Welcome back to the Be A Kitchen Innovator blog series on The Knickerbocker Glory! This is the second post in the series that will discuss finding new inspiration for your innovation efforts. I hope you enjoy.
Inspiration and Stimulus.
In part 1 of this series we spent time discussing our statement of purpose and how this statement helps us define exactly what we will be doing in our innovation effort. We also know what we will not be doing which will helps us keep focus. Now it is time to start preparing for the creation of new ideas. For this we need some inspiration which, in innovation lingo, is sometimes called stimulus. At its foundation, inspiration or stimulus is basically new information that we did not have before.
From Knickerbocker Glory: A Chef’s Guide to Innovation in the Kitchen and Beyond
Wanted: New Inspiration!
In order to create something new, new information is needed.Why? Because if we cannot create new connections between ideas how can something new arise? If we keep looking at a problem the same way we will always come up with the same solution. At the foundation of innovation is bringing new perspective, inspiration, context or whatever you want to call it to create something new. (We should be clear that we are not talking about inventing something new. Invention is when something that has not existed before is created. Innovation is taking something that already exists – a product or process – and making it even better. When we creatively make connections between new facts we create the foundation for new ideas. By adding new information to what already exists we can start creating new ideas. It is worth noting now, that ideas are not innovations, In order to make innovations we have to bring the ideas to life.
So where should this new information come from? Well, everywhere! Stimulus is everywhere. It can come from obvious places that are directly related to the innovation topic or not related at all. If we were creating new desserts perhaps we would get information by studying recipes or going to the local bakery. If we were innovating to create a new dating website perhaps we would get new information from couples counsellors. Lets look at our list of statements of purpose and see if they can shed some light on where to look, too.
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Stimulus is Everywhere: Where could we find stimulus based on our statements of purpose? |
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| Create new layered desserts that pay homage to Canadian culture. | Bakers, Books about Canadian Culture and food, Dessert Cookbooks, Travel Guides. Canadian demographics. |
| Reduce cycle time for product development 50% using techniques from the fast food industry. | Available Product Development Processes, Efficiency Experts, Fast Food Experts, Fast Food Restaurants, Race Car Pit Crews |
| Create a new social dating website that mimics the experience of dining out. | Fine dining establishments, Experts in communications between couples, psychologists, Restaurant designers |
| Create a new model to teach innovation that uses culinary arts as a guide. | Innovation Experts, Chefs, Cooking School Administrators, Students, Education Experts, First Grade Teachers |
| Create a new breadless line of sandwiches inspired by Jazz musicians. | Jazz musicians, Music Appreciation teachers, Chefs who layer flavors, consumers. A trip to the grocery store to see what can replace bread. A study of other cultures that don’t eat bread. |
As you can see from above, the information can come from a variety of places. Your audience – those who eat your food, use your products and services – is also a great source of information. Any marketing outfit would certainly use information about their audience to innovate with. Both old and new market data could certainly be useful just as old and new recipes would be useful to the food innovator. The stimulus could be in the form of written information, but also in the form of people. Talking to experts about various topics is a great way to gather new information.
The sources of stimulus above are types of stimulus that are related to the innovation topic. This can be turned on its head though. How could fashion information or trends be used to create something new in the food arena? What if IBM were creating a restaurant? How would Apple Computers create layered desserts? These types of questions put new “lenses” on an issue and help us think differently. For each one new information would need to be gathered so facts about those areas could be applied to creating new ideas.
Below are examples of the types of facts that may be gathered. Here information is needed to create Knickerbocker Glories that pay homage to Canada. It makes sense then that some new facts about desserts and Canada would be needed. You will note that the facts below are not just food facts. This is a good thing as it will help stretch our imagination and give us new and different inspiration for new and bolder ideas.
Inspiration: Facts about Canada
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Canada holds the record for the most gold medals ever won at the Winter Olympics. |
Winnie the |
Montreal |
The Blackberry Smartphone was developed in Ontario |
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80% of all |
77% of the |
Macaroni |
Canada has |
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Basketball |
Canada is |
The coffee |
Sweet |
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Ice Hockey |
Nanaimo Bars are a legendary |
French is |
May West |
The facts that we have collected will be applied in our ideation, the next step in our process. This inspiration will act as the foundation for creating new ideas or concepts – in the case above, new layered desserts that pay homage to Canada.
It is important to remember that inspiration can come from anywhere. The facts can be related or unrelated to the innovation topic. It is worthwhile taking time to collect a variety of new information from a variety of places including talking to experts in various fields of study.
Next time we will discuss how to take this inspiration and turn it into new ideas.
Where do you find you find your inspiration? Have any questions so far? Let us know in the comment section!
