Accessibility...once again.

When it comes to ideas (a product idea, a creative idea and even a brand idea), especially when they are innovative in nature,  what's germane to its development and growth and ultimately the idea's ability to have a far reaching impact?

Accessibility (as I've discussed before).

A notion communicated, and you get it. A concept easily understood. Complexity made simple.

In order for forward thinking ideas to permeate the market, and become successful, they need to be able to resonate with an audience. Enthusiasm emerges because there is the realization of the amount of value at the table (and now people are forking over dollars for it). Exploration for the right business model ensues because revenue can be made. And now determining how to scale... 

At the root, can people wrap their minds around your idea and apply it to their everyday lives? Are they able to mentally access it's worth and then share/communicate that with others? This is often a challenge with  thought leaders, innovators and visionaries. Big ideas without the gravity of practicality.

Maybe in some cases we're not even dealing with something that's 'leading edge'. Maybe it's just a product idea that you and everyone else who sees the world just like you thinks is great. You thought the idea had great potential, but once you tried to take it to market, it really didn't have any legs to stand on. Folks outside of your circle, people you don't normally interact with (the larger market) looked at it, saw no value, and the idea went nowhere. It happens...

At the end of the day if your idea doesn't have a certain degree of mass sensibility, then what you are advocating will be marginal. And as many would agree, marginal is problematic.

Now when it comes 'idea sharing' no one reflects this better than TED: A global set of conferences focusing on forward thinking concepts, beliefs and practices from health to science to business. I've personally been a huge fan of TED for years now. I'm even the co-founder of TEDxWDC (TEDxWashingtonDC). One of my biggest issues with TED though, as awesome they are, their "ideas worth spreading" (the organizations slogan), don't actually spread that far. For the most part the TED brand pretty much only has awareness within the 'innovation community.' Innovators talking to innovators. Not a problem in and of itself but if you have a great idea that can 'change the world'....talking to other fellow visionaries will have only a limited impact.

So when I came across the "Spread the TED" video from the folks over at TEDxBuenosAires...loved it.

Check it out.

Creativity. Erase the boundaries.

One of the tragedies around the discussion of creativity is that often  it's a narrowly focused conversation. Professionals with the suits, the ties and the black briefcases...stand to the left (you're not creative). Hipsters with the surplus of tattoos, the multiple piercings, and the skinny jeans - typing away on Macbook Pros...this group stand to the right (you all are definitely creative). 

If you think of creativity in these terms only...fail.

Creativity is about new interpretations. It's about merging the conservative with the radical. It's about taking your world of familiarity and adding new context...and as a result, seeing what happens.

Artistry exists within each and every one of us. There's artistry in plumbing. There's artistry in cooking. There's artisty in technology.  It's not only for the poet, the painter or the rock star. The opportunity to exercise the imagination is available to anyone.  

For us here at Cnvrgnc, the flavor of creativity that we gravitate towards is the one that exists at the intersection. The place where disparate ideas converge and creates something that's fresh and imaginative.

Just a few days ago, a friend of mine tweeted about a video post on the Opening Ceremony blog; a company that's a multifaceted retail environment comprised of shops, show-rooms, and private label collections in Soho New York. Posted by Spike Jonze, Yo Yo Ma and Lil Buck perform together "The Swan" by Camille Saint-Saëns. Cellist/orchestral composer meets dancer/jookin' master. Sweet.

Collaborations like this, I can't get enough of. Traditional fused with the unconventional. Classic with a dose of edge. Street merged with sophistication. Most definitely, this is beauty that's more than just skin deep.

Intersect ideas. Create something different

For us the intersection is where the best action is. It's where 'distinctive' happens and uniqueness is able make its way to the forefront of today's marketplace of ideas. It's where brands are able to differentiate themselves and truly stand apart from the crowd.

For example...

Cirque du Soleil - the intersection of theater, the circus and storytelling...peerless in the market.

Apple - the intersection of  design, technology and media...peerless in the market.

Innocentive - the intersection of R&D and crowdsourcing...peerless in the market.

Gatorade - the intersection of science, sports and flavored beverages...peerless in the market.

Now the intersection isn't necessarily the only path to differentiation, but if you delve into  it, you'll  find a compelling argument for it as a strategy.

A few months back I came a cross a really exciting intersectional idea: The BMW Guggenheim Lab. World renowned and innovative automaker meets modern and contemporary international art museum. The sound of that is just dynamic.

The Lab is a long-term global collaboration that will span six years of programmed activities that will engage people in nine major cities across the globe.  The BMW Guggenheim Lab is conceived as an innovative movable structure that will travel from city to city, bringing together ambitious thinkers and becoming a public place for research, experimentation, and the sharing of ideas about major issues affecting urban life. The BMW Guggenheim Lab will be a space for the playful exploration of the challenges and opportunities of the cities of today, and the creation of forward-looking concepts and designs for the cities of tomorrow.

In my last post I talked about how with the explosion of social media and the changing of the market place, many conversations are missing the forest for the trees. In today's market you increase your possibilities for remarkable and unique when you begin thinking beyond tweets, likes, and how to go viral. There's opportunities for new kinds of value when you move beyond just digital. These two forwarding thinking brands are converging to produce something creative, fresh and imaginative.

