Chip R. Bell - Inside Your Customers Imagination: 5 Secrets for Creating Breakthrough Products, Services, and Solutions

T he Iraq Museum in Baghdad contains a stone that displays a carved ninth-century BC relief of Assyrian King Shalmaneser III shaking hands with Babylonian King Marduk Zakir Shumi. Shalmaneser ruled Assyria (now Iraq and Turkey) for over thirty-five years. Two features of the relief are worth noting. It is the first picture discovered of two people shaking hands. And each man is carrying a shepherds staff, believed to be a mark of royal authority on peaceful occasions.

The handshake has been the symbol for partnership for almost three thousand years. Some historians believe it became a trusted gesture of alliances because the open hands revealed no weapons; the up and down motion was intended to shake out any weapons hidden in a sleeve. It is associated with a pledge or promise.

A partnership is the paramount confederation for creating and nurturing innovation. If you examine the cultural components of organizations famous for innovation, you will see that they are filled with partnership virtuescuriosity, purpose, growth, and trust. Most innovative enterprises have successfully exorcised fear from their workplaces. Most have elevated passion and erased protectionism. Most revere organizational forms that support freedom and creativity over control, rigidity, and judgment.

Organizations today ardently pursue innovation because simply continuously improving their offerings is not sufficient to remain competitive. However, most organizations that are thriving today have already been reorganized, Leaned, and Six Sigmaed to the max. Additionally, successful disruptors are strongly influencing their go to market strategy. The dilemma facing most enterprises is illustrated by the following story.

The CEO of a small company was meeting with her direct reports at their weekly gathering. How can we increase our companys performance by 10 percent? she asked the group. The energized audience began brainstorming ways to cut costs, boost sales, reduce waste, and tighten expenses. In the middle of their spirited ideation, she stopped them. Let me ask a different question. How can we increase it by 100 percent? The room was silent for a minute. Finally, the COO said, You cant get there from here. We would have to completely reinvent how we perform. Such is the reality of todays business world.

But there is more to the ninth-century relief than a handshake between kings. There is the symbol of a shepherds crook, a long staff used to protect and guide sheep. The shepherd has always been a symbol of courage, one who protected sheep against wild animals. Through the ages, the shepherd has symbolized calm and safety. Shepherding a partnership implies the parties take great care of one another; it also suggests taking great care of the relationship itself. The king of Assyria and the king of Babylonia announced an innovative partnership with that handshake.

Enter a new player on the innovation partnership scene: the customer. This other king has been historically treated as a bit player. It can sound like We know our customers and what is best for them or You dont understand how we do business here or Customers in the boardroom? Are you joking? What about insider information and airing our dirty laundry? Some organizations claim a partnership with customers, but when the relationship is put under a microscope, the other king is merely a member of the court.