Alternative Use as a Form of Innovation

There’s some intriguing overlap between Patricia Seybold’s new book on co-designing with the customer and recent thinking at the strategyst as a result of Andrew being asked how to go about commercializing parallel uses of technology.

CRM Mastery recently pointed to some disscusion of excerpts from Seybold’s book at Innovation Weblog:

…observe customers in their natural settings…how they improvise or customize in order to accomplish their desired outcomes…Don’t just post a discussion form on your web site…incent the right group of people to act as consultants in ongoing discussions with each other and with your organization…

And at the strategyst:

…there needs to be a “sensing” mechanism that is attuned to the customer’s wants, needs and challenges…information needs to be captured and organized in such a way that it can be shared and re-used throughout the organization.

The post at the strategyst goes on to suggest the creation of adaptable platforms and leveraging partners’ ability to respond to alternative use better than your own organization.

What I took from noticing the similarity between the two posts is that when customers use your technology in unexpected ways, they unintentionally innovate on your behalf. In a way this suggests an original version of a product offering could be viewed as “merely” a playground or testing lab for truly successful product development. I think this is what’s alluded to in commentary in the Innovation Weblog post that mentions these sorts of notions can strike fear into the hearts of the managers and leaders of conservative, product-focused companies. They demand a level openness and risk that some people just aren’t prepared to accommodate.