How to Create Radical Innovation by Thinking Differently

There are expected norms, practices, and structures that make the world understandable and reasonably efficient. Unfortunately, these same structures also stifle the creative abilities of many individuals and businesses. Innovation requires the creation of something new, and a truly innovative leader must stand out from the crowd.

Every time there is a new groundbreaking innovation, a flood of imitators come along to copy that success. After Uber completely reshaped the entire taxi industry, a raft of gig-economy imitator apps were developed to apply Uber's model to other industries. A few managed to make some impact, but most failed as the trend passed.

Radical innovations like the iPhone or the internet itself did not utterly change the market because they were following trends; they changed the market because the way the new technology functioned was different and radical, yet understandable. They provided individuals with a whole new world of benefits and solutions that they did not know they needed.  Getting there takes some work, but you can also expand your creative and innovative thinking by embracing difference, nonconformity, and uncertainty.

The Cycle of Radical Innovation

Radical innovation tends to go in cycles. They disrupt the system already in place, creating a flurry of incremental advancements, adoptions, and enhancements that spread radical change across the market. The internet opened up a new era of information innovation that started with personal websites and ended with social media behemoths. The iPhone spawned a period of convenience apps for every conceivable purpose.

Many economists, such as Carlota Perez, match these innovation cycles to the long economic cycle, also known as the Kondratiev wave, named for pioneering economist Nikolai Kondratiev. By this principle, a radical innovation first upsets economies and creates a period of rapid change and realignment. As change progresses, incremental innovations gradually spread and consolidate radical innovations across society. As the cycle ends, a few companies usually take control over much of the new industry, such as Google, Apple and Microsoft in the information era, or Ford and General Motors in the automotive era.

Radical innovation sometimes seems to come out of nowhere, but for the people who come up with them, the advancement is logically incremental. Steve Jobs saw a new world of personal computing before most other people because, not only was he was well-versed in the computer industry, but he also brought a fresh perspective to it, outside of the usual 1970s computer-geek norms.

The Future Will Be Different

It is no coincidence that great innovators are sometimes seen as odd. Nicola Tesla, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Elon Musk all have quirky public personas, some more than others. They are (or were) the type who think outside of the typical patterns that get most people through day-to-day life.  

Creativity researcher Dr. Eric Weinstein, a Harvard mathematician, member of the Institute for New Economic Thinking, and managing director of Thiel Capital, states that this very difference is the key to genius and explains his position in a particularly interesting video presentation.  Many times the genius of innovators is muted during their education and characterized as a learning disability.  While such creative minds might not have conformed well to the regular structures of society, that handicap helped them to see beyond the usual and invent something radically new.

“Our cult of achievement is crushing

the genius out of people.”

                                                                        Eric Weinstein, Ph.D

                                                                        Direcvtor, Thiel Capital

You can take advantage of this idea of difference to expand your viewpoint beyond the narrow confines of assumptions built through personal history and experience. This process takes work.  Beau Lotto, a professor of neuroscience at New York University, author of Deviate: The Science of Seeing Differently and founder of Lab of Misfits explains that the human brain has evolved to avoid uncertainty, and the basic assumptions about life make it possible to get through every day. You assume the ground is solid, so you walk on it. You presume that stores will sell products in exchange for money.

“Creativity asks us to do that which is hardest: to question

our assumptions, to doubt what we believe to be true.

That is the only way to see differently.

                                                Dr. Beau Lotta

                                                            Prof. Neuroscience, NYU

The stereotype of the weird genius exists for a reason. These individuals obtain a broader view of the world by seeing through and continually questioning these presuppositions. What they create may seem like an incredibly intelligent and innovative leap to connect divergent ideas, but to them,  the ideas were already related. To them, the radical innovation was merely another incremental step.

If you expect to find new radical innovation, you have to question your fundamental assumptions about how things work, both within industries and in society as a whole. You have to reach the point where you are "doing things that make almost no sense to anyone else," as Weinstein says. You have to accept the uncertainty that comes with questioning your assumptions and seeking out contradictory information.

Radical Innovation or Fantasy?

Radical innovation is extremely risky. For every Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, there were thousands who lost everything pursuing disruptive innovations. 

To lead your world-changing idea in the direction of innovation instead of insanity, you have to ground your difference in reality. If you want to change the computer industry or the energy industry or any other field, you have to understand what you are trying to change. Otherwise you will come up with great ideas that have already been developed, or ideas that are not great at all.

There are variations of creative differences. Some creative types are adept at spotting the potential in technology and innovation, but not at looking beyond the technicalities to see the bigger picture. Steve Wozniak was the technical mind behind Apple's early computers, but Steve Jobs had the vision to understand what customers wanted.  Jobs' genius was in presenting technology to potential customers in a way that they could understand. He had developed a skill for linking far-flung ideas with something familiar.

Do not get lost in the idea of being different for its own sake. Radical innovation changes the foundations of industries and society, not just by being different, but also by offering value in society-altering ways. The internet changed the world because it offered a radical new approach to connecting people, and people then made their additions incrementally. The only way to indeed change the world is to find something different that provides a benefit to people, and then to be able to explain to them why they need it.

