Disruptive Thinking Introduction

Transcription

1 Disruptive Thinking Introduction The Hypotheses, the Opportunity, and the Ideas Stage 1: Crafting a Disruptive Hypothesis Be Wrong at the Start to Be Right at the End It all starts with a wild question. In simple terms, a hypothesis is the fill-in-the-blank part of the question: I wonder what would happen if we A lot of people will come up with minor tweaks, like more late night dining options or more outdoor seating. But, I believe that s not what we re looking for. If you don t shake things up with a few ideas from way, out in left field, your brain will ensure that you ll process any new information and ideas using what you already know as a filter. And the result will be exactly the kind of thinking that maintains the status quo. The goal at this stage is to kick off the process with a disruptive hypothesis, a true game changer. Stage 2: Discovering a Disruptive Opportunity Explore the Least Obvious The next step is to take the hypothesis you just crafted and hone it to something usable. You ll start by looking at the real-world context your hypothesis will exist in. Who lives there now? What do they need? What motivates them? Defining a disruptive opportunity is designed to be quick and informal, intuitive and qualitative, and above all, accessible. The point is that anyone can (and should) feel empowered to go out and start creating new experiences without drowning in the sea of complexity that makes up typical market research projects. Stage 3: Generating a Disruptive Idea Unexpected Ideas Have Fewer Competitors Opportunities by themselves don t lead to lasting change. So, the big question is: How do you transform an opportunity into an idea? Well, the first thing to realise is that any old ideas won t do. We re looking for disruptive ideas ideas that have the power to influence and to shape behaviour. Ideas that stir the imagination and inspire a sense of possibility. We ll spend the last part of the discussion learning how to move past the stumbling blocks and generate the kind of disruptive ideas that transform a compelling opportunity into a viable cultural and commercial offering. 1 - AD303 Design & Business Unit Toolkit : Disruptive Thinking Toolkit : Prepared by Relmi Damiano & Mark O Dwyer 2013

2 Stage 1: Crafting a Disruptive Hypothesis What do you want to disrupt? Example question: What are some of the ways through which the City can facilitate a permanent and all - encompassing transformation of the entire CBD into a space that is visibly Cultural and Creative, without diluting its role as a business centre? One of the major hurdles facing Sydney today is how to meaningfully differentiate itself as a global city. To do that requires that you define the situation that you want to challenge. And by situation, I mean the broad view from 10,000 feet. Here s what this might look like: This is an category in which everyone seems to be stuck in the same predicament and nothing has changed in a very long time. This is an area where cultural engagement is average it really should be more meaningful than it is. This is an area of the city avoided by the broader population due to the little diversity of options. Once you have the situation to focus on, describe it in one sentence: How can we disrupt [insert your situation] by delivering an unexpected solution? e.g. How can we disrupt cultural activities to deliver an authentic experience for locals and tourists by delivering an unexpected solution? It s essential that you resist the natural urge to start thinking in terms of specific problems as this will confine your range of possibilities and limit your range of options later. 2 - AD303 Design & Business Unit Toolkit : Disruptive Thinking Toolkit : Prepared by Relmi Damiano & Mark O Dwyer 2013

3 Stage 1.1: Crafting a Disruptive Hypothesis Searching for Clichés Now that you ve defined your situation, the next step is to identify the assumptions that seem to influence the way insiders (and often outsiders) think about a segment, or category. In other words, what are the clichés the widespread beliefs that govern the way people think about and do business in a particular space. To help you jump-start the process start by identifying a handful of direct competitors in the segment, or category you re focused on. If there are dozens or hundreds of competitors, you can t possibly consider all of them. Instead, group together those with similar characteristics (such as size and resources), strengths (such as brand name), and strategies (such as high quality). Select one or two in each group that are pretty representative of the group as a whole. A total of three to six are the ideal number to work with. Now, make a list of the clichés that keep everyone doing the same thing, competing the same way, or operating with the same set of assumptions. Keep your research activities quick and informal, intuitive and qualitative. And list any clichés you think are relevant. But to keep you from drowning in a sea of information, consider using the following three filters: Options clichés: What are the cliché features and benefits? What are the cliché attributes (convenience and reliability, for example)? Interaction clichés: What are the cliché steps the broader population experiences when interacting with options and services? Is the interaction face-to-face? How frequently do they engage? Pricing clichés: What are the typical ways retailers price their products and services and charge customers? Are they packaging products and services together or pricing them individually? Are they charging the customer directly or through a retail partner? Are they offering discounts or other incentives? All you need to identify is three or four clichés for each of the filters above. This will give you a list of 9 to 12 clichés to work with as you develop your hypotheses. 3 - AD303 Design & Business Unit Toolkit : Disruptive Thinking Toolkit : Prepared by Relmi Damiano & Mark O Dwyer 2013

