Innovator's DNA Book Review and Analysis

7/31/2019 Innovator's DNA Book Review and Analysis

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Jamie Gregor

The Innovators DNA explores how average people who are not Steve Jobs or Michael

Dell can become disruptive innovators. Right away, the authors establish that while many

believe that creativity and innovativeness are innate abilities, the truth is that genetics only play a

small role in the innovators ability to think differently. An average of 33% ofinnovation skills

are genetic, leaving 67% of these skills open to being cultivated through learning. The authors

state, Ones ability to generate innovative ideas is not merely a function of the mind, but also a

function of behaviors If we change our behaviors, we can improve our creative impact. (3)

Thus, the DNA of disruptive innovators is first established on the principle that all

professionals with the will and means to engage in specific behavioral skills can increase in

creativity and thrive in innovativeness. Before engaging in these skills though, a pre-existing

condition must be met. The willing individual must find the courage to innovate. In fact,

successful innovators who have the courage to innovate are led to practice the five discovery

skills through their active desire to change the status quo and their tendency to take smart risks to

make change happen. Innovators respond to the phrase If its not broke, dont fix it by finding

something broken. In addition, as they take risks to enable change, they see mistakes as a cost of

doing business and something to grow from.

After finding the courage to innovate, the creative process becomes an active endeavor.

Innovators, and those striving to become innovators, must practice the five discovery skills that

are focused on behavioral actions that generate sparks in creativity. These five discovery skills

are associating, questioning, observing, experimenting, and networking. All of these skills

emphasize learning and experiencing new things and looking at situations in new ways. It is

emphasized that when different disciplines and cultures intersect, a Medici Effect, as in the


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Renaissance, occurs to allow creativity to flourish. It is in these intersections of new ideas and

new ways of thinking that innovators learn to associate, question, observe, network, and

experiment. These intersections are sought out by those seeking to innovate.

Before examining each skill, it is important to recognize that each is equally important and

that innovators do not normally excel in every one, but still must practice each. Innovators score

very high on two or more and then combine each of the skills in a unique way to make valuable

insights. It is also important to recognize that no one skill can stand alone. For example, those

who ask questions naively without the other skills are referred to as armchair quarterbacks. They

hope that one of the questions will result in something big, but it will not unless they learn to

utilize the other skills as well.

Each skill will be examined further in the second portion of this analysis, but a brief

overview is now in place to demonstrate how the elements of the innovators DNA interact to

ultimately create innovative business ideas. Through questioning, inspiring innovators ask

different questions to examine what is and what could be. Common questions begin with why or

why not, what if, or what caused or is. By framing problems as questions, solutions can be

discovered and sometimes, through questioning the status quo, problems themselves are

discovered. Likewise, through observing carefully, innovators see problems and solutions that no

one else has noticed yet. They may even discover ways of using a product or idea differently. In

developing networking skills, innovators are able to draw new ideas and inspiration from others

and bridge gaps between disciplines to discover ideas commonplace to some but unknown to

their field.

In the final behavioral skill, innovators practice experimenting through new experiences,

taking apart existing entities, or testing new ideas. This skill becomes a lot easier and more


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effective when the innovator is more in tune with the other three behavior skills. In addition,

many businesses with disruptive innovators will be constantly experimenting and evolving over

time. But this evolution requires one more skill in order to pull all four behavioral skills together,

and that is where the final discovery skill comes into play.

As discussed earlier, innovators must have the courage to create change and then must

practice observing, questioning, networking, and experimenting. The final discovery skill that

synthesizes the ideas gathered from these activities is associating. By associating ideas together,

innovators make connections between questions asked, things observed, experiments run, and

networks formed, combined with prior knowledge, in order to truly discover great business

innovations. By learning to gather all of the information from these skills and combining it in

unique ways, an innovator is truly born and achieves success.

In conclusion, it is evident that while 1/3 of an innovators creativity really is genetic, the

other 2/3 can be easily formulated by examining and acting on the principles of the innovators

DNA. The innovators DNA is truly a process, which starts with having the courage to enact

change by desiring to create a change and taking risks in those pursuits. After finding the

courage to innovate, those seeking to be innovators must follow the behavioral skills of

questioning, observing, networking, and experimenting. Throughout this process, which truly

never ends, the fifth discovery skill, associative thinking, is used to combine knowledge and

experiences to create an innovative business idea.

