August is not often considered a month of great productivity and innovation for business. Instead, it is known as a time for factory shutdowns for retooling, last of the summer vacations, and preoccupation with return to school activities.
Author Ken Hudson in his new book, The Idea Generator: Tools for Business Growth, offers a unique set of ideas for looking at businesses problems, opportunities or issues that could possibly change the slacker August viewpoint as well as how we create ideas for business any time of the year. Hudson suggests that changing the way you look at a problem, as well as changing the nature of the problem, can enable you to perform at a higher level than ever before.
Most of us are stuck in our business thinking, he warns. This is particularly disastrous for businesses at a time when a product's shelf life is limited, when shareholders want faster results and better performance and employees want a better work/life balance.
Such pressures, particularly in the current economic downturn, come at a time when staffs and budgets are smaller and time is a scarce commodity. Many leaders know that what worked in the past will no longer work in the future, but they don't know how to create alternative ideas.
The Idea Generator offers a way to look at these issues in a different way that will allow individuals and companies new opportunities for achieving their business goals. Hudson brings to his ideas the experience of working with numerous global companies, including Disney, DuPont, Kellogg's, Heinz, Colgate and Unilever.
Hudson terms his process for idea generation simply "becoming unstuck - moving beyond a rigid view to a more dynamic and productive one." A change of mindset gives you the ability to out-think and out-imagine the competition, he says. To do so, you need a new set of tools. Hudson's book provides that in a way that is simultaneously simple and brilliant. This isn't a simple box of tools; it's an entire truckload.
The Idea Generator model suggests that in every situation there are two elements: the problem, goal or opportunity you are dealing with and the way of "seeing" this problem. Hudson suggests that both of these can be changed in order to alter the outcome.
He gives a real-life example of a major garbage bag brand. The leaders of the company were struggling to increase market share. When Hudson began consulting with them, he found their mindset was that garbage bags were a "low interest and low involvement" item for consumers (as compared to high interest in such items as cell phones.) The company targeted their marketing in this way, emphasizing price promotions.
Hudson challenged the group to try the lens of making garbage bags interesting. This led to many breakthrough ideas, including deodorizing bags and garbage bags on wheels.
The author then suggested that the company see garbage bags not simply through one new lens, but through several. Each lens, he says, represents a partial view. The Idea Generator method involves shifting the current lens to obtain a more complete or different view.
The Idea Generator proposes this method as a means to change your lens at will. The shift of view can be quite dramatic and can generate many new ideas and opportunities. For example, 'being green' was only recently seen as an increase in costs. Now, the environment is perceived as an enormous business opportunity. GE, through its Eco-imagination program, has delivered over $10 billion in sales.
Learning and using this method can also have an effect on your personal life, Hudson says. Learning to create different ways of seeing a situation can change the outcome in your daily life and interactions with others.
The book is divided into chapters containing 10 tools, each proven to be effective in many different businesses. Each tool is given a page of explanation, followed by a page of suggestions for applications. The tools are simple, flexible, and can be customized for use in a variety of situations ranging from your business to your career.
This is an excellent, practical book to help you develop new opportunities for yourself and your business. Its easy-to-read layout and design make it perfect for selecting a tool and applying it to a current situation or problem. The Idea Generator is a creative resource for finding solutions and to help discover new directions.