Tom Kelley - The Ten Faces of Innovation: IDEOs Strategies for Defeating the Devils Advocate and Driving Creativity Throughout Your Organization

CONTENTS

To my familythe Okusan, the Ballerina, and the Bonzuppe
for their patience, understanding, and love.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

If you prefer to cling to the romantic notion of a lonely author toiling away like a starving artist in a dimly lit garret, you might want to skip this page. Although getting the words down on paper can still be a very lonely task, of course, making a book actually takes quite a crowd. More than a hundred people worked on the book you now hold in your hands, though I will not attempt to mention them all one-by-one.

So here are a dozen individuals or teams Id like to single out for special thanks:

Scott Underwood applied his encyclopedic knowledge of words in giving me advice on syntax, grammar, and elements of style. I have learned more about the nuances of the English language from Scott than I have from any professor. I owe him not only my friendship but also a debt of gratitude.

Olympic athlete and journalist Brigit Finn took time away from her busy schedule at Business2.0 to investigate dozens of innovation stories, and I occasionally wonder if it was her influence that gave the book so many metaphors from the Olympic Games.

Brendan Boyle and David Haygood distinguished themselves as the most prolific contributors from among the dozens of in-person interviews and thousands of e-mail responses on innovation topics. If they appear more often than others, it is because they provided a constant stream of useful inputeven after I stopped asking for it.

Marc Hershon generously lent me his think tank and tiki lounge in Sausalito as a writers hideout so I could periodically escape the continuous-interrupt environment of my desk at IDEO. Marcs space actually has a doorthough I never had occasion to close it.

Hunter Lewis Wimmer used a blend of design talents and diplomacy skills to turn my vague requests into tangible design elements like the cover and chapter intros. Hunter survived the experience and left his imprimatur on the physical appearance of the book.

Lynn Winter searched out, created, or acquired nearly every photographic image youll see between these covers, lending her energy and perseverance to the project at a time when I felt nearly exhausted by it.

Tim Brown, David Strong, and Peter Coughlan managed to remain patient and supportive with a book project that took way more time away from my day-to-day responsibilities than I had originally imagined. My vision of doing the book nights and weekends was perfectly accurate but incomplete, since the work spilled over into a couple of hundred weekdays, too.

In the literary world, I had lots of help (again) from my agent and mentor Richard Abate, as well as Doubleday executive editor Roger Scholl. Also, Chris Fortunato and his magical book-packaging team raced through the production cyclewhile jumping hurdlesabout twice as fast as I expected.

My brother, David, ultimately made this book possible, not only by starting IDEO and seeding many of the ideas contained here, but also by being my greatest source of advice and guidance for half a century and counting. In addition to everything else, he lent me his Stanford officewhich became another secret getaway spot for writing and editing. I know I will never be able to repay him, andeven betterthat he doesnt expect me to.

Jon Littmans contribution was so great that I am not sure whether its appropriate to thank him here, since he could rightly have his own page of acknowledgments. In many parts of the written manuscript, its impossible for me to separate my efforts from Jons, and weve had an intensely close collaboration that has now spanned over six years. He faithfully stuck with the project, even while others were luring him away with racy alternatives.

My wife, Yumiko, didnt work on the project directly, but she did take on plenty of extra parenting roles for the past eighteen months so I could go on this book adventure. Yumi and the family made a lot of sacrifices during that time, and still supported me all the way. I try never to take them for granted.

As for everyone else, you know who you are: trusted advisors like Whitney Mortimer and Debbe Stern; tireless supporters like Joani Ichiki and Kathleen Hughes; spontaneous helpers like Katie Clark and Marguerite Rigoglioso; Transformation colleagues like Ilya Prokopoff, Charles Warren, and Hilary Hoeber; thoughtful reviewers like Paul Bennett, Roby Stancel, Diego Rodriguez, and Jed Morley; and sources of inspiration like Tom Peters, Bob Sutton, Malcolm Gladwell, Ron Avitzur, Stefan Thomke, Stephen Denning, Seth Godin, and the Group of 33.

Thanks, everybody. I hope youre happy with the finished book.

W eve all been there. The pivotal meeting where you push forward a new idea or proposal youre passionate about. A fast-paced discussion leads to an upwelling of support that seems about to reach critical mass. And then, in one disastrous moment, your hopes are dashed when someone weighs in with those fateful words: Let me just play Devils Advocate for a minute

Having invoked the awesome protective power of that seemingly innocuous phrase, the speaker now feels entirely free to take potshots at your idea, and does so with complete impunity. Because theyre not really your harshest critic. They are essentially saying, The Devil made me do it. Theyre removing themselves from the equation and sidestepping individual responsibility for the verbal attack. But before theyre done, theyve torched your fledgling concept.

The Devils Advocate gambit is extraordinary but certainly not uncommon, since it strikes so regularly in the project rooms and boardrooms of corporate America. Whats truly astonishing is how much punch is packed into that simple phrase. In fact, the Devils Advocate may be the biggest innovation killer in America today. What makes this negative persona so dangerous is that it is such a subtle threat.

Every day, thousands of great new ideas, concepts, and plans are nipped in the bud by Devils Advocates.

Why is this persona so damning? Because the Devils Advocate encourages idea-wreckers to assume the most negative possible perspective, one that sees only the downside, the problems, the disasters-in-waiting. Once those floodgates open, they can drown a new initiative in negativity.

Why should you care? And why do I believe this problem is so important? Because innovation is the lifeblood of all organizations, and the Devils Advocate is toxic to your cause. This is no trivial matter. There is no longer any serious debate about the primacy of innovation to the health and future strength of a corporation. Even the staid British publication The Economist recently claimed, Innovation is now recognized as the single most important ingredient in any modern economy.

And what The Economist said about nations is equally true about organizations. In the four years since The Art of Innovation, my first book about our practices at IDEO, I have worked with clients from Singapore to San Francisco to So Paulo. At the same time, the scope of our work has expanded to include industries as far-flung as health care services, retailing, transportation, financial services, consumer packaged goods, and food and beverage. I have witnessed firsthand how innovation has become recognized as a pivotal management tool across virtually all industries and market segments. And while we at IDEO used to spend the majority of our time in the world of product-based innovation, we have more recently come around to seeing innovation as a tool for transforming the entire culture of organizations. Sure, a great product can be one important element in the formula for business success, but companies that want to succeed in todays competitive environment need much more. They need innovation at every point of the compass, in all aspects of the business and among every team member. Building an environment fully engaged in positive change, and a culture rich in creativity and renewal, means creating a company with 360 degrees of innovation. And companies that want to succeed at innovation will need new insights. New viewpoints. And new roles.