As highlighted above, the five skills of disruptive innovators are associating, questioning,

observing, networking, and experimenting. Each of these skills plays a unique role in the makeup

of an innovators DNA and all must be simultaneously practiced and engaged in interplay for an

innovator to be truly effective.


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First, associating is the ability to connect ideas across areas of knowledge, industries, or

geographies. For example, Salesforce.com was developed as the concept of enterprise software

meets Amazon and has even now led to products that incorporate the idea of enterprise software

meets Facebook (43). In addition, Walt Disney championed being a creative catalyst in an

organization by putting ideas together, or cross-pollinating ideas. Innovators are encouraged to

gather as much knowledge and experience as possible, utilizing the other five skills and even

attending ideas conferences like TED, since the more diverse knowledge the brain has, the more

connections it can make. By having deep expertise in one area and broad knowledge of other

areas, T-shaped individuals have the assets needed to associate. Associations can be formed by

creating odd combinations, even if just to start ideas forming, and learning to see both the big

picture and dive into the details at the same time. Innovators are encouraged to use Lego

thinking, where more blocks mean a bigger and better structure, especially if the blocks are from

different sets.

In questioning, innovators propose questions to understand what is and what might be.

Einstein said, The formulation of a problem is often more important than its solution (68). By

constantly questioning what things are, what caused them, why they are the way they are, and

how things could be different, innovators might just stumble on a breakthrough idea. Innovators

are also encouraged to ask what if questions that both eliminate and impose constraints to see

how things could be different and if different might in fact be better. By posing challenges as

questions, innovators are able to examine them in a new way and find answers. With the right

questions, the answers may just reveal themselves.

Observing is also a way in which answers reveal themselves. By carefully watching the

world for things that do and dont work, innovators equip themselves to discover new ideas. The


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concept of vuja de expresses how skilled observers can see something over and over until one

day a new idea is revealed to them because of their vigilance. Ratan Tata had this experience

when he saw that Indian families were in need of affordable cars. He then had to further his

observation to decide how the cars would be purchased and what related services would be

needed, like financing and drivers lessons. Innovators must continually observe to examine what

products customers need to complete jobs, what surprises they experience in using the product,

and what kinds of workarounds they may use. As the authors point out, All of us are watchers

but few are observers. Everyone is looking, not many are seeing (108-109). The innovators

of the world must keep an eye on customers and also on the world around them through travel,

museums and zoos, and experiences with nature. Lastly, innovators must not limit their

observations to sight, but also to senses like smell, taste and touchsuch as when Howard

Schultz visited Italy and his senses were bombarded in an Italian espresso bar, inspiring him to

open the first Starbucks.

Similar to observing, networking requires innovators to step out of their comfort zones.

Thinking outside the box requires playing with people in different boxes. These people may be

of different ages, cultural backgrounds or fields, among other factors. In contrast to conventional

networking, networking for innovators is a way to learn new and surprising things, gain new

perspectives, and test ideas. Innovators may bridge the gap into a different area of knowledge

and then import ideas from that field into their own. In some cases, by establishing different

connections with unique individuals, innovators may experience serendipity and stumble on a

new idea to answer the questions theyve been asking or the problems theyve been observing. In

order to cultivate this networking skill, innovators are advised to attend networking events


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regularly, tap experts outside their fields, and build a circle of creative confidants, possibly even

within their field, to discuss the ideas they come in contact with or change they see need for.

Finally, through experimenting innovators try new ideas to see what might work in the

future. Innovators may experiment through immersing themselves in new experiences, taking

apart products, processes, and ideas, and testing ideas. Some experiments are deliberate, like

when Michael Dell took apart a computer at age 16 to see how it could be improved and when

the founders of Rent the Runway tried to discover the best model for their business. Other

experiments happen by accident, like when IKEA had to disassemble furniture after a photo

shoot and discovered they could make their products cheaper by shipping them in flat boxes and

requiring consumer assembly. And some experiments are a combination of both, especially

companies that evolve over time like Amazon.

