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p.192 Despite the high failure rates for new products, most companies feel they have no choice but to play at this uncertain, high-stakes game or be left behind... Managers need to peruse the periphery actively for new product ideas because this is often where the breakthrough innovations will be found.
p.193 successful innovation is typically hypothesis driven... Managers that are not acting from robust hypotheses are wandering around the forest without clearly defined questions hoping for insights to drop from the sky... They need to ask the right questions to obtain meaningful answers... One way to ask the right questions is to create formal structures designed to force managers to consider these questions... The trick is to develop and test hypotheses quickly and with the smallest possible investment.
p.194 Is this a hypothesis that, if proven true, can be the basis for a successful new business?
If the concept passes this test - and thus is seen as a robust hypothesis - then managers can test whether it can be a viable business. It is still a hypothesis that needs some rigorous testing to see if it will hold up in reality... The whole process is much faster and rougher than the way things are typically done, but when working on the periphery, the goal is not to see in detail as much as to determine quickly whether the object is worthy of more organisational attention. Attention requires resources. These approaches, in essence, allow the organisation to take a quick side glance at something new. Managers can then use that quick glance to determine whether to turn more attention to this concept on the fringes. [JLJ - the question would seem to be, How promising is this concept? How long should I try to play with it to see if it has true potential?]
p.194 Hypothesis creation and testing is an ongoing, iterative process. We create a set of hypotheses on the front end to guide our knowledge building. We continue to test these hypotheses as we go along and then use this knowledge as a way to iterate and create new hypotheses and questions.
p.195 organisations need a pointer to focus the mind and the eye. The more specific this pointer is, the more the searcher will find... This approach allows managers to look broadly without being overwhelmed.
p.195 The approaches outlined here - framing the landscape expansively, developing robust hypotheses and testing them quickly and efficiently, and using targeted hunting in external innovation networks - can help to make the scanning process more effective. These approaches encourage managers to combine broad searching and thinking with focused evaluation and execution. This in turn can increase the overall capacity of the organisation for innovative thinking and action and thus improve the odds for creating successful new businesses from the periphery.
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