"2014's Most Innovative Companies" and Ideo's first three faces of innovation

While reading Fast Company's 2014 list of the most innovative companies, I found the stories of older, more established companies to be of more interest to me than the fledgling companies. Some of the older companies make their way or remain on the list by evolving in the spaces they already occupy. T-Mobile, for example, was established as a mobile carrier in 1990 but made the list in 2014 because of a new stance the CEO took on the restrictions that mobile carriers impose on their customers. By taking a stand against the status quo--and thus admitting that his company was one that perpetuated this model--CEO John Legere effectively made his company stand out from the other handful of companies that dominate the mobile phone space. Although there is no mention of how Legere came about his new opinion on mobile carriers, I can imagine him as something of The Anthropologist, as described in Tom Kelley's The Ten Faces of Innovation: IDEO's Strategies for Defeating the Devil's Advocate and Driving Creativity Throughout Your Organization, because he is echoing what customers all over the country already say. The Anthropologist makes him or herself aware of how other people are viewing or experiencing a product or a service. I wouldn't be surprised if Legere's opinion was formed because he became more willing to recognize how consumers view the restrictions of mobile carriers. Consumer's opinions should be obviously--contracts, high prices, and other issues are clearly problems--but major mobile phone carriers simply don't care because their market doesn't have very much choice. Legere recognized that these are issues for people and provided them with another choice.

In contrast, Nike (which topped the 2013 list), another established company, makes its way onto the list again this year because it has expanded to another field with an app that other companies can use to determine the environmental footprint of their materials. Because Nike is a manufacturer themselves, the app is still in line with the original purpose of their business. Fast quotes Hannah Jones from Nike on the reasoning for developing the app: "the app evolved out of Nike's push to eliminate the use of hazardous chemicals in the creation of its products by 2020." Nike has embraced The Experimenter persona in their company, especially if one looks back at the article from when they topped the list in 2013.  In making an app for the industry, and not just for themselves, Nike has expanded into both the environmental sector and the software development sectors.

While the persona of The Experimenter is common on the list, The Cross-Pollinator is not so obvious. Google, now in their 16th year, was number one on the list this year. Despite the fact that Google has spread well beyond a search engine, many would still define it as such when asked. According to Kelley, The Cross-Pollinator can bring in ideas from areas outside of the company. Using the technologies that they used to create their search engine, Google has created several products across several disciplines. This makes me believe that the persona of the Cross-Pollinator is well-respected by the company. 

The Ten Faces of Innovation also reminded me of several moments on ABC's Shark Tank, in which six "sharks" invest in entrepreneurs. During the first season, Tiffany Krumins came on the show with an idea for a medicine-dispensing product for kids which she realized in a clay prototype. The creator came up with the idea when faced with the challenge of getting a child that she babysat to take medicine. By creating the prototype, she was able to communicate to "the sharks" what her idea was, and she was able to get an investment. Krumins is what Kelley would call The Experimenter. Kelley explains how important the prototype is--no matter how crude. Unfortunately, on Shark Tank these days, the sharks usually snub prototypes, favoring instead companies that have proof of their concept with sales.