Explain How You Can Adapt the DNA and Skill Set in a Way to Help Your Sales Career:

At first I was a bit unsure how this book would relate directly to professional selling, but

after the first couple of pages, it became evident. Not only are the exercises in improving the five

discovery skills useful for all professionals, but it is essential that professionals in the business


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world are innovative. Whether I end up in sales, marketing, or management, I must stay

innovative to be able to continually offer a unique value proposition to the market. In addition,

when selling myself to future employers, being able to observe and question what they are

looking for in a candidate will be a major indicator of my success. Likewise, ideally I will be

working in a leadership role and, according to a recent IBM poll, creativity is the number-one

leadership competency of the future (1). Each of the discovery skills applies in a unique way to

my future sales career.

In terms of associating, I must be able to draw conclusions between what the consumer

wants and what my organization can offer, sometimes offering up odd solutions if it will work

best for their needs. When struggling with finding creative solutions to problems with customers

or coworkers, the authors suggest flipping to the 27th

page in a catalog or utilizing Wikipedias

random page option, both of which can help with examining sales issues in new ways. In

addition, it is inevitable that I will face competitors and an association technique proposed is to

think like the competitor or an admired company you, which is completely applicable to sales

situations. I also love the idea of creating a curiosity box in order to help with ideas for future

products or promotion and believe that is a strategy I will implement even before graduation.

Finally, this advice will definitely prove valuable in my sales career: give space for ideas to

simmer (like the shower) and, if all else fails, go to sleep.

The questioning discovery skill is equally appropriate for my future sales career. The

book itself states that, asking clients lots of questions is key to generating powerful solutions to

problems (66). By becoming skilled at phrasing questions, especially in unique ways, I can

discover what the customers needs and wants are and may even help them discover ones they

never knew existed. Likewise, I can question myself by asking who my target customers are and


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what they want. Finally, three particular tactics discussed to cultivate the questioning skill seem

very helpful to me. The first is Question Storming, rather than brainstorming, which may help in

discovering new sides to a problem or even new solutions. The same end result can be achieved

through question thinking, in which I could turn my top three challenges into questions. Finally, I

can check my Q/A ratio to make sure that I am focusing more on what my client is saying than

what I have to say and showing them I am there to help by asking productive questions.

Next, observing can be very helpful in my future career by allowing myself to become

more aware of the jobs that companies need done and using my unique value proposition to

capitalize on them. In addition, I must look at specific ways in which they use my product or

service, paying special attention to their surprises and workarounds. Observations on these two

concepts could then be used to better serve the customer or even take advantage of on another

need they have in order to generate more business. It is also important to note that these

observations should be regular and that I can apply the innovators technique of scheduling

regular visits to not only check in on customers, but observe them using my product. While

observing, the authors even provide ten questions I could ask myself, focusing on topics from the

purchase situation to delivery and payment to customer service issues.

In terms of networking, there is a lot I can take from this skill for my future career. Ive

always been uncomfortable with the way some people describe networking as a way to

basically play nice so you can get what you want from someone. However, the textbook and this

skill in the innovators DNA have shown me that networking works best as a mutually beneficial

relationship. The way that innovators use networking to exchange ideas and learn new ideas

should be the primary focus of every networking relationship, with resources and job

opportunities as a byproduct from a fruitful relationship. Furthermore, the authors highlight


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tactics to network that are beneficial as well, including a mealtime networking plan, attending

conferences, starting a creative community, inviting an outsider, or cross-training. All of these

are very insightful ideas to improve my sales career through networking.

Finally, experimenting will be applicable in my sales career in many ways as well. Like

innovators, it will be essential for me to try out new experiences to grow as an individual and

professional. Working in new places and in multiple industries, as well as learning new skills,

will continually help me to advance in my field and make me more relatable to a larger number

of clients. Next, while I may not necessarily be taking apart products, I can still deconstruct an

idea to examine why things operate a certain way. Through this, I may conduct an experiment or

pilot study to find a better way. Lastly, developing new skills, crossing physical and intellectual

borders, and going trend spotting, all activities recommended for innovators, will be essential for

me to grow in my professional career.

Innovator's DNA Book Review and Analysis

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