Most people cant really innovate, says Hartmut Esslinger, founder offrog design.
These are his principles of innovation.
The core technology was basically the same.
Innovation is not that everything is totally new, says Esslinger.
Its a jump in an evolutionary process.
The iPhone famously transformed smartphones without being the first smartphone.
Everyone knows it was an evolution of existing smartphones.
But it was also a continuation of the Mac, says Esslinger (whose company helped designearly Macs).
Apples minimalist but approachable design philosophy changed everyones assumptions about smartphones.
Every competitor had to switch to touch screens or die.
Know your purpose
Innovation is also guided by purpose.
The Walkman happened because Sony co-founder Masaru Ibuka wanted to listen to music on business trips.
He would bring the companys TC-D5 cassette player with him on trips.
It was portable, in the sense that he could fit it in a suitcase.
But Ibuka wanted a player that would fit in his pocket.
Guided by that purpose, Sony engineers rethought basic assumptions about tape recorders.
For one, the Walkman couldnt record, only play previously recorded music.
And to fit in a pocket, it couldnt have a speaker, only a headphone jack.
Everything that didnt serve the core purposeextreme portabilitywas worth sacrificing.
Statistically, one in 10one in eight at bestcan be innovative.
And how many geniuses are there?
Esslinger teaches design classes with 15 students picked from a large pool of applicants.
Even in this selected group of high achievers, not everyone is going to be a legend.
In each class theres one or two geniuses.
But he points to the U.S. womens soccer team, and the unsung heroes on defense.
If they didnt do their job, all the flashy work by the offense would be useless.
But Esslinger doesnt see this as a hierarchy.
If its only creative, its not working.
The point is to respect people as who they are.
Dont rely on what people think they want
The research industry is bullshit, Esslinger says.
Its market research process is broken.
How will people know whats possible?
Focus groups can think up, say,new features for a car.
If you want to make something world-changing, you have to use your own wisdom.
In the arts, this is the truth behind write for yourself and a million other aphorisms.
In contrast with the iPhones vision, Esslinger points to Motorola.
They had a simple phone, and they wanted to test it and make it more female.
What is that, already?
They spent a hundred thousand dollars on research and not a single penny on electronic innovation.
And a lousy $28k on design.
Motorola asked women what they wanted out of a phone, then made 10 different designs.
The thing was a piece of shit!
For one, companies hire outside research firms and dont share the information they already have.
Esslinger complains about a survey he got from his travel insurer.
The first question is, Do you plan to travel in the near future?
Second, Where do you want to go?
But these guys dont know.
[The insurance company] pays for stupid stuff.
The research industry is a racket.
When you research, ask your first round of sources who else you should be talking to.
Esslinger has spent decades designing dental chairs withKaVo Dental.
Students wore gloves to avoid diseases, while current instruments were designed for a bare-handed grip.
The profession was changing, and KaVo needed to change too.
He told them so, they accepted it, and they innovated.
Thats what it means to truly do your own research.
you oughta see what no one else can see.
And if youre that one in ten whos a real innovator, youll know it when you see it.
