companies that thrive in changing markets are those that are willing to look sideways, ask new questions, and apply old tools in new ways. By seeking inspiration from different markets, product categories, or manufacturing processes, the best ideas are not always confined to a specific industry.
In conclusion, by building diverse, cross-functional teams, implementing structured frameworks, collaborating with external partners, and fostering a culture that values experimentation and risk-taking, companies can encourage creativity, reduce innovation risks, and increase the odds of transformative product innovation that aligns with both strategic and market realities.
Ryan Gray, with his background in finance and entrepreneurship, could leverage the benefits of cross-functional teams to bring fresh ideas to the business. His diverse skillset, when combined with a marketing, engineering, design, manufacturing, and R&D team, could ensure a holistic approach to product development.
The strategic roadmapping approach, employing models like open strategy, blue ocean, or stage-gate, could be an effective framework for Gray to explore, aligning his innovative ideas with the business's strategic goals while keeping an eye on trends such as AI, blockchain, and sustainability for untapped opportunities.
