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Innovation Interview: Pinterest on Why Every Idea Needs Execution

Posted by on 08 June 2016
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In our Innovation interview series, each week we
talk to thought leaders, inspirers, and innovators in the industry to pick
their brains about the state of innovation,
trends, and what's in store for the future. This week we caught up with Brian
Singer, design manager and brand creative at Pinterest.

Check out our interview with Brian below:
Why does inspiration
need execution when it comes to innovation?
Singer: Everything
needs execution, or it's just another idea. While there are plenty of good
ones, and even more bad ones, an idea is simply that, an idea. Put a man on the
moon. Reinvent how people shop on their phones. Without doing the actual work
(which is 99% of the effort), what's an idea worth?

Why are large organizations under fire
these days to be more agile and opportunistic in their approach to innovation?
Singer: The rate
at which new products and technologies are adopted has been accelerating over
the last 100 years. According to (possibly true) internet statistics, it took
the Telephone 75 years to reach 50M users. Radio was 38 years. TV, 13 years.
The Internet, 4 years. Facebook took 3.5 years to reach 50M users. Angrybirds
took just 35 days. The increase in competition, coupled with the rate of
adoption results in a sizable risk of having your lunch eaten. This puts
tremendous pressure on companies to continue to innovate (not something larger
organizations are known for).

Why is customer-centered innovation so
important now more than ever?
Singer: Experience
wins. Not every time, I mean, look at Comcast. But, it's clearly a strategic
advantage and has become an expectation from customers. For larger companies
that haven't focused here, it's provided an opportunity for their competitors.
Smaller start-ups have this built into their DNA, and use it as a way to take
market share from category leaders.

How can a company create a culture of
innovation?
Singer: That's
the billion dollar question, isn't it? And I doubt there's a one size fits all
answer. I'd say it requires three things. First, the right people. As I said
before, an idea is just an idea. You need creative people that can turn a
sketch into a prototype, who can design and build products, processes and
experiences. Second, is the ability to work quickly with some autonomy.
Enabling a team to solve a problem and pressure test their idea without too
much bureaucracy and middle managers slowing things down is critical. Finally,
you need the ability to fail. I know, I know, the big thing is to fail faster,
harder and so on. The truth is, failing sucks, and while companies might say
they encourage failure, it's often lip service.
As part of a rigorous design process, failure is built in.
There are 10 ideas, after pressure testing, it's clear that 5 won't work. The
other 5 are developed, and during development, 2 more are eliminated due to
technical limitations. The final three are put in front of customers, where
there's a clear winner. Turns out there was another team working on the same
problem, and their winner beats yours. That's a win for the company, but can
demotivate employees. If the investment of time and resources is right (as
lightweight as possible to get to confident decisions) people get used to the
process, to failure, and can jump back in to solve the next problem.
Why is
intrapreneurship key to innovation?
Singer: Having
worked both outside, and inside of companies, I think it's clear that employees
tend to have a better lay of the land. Being so close to the business, and the
problems it faces, puts employees in a unique position to find solutions to
those problems. This only works when they're enabled to do so, and if there
isn't a culture of innovation, then, well, it's probably best to hire outside
agencies, consultants, etc. (for folks that do this on the regular, it might be
worth considering if your company has the right people and culture to
survive).
How can large organizations
keep the pace & creativity of startups?
Singer: Can they?
They hope they can, but I truly wonder if it's possible. Remove as much of the
overhead from innovation teams as possible, and let them run. (of course, there
need to be clear goals or problem statements to solve). I made that up. I
really don't know the answer, and if I did, I'd write a book and become a
consultant.

Want
to hear more on innovation? Attend FEI
Europe
October 5-7 in Berlin, Germany.
FEI is a global event brand that has become the annual meeting place of
the most seasoned innovators across the globe. Established in 2003 in the US
and 2007 in Europe, the FEI event has sustained a rich history of success with
corporate innovators, entrepreneurs, academics and thought leaders with events
in cities across Europe, including Munich, Vienna, Amsterdam, Berlin,
Copenhagen, Zurich and Monte Carlo.
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