I learned something about innovation today

I am proud to say the AIM team is pretty good at innovation and have lead the pack at AOL and in the world of Instant Messaging. Innovation is very important to me and my team. It is one of the things that makes work fun. So when I heard Tom Kelley, the GM of Ideo, was coming to AOL to speak to us about innovation, I quickly signed up. Tom is the author of “The Art of Innovation” and “The Ten Faces of Innovation“. His company, Ideo, has made a great business out of helping others innovate. He said there are 500 people at Ideo and they have worked with hundreds of companies. They have learned what works and what doesn’t. While we have done well within our environment, Ideo has done well across many industries.

Tom mainly spoke about his new book, “The Ten Faces of Innovation”. He made a few points to emphasize the importance of innovation. Then he spoke about the roles or “faces” such as experimenter, cross-pollinator, hurdler, and more. In his opinion, the most important role is the Anthropologist. I’ll bet it has been a long time since you heard of that profession.

According to Tom, the Anthropologist…

“… is the person who ventures into the field to observe how people interact with products, services, and experiences in order to come up with new innovations. The Anthropologist is extremely good at re-framing a problem in a new way, humanizing the scientific method to apply it to daily life. Anthropologists share such distinguishing characteristics as the wisdom to observe with a truly open mind; empathy; intuition; the ability to “see” things that have gone unnoticed”.

He made the point that you can’t expect to get innovative ideas from customers. They may have incremental ideas but not the big innovations. You have to observe your customers and find the hidden opportunities.

Where can I find an Anthropologist?