How being 'radically selective' is the key to successful innovation?

In the past, successful businesses increased their growth by increasing capital spend and production. It was harder for new entrants in the market to compete, as the established businesses had the market share, production systems (usually expensive), supply chains and strategic assets.

Advancements in technology, cloud computing and global supply chains have changed all of that. Having an established business and large capital spend alone is not enough to guarantee success; it is now critical to innovate faster and stay relevant with fast-evolving customer preferences. We have transitioned from a Capital Economy to an Idea Economy, where success is defined by the ability to turn ideas into value faster than the competition.?

With the need for rapid innovation, comes the need for focus and being ‘radically selective’. According to a Harvard Business Review article (link below), the global companies that are the most successful at achieving growth through innovation (as opposed to acquisitions) tend to devote their energies to a small number of breakthrough ideas.

Story of iMac G3 - a story of being ‘radically selective’

When Steve Jobs returned to Apple in 1997, Apple had lost $1.6 billion in less than 2 years. Steve observed a lack of focus at Apple. Apple had built its initial reputation on simplicity and quality but had ended up with too many products and many were lacklustre. Apple assessed the future roadmap and found that 30% of what they were working on was incredibly good, and 70% was pretty good or things Apple did not need to be doing. According to Steve, applying the same amount of resource Apple had on 30% of great products, would allow more resources focussed on a small number of great ideas.?

Apple trimmed its line of desktop computers from ten distinct models to four and even discontinued the popular consumer-targeted Performa series. This focus resulted in the creation of iMac G3, which was launched in 1998. iMac G3 was a beautiful computer designed for everyday consumer and had some of the Apple’s best design thinking behind it. It was designed to be an internet computer, came with a built-in telephone modem, and promised customer access to the World Wide Web within minutes of switching on the computer.

In the 6 weeks from the launch, Apple sold 278,000 units of iMac G3, boosting sales by 28% compared to the previous quarter. iMac G3 became the best-selling computer by Christmas 2018. The industrial unibody design, focus on easy and fast internet connection, and design for everyday consumer - became the foundation on which future successful products like iPod, iPad and iPhone were built.

According to Steve, focus is not about willpower, it is about the courage to abandon 1,000 great ideas to meet one big goal — even if that makes people mad in the process. iMac G3 was a result of such courage to be ‘radically selective’ and putting the focus of the company on a few things to ensure innovation quality.

Monotasking?

Monotasking is focusing on a singular task at a time without distraction. According to research conducted by Watson, J.M., Strayer, D.L. Supertaskers: Profiles in extraordinary multitasking ability - vast majority of participants in the study showed significant performance decrements in dual-task conditions (compared with single-task conditions), and only 2.5% of the participants could multitask effectively.?

Research has shown that we simply cannot focus on more than one thing at a time, instead our brain shifts focus from one thing to the next at a fast speed. Consequence of this switching is that we may think we are paying attention to many things simultaneously, but in reality, we are switching between them rapidly, or task-switching.?

According to Earl Miller professor of neuroscience at MIT, "Think about writing an e-mail and talking on the phone at the same time. Those things are nearly impossible to do at the same time. You cannot focus on one while doing the other. That's because of what's called interference between the two tasks. They both involve communicating via speech or the written word, and so there's a lot of conflict between the two of them."

Below are some of the benefits of monotasking:

• Improved focus and memory
• Increased productivity
• Increased creativity
• Reduced attention fatigue
• Reduced stress

According to HBR article by Tony Schwartz (link below), 25% to 50% of people report feeling overwhelmed or burned out at work. The contributor to that is not just the total number of hours we are working, but also the fact that we spend too many continuous hours juggling too many things at the same time.

Focussing on a smaller number of initiatives and structuring teams to ensure singular focus, can not only improve productivity, but also help reduce work related stress and burnouts.

How to become more ‘radically selective’ to innovate?

1. ‘Prioritise’ boldly - We achieve what we focus on, and we focus on what we prioritise. To innovate successfully, it is extremely important that we prioritise boldly, which means consciously focussing on a few things to do and consciously choosing many things not to do. Effective prioritisation at work can increase productivity and improve work-life balance for staff.
2. ‘Align’ continuously- It is easier to come up with a great idea, but extremely difficult to convert it into a collective goal. Larger teams require coordination and can sometimes suffer from bureaucracy and misalignments. To successfully innovate there must be a clear understanding of the key outcomes across the organisation and a singular focus on achieving them. To do that continuous, open, and transparent communication is needed to ensure everyone is aligned.
3. ‘Measure’ frequently - What gets measured, gets done. Setting the right performance incentives is key to ensure that there is a strong focus on achieving the right outcomes. We need to transition from annual or six-monthly performance reviews to more frequent assessments of goals and performance to ensure focus.?
4. ‘Work’ closely - Teams must perform at elevated levels to solve complex problems. For this, team members need to engage with one another and develop and maintain mutual focus of attention on a task. Research from The Wharton School identified that forming “task bubbles”, i.e., two or three co-workers working in close proximity and able to exchange ideas, is an effective way to collaborate and solve problems. Teams which can work closely and maintain mutual focus of attention on a small number of tasks, are more likely to solve complex problems and innovate.

It may feel more productive and less risky to focus on many things to increase the probability of success; however, in today’s fast moving and highly competitive world, quality of the innovation/value is the key to success, not the quantity. We need to be bold and ‘radically selective’ if we want to innovate successfully.