The Art of Innovation   Interview:Tom Kelley Since its inception in 1991, IDEO has been a leader in the design world, creating a series of hit products such as the first Apple Computer mouse and Polaroid I-Zone Instant Camera. Where does its creative power come from? How does it orient its overflowing power of creation to innovation? Such queries intrigue not only the design industry but also the business world as a whole. The Art of Innovation, published in February, 2001, profusely reveals such secrets. In the following interview, Tom Kelley, author of the book and IDEO General Manager, talks about the IDEO magic. IDEO Is an Ideal Workplace. I Wanted to Write about Its Magic. E: What made you write this book? T: I always wanted to write a book. In January, 1999, I went to my brother David, who was CEO, and said, "Hey, would it be all right if I would work at IDEO on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and concentrate on writing a book on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday?" I also said I could finish the book in a year. But he told me I couldn't, because that would interfere my work. So the idea of writing a book was put on the back burner. Then came an offer to broadcast a story about producing an experimental model of a shopping cart on the Nightline. It went on the air on February 10, 1999. The next morning, Richard Abbate called me from New York and asked if I was interested in writing a book. I said I was but didn't have time. Then he introduced me to Jonathan Littman to work with. Unlike usual arrangements, he did all sorts of work for me, which took a lot off my shoulder. But the book project was much more challenging than everything else I had done. Writing the first draft was particularly tough. I have worked at many different places, but IDEO is an ideal workplace. I wanted to capture the magic I believe in. I wasn't thinking about selling a book, but I wanted to have the legacy of the firm. E: A lot of businessmen are looking at IDEO's model as something to emulate and to learn from. T: The line of my book is my e-mail address. Surprisingly I got almost one thousand e-mails. The audience I had in mind for this book was those people who manage groups of a certain size. Most CEOs are very much in favor of innovation, but middle managers are less positive because they are afraid innovation will make them busier. Those people need a spark that will trigger them off. I think you must assure them by saying, "You can do it," "That is possible," "It's not that hard," or "It's not that expensive." IDEO Is Unique Because of Its Method to "Observe." E: Can you talk about the methodology mentioned in the book? T: When I set out to write this book, I thought I would base it on a methodology, which is five steps of understanding, observation, visualization, evaluation and improvement, and implementation. But they are not where the IDEO magic lies. The five steps can be called a work practice. It is not what we do, but how we do it. For example, brainstorming is a work practice. It is done not only at the beginning of a project, but can happen at many stages. It should be done at each step or more frequently. And prototyping. The prototyping that is done at IDEO is at the stage of visualizing, but it can be done at different stages. What I consider IDEO's magic is the second step, observation. It is a magic, because most companies don't do this, and observation is the source of inspiration for innovation. If you are in an industry for a long time, people think you are an expert. Experts tell what they know to people who come for advice, whereas the "Observe" step is about not being an expert. It's about starting from the first principles and watching what happens. E: What is IDEO's way of observing things? T: The goal of observation is to get some inspiration, to learn something new that is not available at your desk. When we do observation, we take somebody who is trained as a social psychologist with a degree on cognitive psychology or cultural anthropology, along with a designer or engineer who is going to work on the product. So typically you have this two-person team. We pair them up because the designer or project leader can not only see what's happening but also can confirm it by having the specialist tell you what he or she see or hear. That will make it easy to come up with possible solutions. E: You said a while ago that brainstorming or prototyping is done throughout the whole process. At which step do you do observation? T: It's done after the "Understanding" step, but also when a prototype is made. You show the prototype to people to test it out. A human factors person would be there as well. I will give you an example I mentioned in my book. The solution we came up with for the top of a toothpaste tube. Crest wanted to have a new design for a toothpaste tube. The designers worked very hard and came up with a design they thought distinct and were very proud of. It was a pop-out design. I think you have a similar one in Japan. They gave it to consumers. American consumers were used to the top which screwed off. So they all said, "Mine is broken. It doesn't screw off." The designers would say, "It pops off! Look how easy it is." But the human factors person would say, "If you show it to a bunch of people and they all try to screw it off, you should redesign it. No matter how perfect the design is, it is useless if it doesn't work for people." The point of this story is that you should use observation mixed with prototyping. When a prototype is made, you show it to people who have never used it and say, "Figure out how to use it," just like in this story. The designer observe it and improve the design. Whether or not you are in a design industry, you have the burden of proof, if you have something your customers doesn't understand. Unless you make it more understandable, it can't be a real product. The Boss