Innovation - Breadth vs Depth: Part 2

Well, following on from my previous blog on the role of domain knowledge in innovation, here are some more thoughts (and a bit of an experiment!).

Remember that in-depth domain knowledge can often "blind" inventors to the true value of their innovation. Let's look at an example and they don't come any more famous (or infamous) than the telephone.

The diagram to the left was produced by Elisha Gray, a professional inventor, in February 11 1876. Elisha Gray discussed the idea with his peers and investors, but the conclusion seemed to be that it was “nothing more than a toy”. At the time, Gray was exploring solutions that would enable more than one set of telegraph signals to be sent simultaneously across a single pair of wires. The solution relied on using tuning forks to produce an electric current and led to a technique known as "harmonic telegraphy". In due course, the concept of the telephone was an extension of this idea. However, following the advice of his investors, Gray shelved the idea and concentrated on improvements to the telegraph.

The next diagram was produced by Alexander Graham Bell, a school teacher, it is dated March 9 1876. It would appear to post date Elisha Gray's work.

In a last minute dash to the Patent office, history would have it that Bell got there first. However, there is significant controversy around the details, but most of it is fuelled by the fact that the two diagrams look similar even though they are said to have been developed independently. If you want to find out more, try starting here on Wikipedia.

Whatever the truth, the fact remains - Elisha Gray, a professional inventor, failed to recognise the value of his invention.

The more you read about Elisha Gray and his invention, the more you have to wonder about why he didn't spot the value in what he invented. But this isn't an isolated incident. It happens all to frequently that the "great new idea" ends up being used for something other than it's original purpose - often, completely missed by the original inventor.

So, if you were Elisha Gray, would you have seen the value in the telephone? Would you to miss the obvious?

Try this. Watch this video and see if you change your mind. I bet it will make you think twice!

You will find the video here: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=voAntzB7EwE

The truth about innovation: 3. Breadth vs Depth

Check this out, 70% of inventors believe they got their ideas by exploring areas where they were not experts. Many of these inventors state that such exploration stimulates new ways of thinking and avoids preconceptions that hamper folks who have been working in the subject for many years.

Mark Granovetter, a social psychologist, looked at this phenomenon in terms of social ties. In his terminology, a group of individuals are said to have strong social ties if they share people that they know. This frequently occurs in the scientific community where researchers often know their counterparts and other people working in the same field. These connections can be internal within the same organisation or external involving academia or industry associations (in terms of yellow and green blocks below). This is shown in the diagram below - the domain knowledge is shown in terms of depth, whereas innovation often occurs by bridging these domains.

Domain knowledge tends to build strong social ties. However, as many researchers have already noted, the ties that bind are the ties that blind.

Individuals are said to have weak social ties if they do not share many connections with each other. In these situations, individuals share few mutual connections/acquaintances.

Innovation tends to originate from a balance of strong and weak ties.

The interesting thing here is that Research Labs tend to drive domain knowledge and as such individuals build strong social ties. So the issue becomes how do we maintain the balance between the two. This is what Andrew Hargadon has referred to as technology brokering - the ability for some individuals to be able to bridge these knowledge domains.

In the 1980's when I worked in HP's Research Labs, these "technology brokers" were referred to as "Renaissance Men". If you look up the definition on Wikipeadia, you will find it is the same concept, just different words.

The truth about innovation: 2. Repurposing the past

Many innovations are, in fact, the re-incarnation of ideas that have gone before. Take the light bulb - the very epitomy of innovation. The screw thread fitting was invented around the turn of the last century by one of Edison’s technicians when looking for a mechanism to securely fix a light bulb into it's socket. The fitting is based on the threaded cap from a paraffin can that just happened to be in Edison's laboratory.

The fitting was standardised in 1909 and screw in bulbs in the UK use a standard E27 fitting - the "27" refers to the diameter of the thread in millimeters, the “E” standards for Edison. It is the one shown in the image by the way, just in case you thought the picture was purely for decoration!

Many of these innovations are purely serendipitous and depend largely on the innovator's past experiences. For example, Edison's technicians had been experimenting with charcoal for a completely different purpose before they struck on the idea of using it as a filament in the incandescent light bulb. It is these prior experiences that help innovators make connections that no one else has made before. The wider your set of previous experiences, the more "connectedness" you are likely to stumble across.