Keyvan Samini is currently the CEO of Pitchtime and has served on the board of directors of various software and hardware technology companies. He received his master's in finance from Harvard University, his MBA from the University of Southern California, and his J.D. from the Ohio State University, where he served as law review editor.

How to Guide Your Team Through Change After Acquisition

Acquisitions are often followed by low morale, lost productivity, and conflict between teams due to the fear and anxiety of employees.  The speed of successful integrations of newly acquired or merged businesses turns directly on how leaders manage these problems.

Keeping your employees and team members engaged and working efficiently during times of change requires a recognition that substantial changes to the operational policies and procedures of a team typically cannot be undertaken at one time without hurting the organization, employee productivity, and morale. Effective leaders can obtain greater employee engagement during transitional periods by using a measured incremental approach to change.  However, certain changes after an acquisition must be rapid and decisive.  In those cases, successful leaders should use a dynamic process to achieve rapid change.

Incremental Change Through Consensus

The use of incremental change requires a leader to make decisions by building consensus through collaboration.  A leader’s use of persuasive information and opinions of experts to obtain a team consensus is a benchmark of incremental change.  This type of change, by definition, cannot be forced or mandated unilaterally by someone in a position of power within the organization.

During post-acquisition integration, you can encourage incremental change through open discussion and dialogue.  Ideally, from these discussions you can help the team reach a consensus for changes to its operations and workflow.  This collaboration allows employees to feel empowered and appreciated, which reduces the fear and anxiety that commonly exists during post-acquisition integrations.  Incremental change requires that leaders keep teams engaged by making the members feel safe in the transitional process. Once an employee’s duties have been established, small gestures such as allowing the employee to suggest their job title will keep your team engaged.

Implementing Rapid Change

Incremental change can be compelling over the long term, but acquisitions that demand rapid or transformational change require decisive action that is not compatible with the slower process of collaboration necessary for incremental change.  For rapid change to be successful, incremental modifications are often replaced with quick decisions and speedy execution.  In these instances decisions are typically made unilaterally at the top and are imposed and mandated on employees. 

Rapid change dramatically increases fear and anxiety among employees.  Since employees are typically not involved in the decision-making process in these instances, they are substantially more concerned about losing their jobs, changes in their compensation or changes in their job duties.  Moreover, decisions that personally impact employees under these circumstances generally do not take an employee’s finances or family circumstances into account.

If you have to make rapid changes, such as swift cuts in headcount, a dynamic approach helps ease this painful process. The “hangen” game, described by Harvard professor David Garvin in his publication entitled “Learning in Action: A Guide to Putting the Learning Organization to Work”, is one method by which you can obtain rapid change by utilizing a dynamic process.  The process was first instituted by Toshio Okuno of Higashimaru Shoya, a Japanese soy sauce manufacturer.  The hangen game combines drastic cuts with experimentation within teams, drawing out the creativity, knowledge, and experience already held by team members.

Using the hangen game Okuno repeatedly cut work groups in half, then after each cut he asked those observing the process, including members of the team themselves, to identify unnecessary or non-critical tasks that could be eliminated.  Based on this feedback, Okuno was able to quickly redesign workflow, reduce headcount, maximize productivity, and increase efficiency.  The hangen game applies pressure to encourage creative problem-solving.  As a result of this process teams often find entirely new methods of tackling old problems.  Okuno stated that under normal conditions “there simply is not enough pressure to allow creative thinking to occur,” and as a result, rapid change would not be possible. 

This method of rapid dynamic change requires extensive feedback and participation, but during transitional periods employees are often less rather than more likely to speak up. Job anxiety during uncertain times might make them reluctant to test the waters. However, an employee’s opportunity to provide feedback and give recommendations regarding additional steps that can be taken to increase efficiency will increase morale during this difficult period.  Once sufficient cuts have been made to improve efficiency, employees should be informed that their jobs are safe as long as they participate in your dynamic process.

Maintain Employee Engagement

Whether you implement incremental or rapid dynamic change, you must listen to your team. You also have to participate in the process, using your judgment to decide when change isn't needed or workable.  Creating change through an incremental process is more desirable than forcing rapid change in organizations.  Incremental change empowers employees, leading to increased morale.  If you must make rapid changes, using a dynamic approach, such as the hangen game, helps keep people balanced and minimizes low morale. In the worst circumstances when you cannot guarantee people's jobs even after the initial cuts or layoffs, make sure your team knows that you personally value them. 

In the end, whether you achieve change incrementally or through a rapid dynamic approach, it is critical to remember that you need employees to be engaged to for a successful integration after an acquisition.

Keyvan Samini is currently the CEO of Pitchtime and has served on the board of directors of various software and hardware technology companies. He received his master's in finance from Harvard University, his MBA from the University of Southern California, and his J.D. from the Ohio State University, where he served as law review editor.