Ideo, the global design consultancy company, has more than 500 employees in eight offices on three continents. Over the past 30 years, the company has successfully handled projects such as building a better Pringle for Procter & Gamble; revitalizing the bicycle for Shimano; and rethinking airport-security checkpoints for the TSA. Ideo reports more than 1,000 patents since 1978 and it has won 346 design awards since 1991, more than any other company. With almost $100 million in annual revenue, Ideo's clients include giant companies such as Anheuser-Busch, Gap, HBO, Kodak, Marriott, Pepsi, and PNC. Ideo is the premier innovation consulting company for both American and foreign companies. Given that innovation is the lifeblood of any business, the corporate entrepreneur is the heart that keeps pumping innovation into the business. At Ideo, the management has developed ten personas for innovation that employees are encouraged to play in order to spur innovative solutions. The goal at Ideo is to discourage those employees that often take the contrarian position when new ideas are presented, better known as “devil's advocates.” Following are the ten personas grouped into three categories: learning—personas focused on challenging their perspectives as well as those of the organization; organizing—personas focused on the time-, resource-, and attention-limitations caused by introducing a new concept and how to effectively maneuver around them; and building— personas focused on leveraging the insights provided by the learning personas and the strategy provided by the organizing personas. The Learning Personas The Cross-Pollinator searches for new learning that can fit the unique needs of an organization by exploring other industries and cultures. An example of a cross-pollinator in action can be seen in the development of the Mujirushi Ryohin chain, a 300-store, billion-dollar retail empire. The business was based on a Japanese businesswoman finding a generic beer in a U.S. supermarket that she liked, which led to her building a retail chain based on offering only “no brand” products. The Anthropologist observes human behavior in order to gain an understanding of how people interact physically and emotionally with products, services, and spaces and then introduces that learning into the organization. Employees at Ideo, known as human-factors people, act as anthropologists when they observe customers outside of the office—for instance, one employee stayed for 48 hours in the hospital room of an elderly patient undergoing surgery. The Experimenter continuously prototypes new ideas in order to learn through trial-and-error and, in turn, to improve his or her success rate by taking calculated risks based on those lessons. Experimentation was clearly at work when BMW opted to develop short films for bmwfilms.com rather than using traditional advertising channels. The success of the initiative highlights the rewards that can be recognized by experimenters. The Organizing Personas The Hurdler is not only aware of the roadblocks that line the path to innovation, but he also possesses the agility required to circumvent those obstacles. When it came to the invention of masking tape at 3M, the employee responsible for its development was hindered by his $100 authorization limit. By submitting a series of $99 purchase orders to avoid attracting attention so that he could complete his project, this hurdler was able to bend the rules and provide 3M one of its signature products, which has generated billions of dollars in profits for the company. The Director is both adept at casting teams and in directing the members of those teams to bring their talents to light. A Mattel executive assembling a team of designers and project leaders, sequestering them for three months and producing a new $100 million toy platform, epitomizes a director in action. The Collaborator serves to bring diverse groups together by usually leading from within the team in order to facilitate the creation of new combinations and solutions. Collaborators were at work when Kraft Foods and Safeway set out to eliminate the traditional barriers between suppliers and retailers. One strategy, which on the surface was merely a method to streamline the transfer of goods between the companies, not only saved labor and carrying costs but led to the sales of Capri Sun juice drinks increasing by 167 percent. The Building Personas The Storyteller specializes at building internal morale and external awareness through the use of narratives that impart a basic human value or reinforce an element of the company's culture. Medtronic's culture is defined by its most effective storytellers, patients that have had their lives changed or even saved by the company's products and that provide firsthand narratives to the employees. The Caregiver strives to move the company beyond customer service into a more intimate customer relationship known as “customer care.” Best Cellars, a profitable wine retailer, has demonstrated the Caregiver role by removing the mystery and snobbery from wine in order to make the experience fun for its customers. The Set Designer builds a stage that will allow innovation team members to do their best work. For the Cleveland Indians, building a new stadium led to a renewed winning ability for the team. The Experience Architect goes beyond the obvious needs of customers in order to uncover their unexpressed needs. By turning the preparation of a frozen dessert into a fun experience with which the customer could get involved, Cold Stone Creamery developed a successful new customer experience, which has allowed it to enjoy premium prices.
Discussion Questions 1. How do these “personas” relate to the creative individual in an organization?