Innovating the Way You Innovate

3 min readSep 7, 2020

Changing Perspective

The key to changing perspectives requires that you break the association you have with an item. Functional fixedness refers to the tendency to associate objects only with their most common uses. Keys open doors and hammers drive nails. In actuality, both can pry, scrape, claw and serve as weapons. Breaking these associations can be done by deconstructing the item into its constituent parts then listing the parts’ capabilities. For instance, describing a mobile phone as a cordless landline creates one set of possibilities. Seeing it instead as a handheld computer creates different ones. To imagine an object’s unconventional possibilities:

Deconstruct it into its constituent parts,
List all of the functions those parts can perform and
Resolve the resulting deficiencies

Computers require software and no single vendor can or should provide all options. One customer prefers Zoom for collaboration, another likes Webex and a third wants Skype. Apple realized that the way to entice these and other vendors to support the iPhone was to make the integration simple, comprehensive, and profitable. Hence, it created the AppStore, so other vendors could sell their software. Apple supported these companies’ efforts and in turn, required a 30% fee for all purchases made within a mobile app. Most people assume that the iPhone’s revenue stems from the sale of the product itself although the AppStore produces a large segment of the profits.

Create Your Common Uncommon Business

Imagine you run a restaurant and are facing extreme competition. You’ve toyed with delivering food, making your own beer, and catering. Ladies’ Night and Happy Hours fill the restaurant during typically slow times and live music interests some new patrons. However, margins are still razor-thin, turnover is high, and resources are not fully utilized.

Revamp the restaurant by listing its components and the staff’s skills.

Multiple food preparation stations
A full bar
Experience ordering and storing food and alcohol
Experience preparing food
Experience preparing mixed drinks
Experienced wait staff
Experience scheduling staff
Knowledge of consumer tastes
A reservation system
Knowledge of local codes and regulations
Thousands of square feet of wall space
Thousands of square feet of floor space
Relationships with food and beverage vendors
Relationships with other restauranteurs
Access to investors
Refrigeration
…

Imagine the possibilities these assets might provide:

Wine and spirits tastings
Bartending classes
Food and alcohol pairing events
Cooking Classes
Consulting Services for new restaurants
Training for bartenders, sous chefs, and wait staff
Showcasing and consigning artwork within the restaurant
Bartender competitions
Recipe competitions
A referral network with other restaurants
Refrigerated storage service
Affiliate sales of the reservation system
…

Embrace Obstacles

Now evaluate each option but do not dismiss any because of associated challenges. The obstacles are actually advantageous because they provide a barrier for competitors that might copy your new practices. For instance, wine tastings can be easily replicated while cooking classes may require additional food preparation stations or a separate area altogether. Most of your competitors will not entertain that as a new service. Consider that the AppStore was challenging to deploy but it may be the iPhone’s most innovative attribute. The same may be said of the obstacle you chose to overcome.

Create by Dismantling

Innovate by taking your existing product or service apart. Identify what each component or combination of components can provide. Welcome new obstacles because they provide barriers for competitors. Innovation is only a few steps away and changing your perspective will change your business. So, stop imagining that you run a restaurant. You run a business that provides many services entailing space, tables, reservations, alcohol, and more. Food is only one of the services.