5 questions to spark innovation

I enjoyed the Harvard Business video on innovation titled “Thinking Inside the Box.”

It’s a 9 minute interview on video, and I confess it has taken me a week to listen to the entire thing, but I love the questions that the speaker suggests as a framework for finding new and innovative ways to sell your service. Here’s a sample:

1. Who uses our product in a way we never thought of? Is anyone using your product or service in a way that is completely different from the way you thought it would be used? Is this, perhaps, where respite care came from – families who didn’t want long term care for a loved one, but just a week or two while they went on vacation? What about delivering services outside of your building, if you operate a senior care community?


2. What is the biggest hassle in purchasing or using our product? Of course, the innovation comes in finding ways to remove the hassle or balance it in some way. In senior care, one of the biggest hassles right now, at least, is the need to sell one’s home before moving into a retirement or assisted living community. Innovative communities are finding ways to help people overcome that hassle so it’s not a barrier to move-in. What other hassles do clients and families have to overcome? How can you creatively remove those hassles?


3. Which customers could become major users if we could remove one specific barrier we’ve never removed before? Think about the renters in a life-care community, or the individuals who can’t afford private pay. Those two customer groups come to mind immediately – who else might become a major user of your service if a barrier were removed?


4. How would our product change if it were customized for every user? Does considering this question give you ideas about solutions to creatively expand your market?


5. Which technologies, embedded in our product, have changed the most since our product was launched? In the case of senior care, consider the systems that are most entrenched in the way you offer your service. Is there a newer, more efficient technology available to accomplish this even better?

This is a great time in the cycle of business to be thinking about innovation. It’s a great time to look for new ways to set your company and your community apart from others who will, as the economy begins to strengthen, be rushing in to meet the needs of this upcoming wave of aging boomers. Let’s not let the newcomers pass us old hands right on by!