4 Stage 1.2: Crafting a Disruptive Hypothesis What are your disruptive hypotheses? Now that you have a list of the clichés that are influencing the situation you re focused on, your next goal is to start provoking the status quo. To do that, you ll take those clichés and twist them like a Rubik s cube and look at them from the inside out, upside down, backward, and forward. You re trying to find a way to rearrange the pieces, which in turn will provoke a different way of looking at the situation. What Can You Invert? In order for you to start moving in a new direction, you need to kick hard against what s already there. There are usually a number of different ways to inverse a given situation. If there s an action, look at the opposite action. If something is happening over time, run the time scale backward. If there s a one-way relationship between two parties, try changing the direction 180 degrees. What Can You Deny? The denial method works by completely dumping key aspects of a cliché. What would happen if you no longer operated according to rules? What would happen if you played by a new set of rules? Remember many clichés are still around for no other reason than we ve always done it this way. What Can Your Scale? Each of us has a well-trained and highly developed sense of the natural size and proportions of the world around us. So, when items in a given situation are out of proportion with each other, it comes as a shock and immediately grabs our attention. But, when it comes to generating disruptive hypotheses, you re not exaggerating the scale simply to manipulate other peoples attention. Instead, you re using the shock value to disrupt your own perception so you can look at the situation in a new way. What is scarce that could be made abundant? What is abundant that could be made scarce? What is expensive that could be free? 4 - AD303 Design & Business Unit Toolkit : Disruptive Thinking Toolkit : Prepared by Relmi Damiano & Mark O Dwyer 2013

5 Stage 2: Discovering a Disruptive Opportunity What are your observations? Before you dive too far into your research, you need to have a clear idea of the core questions that you want answered. Your research goals will be influenced by the provocative hypotheses you created earlier, and you ll want to focus on the relationship between your audience and the segment, or category: How and where do your audience interact with the current options and services in your segment, or category? What steps do they have to take to purchase products and services? How does the segment, or category make your audience feel? What is the social network of your audience? Is your audience loyal to an existing product, service, or brand? 5 - AD303 Design & Business Unit Toolkit : Disruptive Thinking Toolkit : Prepared by Relmi Damiano & Mark O Dwyer 2013

6 Stage 2.1: Discovering a Disruptive Opportunity What did you find out? After you complete your observations, the next step is to make sense of your discoveries. Observations aren t any good when they re stuck in your head or stored on your laptop. You need to make them tangible and get them out and onto a physical space. There s a variety of ways to do this, but they all involve putting your observations on paper. You can use regular paper, card stock, Post-It notes, or anything else that works for you. Aim for one observation per Post-It note or card. The next step is to take all those pieces of paper, and any other memory aids (notes you took on the back of a napkin, brochures, and so on) and transfer them to what we call an insight board. What are your disruptive opportunities? Now that you ve captured a handful of insights, it s time to synthesize them into key areas of opportunity. To do that, you need to bring back your disruptive hypotheses the three provocative what if questions I talked about earlier. To recap: The reason you kick off this process with disruptive hypotheses instead of going straight into contextual research is because you must pick apart the existing clichés to see things differently. Provocative what if questions prepare you to recognize things you didn t notice before and put research observations together in new ways. Moving from insights to opportunities An opportunity has three distinct parts: There s an opportunity to provide [who?] with [what advantage?] that [fills what gap?]. To get from insights to opportunities, start by matching each insight to the hypothesis it s most closely related to. Look for insights that have the potential to put a hypothesis into effect something in the insight that suggests that your implied disruption would deliver a key advantage. After you find the best pairing, use the relevant insight(s) to work out one really big point of advantage for each of your what if speculations. The next thing to work out is what s the gap that needs to be filled? If necessary refer to the following four categories: Workarounds: Does the insight suggest an opportunity to remedy the underlying problem itself, not just the symptoms? Values: Does the insight suggest an opportunity to address a change in what your audience value? Inertia: Does the insight suggest an opportunity to leverage a habit or break a habit? Shoulds versus wants: Does the insight suggest an opportunity to turn wants into shoulds? Or shoulds into wants? 6 - AD303 Design & Business Unit Toolkit : Disruptive Thinking Toolkit : Prepared by Relmi Damiano & Mark O Dwyer 2013

7 Stage 3: Generating a Disruptive Idea Transforming an opportunity into an idea Opportunities by themselves don t lead to lasting change. So, the big question is: How do you transform an opportunity into an idea? The first thing to realise is that any old ideas won t do. We re looking for disruptive ideas ideas that have the power to influence and to shape behaviour. Ideas that stir the imagination and inspire a sense of possibility. What are your disruptive ideas? Use the following list to generate ideas for the opportunity you defined in the previous stage. To break down the opportunity and generate ideas, go through the following steps: 1 Note the advantage part of the opportunity statement; then list 4-5 moments for when this advantage could be addressed. 2 Note any gaps in the opportunity statement; then think how this could be addressed for each of the moments. 3 Think creatively about answers to each question, and generate as many new ideas as you can. 4 For inspiration, look for examples of how a particular advantage or gap has been addressed outside of your segment, or category. 5 Figure out how to connect the outside idea to your situation. 7 - AD303 Design & Business Unit Toolkit : Disruptive Thinking Toolkit : Prepared by Relmi Damiano & Mark O Dwyer 2013