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American Inventor & Innovation
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Jeff Miller
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Apr 27, 2006 06:25 PDT
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Greetings...
U.S. readers of this list may be familiar with the television show
"American Inventor" (http://www.americaninventor.tv).... The "new
product" version of the "Idol" show that appears in several countries.
I have been a fan of the work of Doug Hall (one of the judges on this
show -- for American Idol fans, he's the Simon on this show).
Doug's book, "Jump Start Your Brain" is one of the most dog eared books
I own.
Below is a periodic newsletter that Doug sends out... if nothing else,
it will make you think a bit.
If you wish to subscribe to his Eureka newsletter, you can do so at:
espres-@eurekaranch.com
Be well... /jeff
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Eureka! Espresso
Intense Ideas, Musings & Rants
From Doug Hall
April 6, 2006
Now you know the real secret to my success
On American Inventor each week I regularly take a beating from my
fellow judges and the American Public for my truth telling.
I've found over the years that the shortest path to innovation
success is with Straight Talk. It does no good to avoid technical
issues, feasibility issues, pricing issues. Success with new
products and services comes from dealing with the DEATH THREATS up
front before you've wasted time and money.
Straight Talk requires courage. It takes courage to stand up to a
crowd and speak the truth. The easy path is to go along with the
crowd or the boss - In the case of the TV show - to go along with
the over-the-top Reality TV drama the producers seek to create or
to go along with the emotional sob stories that the marketing focused
judges relate to most. The tough choice is to be willing to sit and for
12 hours a day for 10 days and speak the TRUTH. To be willing to be
laughed at, made fun of or humiliated because your views are in contrast
to those of the producers and your fellow judges.
In the case of the TV show - as is often the case in life - it's not
cool to be smart. The recent example from the show of a drink plate
that held a cup is a classic example. The production facility that
makes those plates is in Waterville Maine. It's a very old
manufacturing process, that is highly capital intensive. It's also
highly inflexible. I raised the issue that the design presented
would be very expensive to manufacture - the other judges felt it
wasn't an important issue. In show 5 truth prevails. In this case
the costs of not dealing with reality up front don't matter much.
But in the real world this kind of denial of reality is the reason
why innovation ROI is so horrible for most companies.
The straight talk you see me delivering on TV - is the real secret to
Eureka! Ranch success. Clients know that we will not lie to them - we
will not invent ideas that are impossible or impractical. They know
that no matter how painful it is to hear - we will tell them the truth,
the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
When you talk truth - you save time and money. Last week, after a 3-
day bold and blunt Eureka! session a client said,
"Doug, because of your focus on facing the ugly realities early -
we've done in 3 days what would normally have taken us 9 months of
politically correct meetings"
When you talk truth - you make a meaningful difference. 2 weeks ago
after a one-day Eureka! session a client said,
"By focusing on truth I feel like for the first time in ten years
we're going to really make a meaningful difference for our customers."
We all know what needs to be done. The challenge is to find the
courage to speak truth. To say what we really think - no matter
what the short-term consequences. If you do, you are guaranteed
long-term peace and most importantly no regrets.
The HOT NEW Eureka! Formats
Eureka! 50/50 - A full-tilt innovation explosion - 50 ideas created,
written and quantitatively tested for $50,000. Many brands find that
one Eureka! 50/50 session can fill their innovation pipeline for 3
years.
Eureka! TRUTH TELLER Innovation Pipeline Audit - A blunt and honest
one-day effort where the Eureka! Ranch team dissects every initiative in
your innovation pipeline. We ask the tough questions and offer ideas
and advice for how you can measurably increase your odds of success.
WARNING: Short term it will probably be painful - but long term you'll
find it's the smartest investment you've ever made.
Eureka! 100-Day Innovation Blitz - An adrenaline-charged system that
guides you from invention to real world prototypes and real world
customer reaction in 100 days. It's the guaranteed way to bust up
organizational inertia. It's the same methodology Ranch founder Doug
Hall (http://www.doughall.com) used at Procter & Gamble to ship a
company record 9 brand building initiatives in 12 months.
For more information contact Kari McNamara at 513-271-9911
Click here for a special "Jump Start" Series Book Promotion to save
50%!! http://www.doughall.com/store/
Eureka! Espresso is an informal newsletter, published on an
occasional basis, featuring the ideas, musings and rants of Doug
Hall. Doug is Founder and Chairman of the Eureka! Ranch and Co-Host
with David Wecker of Brain Brew Radio - distributed nationally by PRI
Public Radio International.
Complaints, comments, praise - Click here to contact Doug Hall
http://www.doughall.com/aboutDoug/contact.asp
Click Here to subscribe to Eureka! Espresso
mailto:espres-@eurekaranch.com
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