Chosen by Team Members E: You team up and each group has a studio. How does the working environment influence these processes of teaming? T: One day, Dennis Boyle, who heads a studio at 660, High Street, came and said, "We've got a problem. I want to hire two people, but we don't have the space for them." All the staff were at the 831, High Street office, having lunch. One engineer raised his hand and said, "If we each give up one foot, there will be a space for two people." What's remarkable about this solution is that nobody was unhappy. If it had come from me, General Manager, it would have been a "they" solution, and people would have complained, "The space is tight now," or "We had to give up." But it was a "we" solution. Everybody took part in it and that's why nobody complained. E: Could you talk about the organization of IDEO? In the book, you mention that instead of the group leader choosing the members, the members choose for whom they would work or in which project they would participate. T: In order to explain that, we should go back 7 years. At the time the number of employees had risen to about 100. It was impossible for David to pay attention to all of them. So we decided to divide them into groups. We, the management, appointed five group leaders and divided the rest of the people into five groups. How they were divided was very unique. The group leaders explained what they wanted to do at their own studios at a Monday morning meeting, where everyone was present. In other words, the groups were not discipline-based, but based on what the leaders had passion about. We handed out pieces of paper and the staff wrote their names and the groups they wanted to join. They could write the first, second and third choices, but because we were flexible about this grouping, all could get their first choice. They got to help pick the building their groups would go in and outfit their own workspace. How often does this happen in the business world, I mean, members choosing their bosses? Our staff could choose their bosses and participate in setting up their own workplaces. This really gave each group motivation. What is more remarkable is that we realigned the groups several years after the groups were formed. Again they got everyone to write their first, second and third choices. Some wanted to move to different groups, but most stayed in the same groups. Even if they stayed, they reaffirmed that they wanted to stay there and chose to stay there on their own. Projects to Be Shared by Groups E: How many studios do you have? T: I think there are seven. E: Do two studios work on the same project? T: We try to have projects shared across studios as far as possible. So it is unusual for the whole project to be completed by one studio. One of the reasons is that studios get very busy at the peak period and then all of a sudden you have all the staff without jobs. So if you share work across studios, it is easy to fill the gap. You share the risk either when you are busy or not busy. It's a kind of risk management. E: You have emphasized that each studio has its own identity. If they are to work across the studios, what is the purpose and effect of each studio having its own identity or uniqueness? T: Each project belongs to one studio. If you happen to work on a project owned by a particular studio, you are on loan to that studio. You have two kinds of loyalty, one to the studio and the people you belong to (such as those you go out for a beer with after work) and the other to that particular project team. And that kind of duality works in many organizations. IDEO workers balance the two very well. E: You refer to the greenhouse effect as an optimum physical environment. T: If you give enough heat, light, moisture and food in a greenhouse, you can hope for plants to grow. The person who manages the greenhouse does not make photosynthesis happen, nor does he make the plants grow, but he gives the right amount of food. In the same manner, if CEOs and management teams use their job with respect to space, they can nurture things in the right direction, nurture groups, nurture collaborations and open communications and nurture a sense of freedom at work. As mentioned in my book, Franklin Becker and Fritz Steel talk about body language and verbal language in a book titled "Workplace by Design." They say that to an organization mail and brochures are verbal language, whereas physical spaces are body language. Verbal language does not become the truth unless you agree to what is said. But you can believe body language is true. For instance, suppose the management team said, "People are our best asset." But if you start working for them and find that they wring the last penny out of the cost and make you feel miserable, they consider you as just one unit of their products. E: Here, everybody is empowered and basically is where he or she wants to be. In other words, they are teaming in a way they want to. Do you think this kind of setting up an organization brings innovation? T: Yes, hiring bright people and giving them jobs they can enjoy is all part of it. So is the process we have to cause cross pollination between groups. Speaking of pollination, space can be instrumental to cause pollination. We created a caf which is much better than it was in our previous buildings. People come to the caf and the mail boxes for the entire staff are also located near the caf. In order to encourage accidental encounters. E: It is mentioned in your book that you used to reward your employees when they are promoted by giving them a little nicer chairs or nicer ash trays. Do you still do that? T: Rewards or gifts are pretty intrinsic to the organization. At a consulting firm I used to work at, the employees were motivated only by a prospect of getting a pay raise or becoming a partner. But here at IDEO, people are motivated in a more complex way. excerpt from ECIFFO 40 March 29, 2002