Page 101 - Free the Idea Monkey

INNOVATION IS ITERATIVE A Sign of Success
Great innovation, like great people,

typically is not born, it is raised. The
phrase, “Be patient, God isn’t finished
with me yet” is a healthy mantra for
most of us—and most innovation proj-
ects. One reason that’s true is that in
order to make a product or service every-
thing it can be, it needs to be repeat-
edly soft-launched. This means literally
sending the idea—be it a product or a
service—into a limited part of the mar-
ketplace with the full understanding that
it will be modified (perhaps extensively)
based on how consumers react.

“‘Success’ usually marks the end
of an endeavor, whereas failure is
the signal for another advancement.”

“‘Courage’ is going from failure to
failure without losing enthusiasm.”
—Winston Churchill

For successful launches to happen, a team SCA“hAhNcoihtluoderladeCLdahet”lhilfl?yted “No
must be okay with the premise that they Bbeehcianldle”d
are starting with what some may con- Gets
sider a half-baked idea; one that very
well may fail as constituted. You need to Iti(hwsasaropaetulelwolcfdatwhaiaelecirnndugglnutaoooerulbfyaro)i,dklwyides.
make this okay. You need to tell your team
that the real failure is fear of launching
an idea until it is perfect.

86 I F A I L , T H E R E F O R E I A M ( A N I N N O V A T O R )