Page 134 - Free the Idea Monkey

But what would happen if you paid a team of really smart people
who knew virtually nothing about your industry to take an objec-
tive crack at building a product, service or business model that
would rock (or even potentially destroy) your world? What if these
people used a rigorous innovation process and had access to all your
research and direct contact with every one of your department heads?

We call this Innovation War Gaming, and it is exactly what
more and more CEOs are secretly doing today. Some hire con-
sultants. Others literally hire
entrepreneurs who
have a track record of
starting businesses.
Some pay by the hour,
some offer prizes,
still others become
shareholders of small
firms just so they can be
apprised of what’s next. They
realize that their biggest weak-
ness is their own expertise. They understand that evolutionary ideas
come from down their halls and revolutionary ideas will most cer-
tainly come from outside their walls.

Worst case scenario: they sleep better at night because the inno-
vation outsiders can’t come up with anything that could destroy
their business in the immediate future. Best case, they are presented
with an industry-changing idea that they can launch or acquire if
they choose.

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