Ideacide
Guy Kawasaki, original marketer of the Mac, is my favorite collector of thinking about innovation and innovators.
In this post, he's relayed the “seven sins of solutions” as articulated by Matt May, author of The Elegant Solution.
May seems to have coined the marvelous term “ideacide” to describe the process of killing innovative thinking.
Here, according to May, are seven ways ideacide is commonly committed:
1. Shortcutting
2. Blindspots
3. Not invented here
4. Satisficing
5. Downgrading
6. Complicating (my favorite … May says we're hard-wired to overthink)
7. Stifling
It seems to me that the real trick is to NOT shortcut, blindspot, or satisfice and NOT complicate at the same time. That separates true innovators from the wannabes!
We and our organizations (which are, after all … us) all commit ideacide at some time or another. But some are more gifted at it than others. How does yours rate?
Tom
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