If you're looking for places that are exploring different and exciting breakthrough ideas...the BMW Guggenheim Lab might be just what the doctor ordered.

Missing the forest for the trees

 

In 2002 Jonathan Abrams and Peter Chin went live with the first "social network" website, Friendster, bringing into its fold about three million users within its first few months. In 2003 MySpace hit the scene and over the next couple of years would take the "social web" experience into hyper drive as it not so subtly snatched the reigns from its predecessor. Then in 2004 Facebook entered the fray and would soon eclipse  Myspace's shining light and become the social network of choice. And as they say the rest is history...

From 2002 to 2011 the explosion of the internet/all things digital has been colossal. From Technorati, to Youtube, to Ning, to Foursquare to...you name it, the ideas, conversations, and predictions around all of these digital experiences has been more than you can possibly imagine.

The problem for me though is that for all the talk around the change, evolution and transformation that social media has "ushered in" more times than not the dialogue around all of this is one dimensional and missing the point... which is: we are at a place where the market is shifting and becoming more dynamic. The (digital) tools that are available to us and the new experiences they are creating are providing the opportunity for us to fashion creative business ideas and models in which we are able to develop more diverse value offerings in an emerging networked economy.

Yes "new media" is impacting 'business as usual', but it's not extinguishing it. As great and awesome as some may proclaim Twitter to be...it has its limitations. It's a pretty cool communication/engagement tool but  I'd argue that the two/three year hype outstrips what it actually delivers as a 'business'.

What's missing is a glaring spotlight on new experiments/emerging  business models that look at "both and" scenarios versus ones that are "either or". Old media isn't dead (print is changing but not extinct...) Email is alive and well. As antiquated as they may seem to be, fax machines are still being used. Face to face still holds platinum status (in my opinion). And I could go on. With so much focus and discourse on the trees ("social media") we're missing the bigger picture about the forest (what the actual change IS from the old to the new and how to create new hybrid models that converge both worlds).

Judy Shapiro, chief brand strategist at CloudLinux, in her recent adage article Why I Have Begun to Hate the Term 'Social Media', does a great job addressing this in her chart below. She contrasts the "one-to-many" camp representing the marketing model of the last 25 years (e.g. one brand markets to many people), and the "many-to-many" camp, where we reframe social media as a lead performer (but not the solo performer) in a bigger, newly emerging community-centered marketing system. She goes on to say  that "it's not an either/or situation but a maturing of thinking that allows us as marketers to work both systems for optimal effect." Agreed.

Here's her analysis.

Often when focusing our attention where all the noise is, we miss the quiet spaces (where the unique and often uncontested opportunities are). By focusing solely on either the old ways or the new ones, we pass right by the action that many overlook - the intersection, where separate worlds come together and can work hand in hand.

Make it...accessible

into

Blue Ocean Strategy...focusing on/traversing uncontested market space (i.e. where innovation plays).

I haven't blogged since January 19th (roughly about a month and a half) because ladies and gentlemen...breakthrough ideas are not easy to bring to market. Sometimes it requires unplugging, regrouping and then pushing forward after taking some time to get a better (and more realistic) perspective of where you are, where you're going and how to get there. 

For a number of different reasons I took some time off from being online (sometimes it's energizing to unplug). In the process I've focused our efforts more on the physical world than the digital. Sometimes it is necessary to let the digital rest for a bit and fully engage the offline world of (flesh and blood) people to people interactions  to push forward with, as my good friend Mike Bonifer often says, productive games that bring you closer to your goals.  One thing though that continues to bubble to the surface of my thoughts, conversations, and actions is...

I'm using the idea of blue ocean (and simplicity) because both play so well into the whole point behind this post, which was inspired by a conversation I had with my good friend and colleague Michelle James (who actually shared with me the idea of taking oceans and putting them into a drinking glass (albeit using it slightly differently).

As discussed by W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne "blue oceans" are about wide open, uncontested market space. You're playing in waters where few others are. The challenge with that, though, is that often those waters are unfamiliar and no one else really wants to sail along with you. It's big, open, vast,  and unchartered space. And for many that's intimidating, frightening and in many ways - flat out unappealing.

Blue Oceans need to be able to fit into drinking glasses. New/innovative possibilities need to be able to be put into terms, language and formats that people can wrap their minds around. Complexity simplified. New, untested, creative, innovative ideas that are mentally, visually, intellectually and emotionally accessible. No complex jargon. No 70 page business description. No flowery language that sounds beautiful, but means nothing. None of any of that.

What's the kicker though is that this is very difficult and challenging. And few can do it well. As Leonardo da Vinci once said "simplicity is the ultimate sophistication."

Over the last month and a half, we've been in the midst of learning valuable lessons on what it takes to build a sustainable business that sails in blue oceans (and we're still learning). It's been challenging for the company and the issues we've faced you probably won't find being tweeted, posted on youtube videos or being liked on Facebook. On so many levels it's simply been good old fashion blood, sweat and tears; building a business one conversation at a time (no matter how challenging, arduous and frustrating those moments are). 

[Useful] innovation is about the painstaking efforts to make the incomprehensible, accessible. Simplicity at all costs.