Truth 5: Any Fool can do Either, Genius Does Both

The idea here is that there are always conflicting interests and one has to pick among the different alternatives. There is always a difference between a genius and obvious. If the innovation doesn’t overcome some contradiction between conflicting objectives then isn’t genius it’s obvious.

Whenever is you are trying to innovate try harder to see that if your innovation will be able to fulfil the conflicting interests or not. Try to make a genius out of it. The basic idea of each innovation is to convert an impossible to a possibility. The cars in past were thought to be having a disadvantage of pollution always. the technologies like carbon batteries or cars running on hydro technology have made it easier to achieve both the ease of transportation and that too without pollution.

The of such innovations is based on the fact that you ask questions about the innovation and and are never ready to accept the first answers as the best ones but you have to keep on trying. This habit of asking questions will bring a little bit panic in your organization initially because people will think that this will increase their work load and every body is afraid of this one thing. But once this habit has been developed in the organization, people will not complain anymore, instead they will ask hard questions which will make the product better and better.

When people have to make choice they ask the question "why...", however in order to make the innovations more attractive for the end user you have to ask "why..." and "why not..." at the same time.

Asking “why” and “why not” will question the assumptions of specialists and experts. This is uncomfortable for people who have enjoyed the comfort of standard answers and the protection of their profession. They may dismiss your ability to understand well enough to have an opinion. It is liberating to those who want to grasp what is really happening and improve it. They may welcome your ability to have an opinion that increases their understanding.

Truth 4: A Great Innovation Deserves a Great Name

What's in a name? We often come across this sentence when conversing with other people ;). But when talking of the name for your innovative product it is totally a different game. The name is not a guarantee for the success of a product but it does help in building a brand name for the product which in the longer run benefits the organization. The idea of black hole discussed in the text is a true reflection of what's there in a name.

In 1939, two physicists announced what they called a ‘gravitationally completely
collapsed object’. The world yawned. Forty years later, when a lecturer
commented that it deserved a better name, a member of the audience
suggested renaming it a ‘Black Hole’. The name stuck. This time the world woke
up and the name became part of our working vocabulary.

The name should reflect the product or service in its true sense but also it should be attractive and catchy. The old name has its benefits too in the sense that it is already established as a brand and hence people know about it. However, sometimes it leads to situations where it sold the new taste with the old name and hence people rejected the 'new coke'.

As said earlier newness in the name is not the guarantee for the success but it does help in some way or the other. So when looking for a name for your product. Focus on the character of the product or service and try to develop a relation with the name. Then at the second level look at your customer base. If your going to have a very tech savvy name and the customer base is not so technically aware you are not helping your product. In the third stage look at your competition and try to figure out that the name your going to give to your product is different from the competition and does it stands out from the rest of the players or not. Lastly, look at the promotional part of it. You have to communicate this name to the customer base and have to change it from just a name to a brand name. For this purpose try to build story around the name. it helps people to remember it for a longer period of time and hence it becomes effective for the Word of Mouth (WOM) advertising.

So according to the text by McKeown, look at four things while looking for a good name

1. Character 2. Customers 3. Competition 4. Communication

Enjoy the read. Will be back soon with the fifth truth.