I am not the first to comment on this (see Andrew Hargadon's excellent book on technology brokering, "How breakthroughs happen" - more later) and many organisations are using this during their initial idea generating process. It makes sense to make sure that we have looked for inspiration in other industries and sectors, particularly we they are encountering similar problems, as well as looking at how past problems have been solved.

Let's look at another example. Again this is from Thomas A. Edison. In 1912, Edison launched the first home movie projection system called the Kinetoscope. Unfortunately for Edison, the home cinema projector pre-dated the home cinema camera so users were stuck with watching prerecorded 16 minute movies. These were fairly expensive due to the low volumes and even with the most interesting subject matter, you probably wouldn't want to watch it too many times. To combat this, Edison introduced a central clearing house for movies which can be exchanged by post. Ultimately, the idea failed because of a lack of take up, but the idea remains.

In 2004, LOVEFiLM launched its DVDs by post business in the UK. Today, there are over 900,000 members, 65,000 titles and 3M rentals per month in 5 countries.

I know there are lots of other examples out there. I am sure that you will have your own favourites. But the point here is that if you are looking for inspiration a great starting point can be looking to the past to understand how similar problems have been previously solved.

The truth about innovation: 1. Chance favours the prepared mind

One of the first truths that hit me when I started looking at innovation was that so many great innovations seem to have occured by accident. The harder I looked the more examples that I seemed to find. They seemed to be everywhere. There are just too many of them to have been purely accidental.

Have a look at these examples and see if you can guess what I am describing. You will find the answer if you hover over the "answer" link at the end.

Consumers would not return samples after unsuccessful trials.
Originally intended as a treatment for angina.
Stops flowers from wilting when used in dilution.

The inventor’s name is now associated with a prize.
Formed when nitro-glycerine leaked into packing material.


Developed during WWII in an attempt to produce synthetic rubber.
Formed by dropping Boric acid onto silicone.
Became one of the cult toys of the 1960’s.

The killer application was as place markers in hymn books.
The initial commercial launch was a flop until they were given away for free.
Invented by Art Fry when looking for a use for a glue that didn’t set.


Discovered by 3M in 1952 by Patsy Sherman
When a potential glue was accidentally dropped onto a white canvas tennis shoe.
Nothing could remove the glue or produce a stain.

Developed during WWII by Percy Spencer
Breakthrough occurred when a chocolate bar melted in his shirt pocket while building a magnetron
Domestic appliance related to the radar

And the list goes on....tea bags, Teflon, Penicillin, Vaseline, Velcro, Nylon.... But I think you will have got the point by now. If you are interested in reading about more of these, try "They all Laughed" which provides interesting reading.

To view these innovations purely as accidents does not do them justice. Otherwise, it would infer that these are random events that bestow fame on random people. These innovators saw what others had seen, but made NEW connections. And they acted on them.

Making these new connections requires a "prepared" mind.

Many great inventions are the result of a “Plan B” and this is a fact that many Venture Capitalists recognise. When selecting management teams, VCs will often look for a team that has a track record of being observant and changing tack when the circumstances demand. Management teams that carry on with a plan, no matter what the market tells them, are unlikely to succeed.

These events that show that “Chance favours the prepared mind” - a phrase coined by Pasteur (yes, another prepared mind!) and known as "Pasteur's dictum".

The truth about innovation

I have been doing some work recently on innovation - this is a topic that is very dear to my heart and, judging by the amount of interest people show in it, I don't think I am alone!

While there aren't many companies that would say that innovation is not important to their company, however, there aren't many that can define it. And if they can't define it, they are going to have a hard time promoting and nurturing within their organisation.

As I went through the reading material (by the way, you will find my book list on Amazon here), there were a number of riffs (i.e. patterns) that came up time and time again. They might be explained in slightly different words, but the underlying theme is essentially the same. Over the next few days, I will step through the seven riffs one by one. For completeness, there are:

1. Chance favours the prepared mind
2. Repurposing the past
3. The Future is here already, but it isn’t evenly distributed
4. Breadth vs Depth
5. Necessity is the mother of invention
6. Nurturing innovation through networks
7. You are what you innovate