Let’s face it, innovation has always felt like a race against the clock. Company and category be damned, the one constant in innovation is that there’s just never enough time. The pressure to stay ahead of ever-shrinking attention spans by coming up with something new isn’t unusual, so why does everything feel so much more urgent now than it did a decade ago?
I feel kind of old and bitter saying this, but things are different now. People have always been obsessed with novelty; it’s just that the definition of what’s novel has changed. We’ve gone from ‘that’s so last year’ to ‘that’s so yesterday’. But how?
- Our attention spans are (way) shorter than they used to be, so it’s harder to stand out and stay relevant
- Technology moves (way) faster, and what’s cutting edge today can outdated by next month
- We’re drowning in data, making it nearly impossible to interpret and act on quickly
- More channels and more touchpoints mean more noise to cut through
- Social media constantly shifts sentiment, making and breaking brands overnight
- The digital shelf has expanded infinitely as brands compete globally (and there’s now a dupe for pretty much anything)
And if all this wasn’t enough, there’s the internal constraints. Budgets are being slashed, teams are forced to become more nimble. When speed of innovation is no longer just a pressure, but a competitive advantage – how the hell are you expected to keep up?
We’ve got 5 guiding principles to help you do just that.
1. Get in the right mindset.
When we host an innovation workshop, we always move through a series of activities meant to inspire while adding artificial (or real) constraints. It’s uncomfortable, and there’s always one or two people in every group who roll their eyes and push against the constraints every chance they get (don’t worry, that’s what we train for). But, we don’t do it to be annoying – promise! We do it because adding constraints works. When you can’t do anything and everything, you need to be more focused, more decisive, and more collaborative.
The brands that win don’t always have the biggest budgets, the most robust teams, or even the boldest ideas. They’re the ones that can get creative, figure out what people actually need, and act on it – quickly and without cutting corners.
2. Don’t take shortcuts.
Counterintuitive, I know. After all, what is a shortcut if not a shorter alternate way to get somewhere? But shortcuts lack strategy, they center on minimizing effort instead of honing it.
Getting where you need to go faster means that you need to stay focused. You don’t skip the strategy, you build it into every decision you make – being more selective and intentional with where you put your time, effort, and dollars.
There are some things that you simply can’t go without: a nod to where culture is headed, what’s even going on in the category, the real lived human tensions that exist, and the ways the your brand alone can solve them. To illuminate opportunities that actually matter, in less time, don’t fall into the trap of trying to do everything, for everyone, under the guise of an innovation sprint. Instead, keep the brief sharp and locked in on only what you need to get the job done.
3. Bigger isn’t better.
- Keep your eyes on the prize. Don’t get us wrong, we love to noodle on the far out future, but tight timing means you need zero in on immediate actionability. Instead of the sky being the limit, be unforgiving and selective. Focus on what’s next (1-3 years) and specific must-solve tensions, need states, formats, targets, or jobs to be done.
- Commit to it. An innovation sprint should mean a small but mighty team of people empowered to make decisions in real time during live working sessions. This minimizes internal misalignment, and keeps everything moving smoothly without delays.
- Have a plan for what’s next. We see a lot of innovation sprints stall after ideation. The workshop is a big milestone, but it’s useless if you don’t action on the output. Have a plan and a team in place to keep things moving after the sprint.
4. Keep it simple.
- Use what you have. Clients often come to the table with more puzzle pieces than they thought they had. That’s why all our innovation projects start out with remines – which show us where the actual gaps are. But aggregating data isn’t exactly a quick exercise so, when timing is tight, we leverage AI (often, Notebook LM) to do the digging for us. While you’ll never catch us replacing good ol’ fashioned human brainpower with AI, it can create efficiencies as deadlines loom.
- Leave your desk. In some categories, you can replace hours upon hours of desk research by simply heading to the store (or even a few stores). You’d be surprised at how quickly you can piece together where the category is headed by just looking at what’s out there in a new way.
- Research wisely. Listen, we wish all of our innovation projects could include ethnographic research or motivational jobs to be done studies… but it takes time to do those things. When you’re racing against the clock, narrow in on what will get you those juicy human tensions more quickly. Social listening, superfan focus groups, fringe interviews, expert influencers – they can all help get you where you need to go in less time.
5. Workshop with purpose.
- Have the right people in the room. Building the guestlist for a workshop can be a struggle. The more, the better when it comes to creativity… right? Not exactly. While a cross-functional team is a must, you want each attendee to bring a unique perspective. Consider the best representative from each function or role, and don’t forget to balance junior and senior level teammates!
- Build stronger ideas. The easiest way to get to good ideas, faster, is to build them with people who aren’t you. A cross-functional team is good, but a co-creation with experts, influencers, and the people buying your products? That’s great.
- Get to ‘no’ faster. A typical innovation workshop can generate more ideas than you can manage. Before drafting full concepts and doing more official quant tests – screen your idea statements to identify the ones with the most promise. You’ll have less time to refine and test ideas on the other side, so you should focus on those that need less work.
- Need more ideas on how to run a good workshop? Check out our Quickstart Guide to Workshops that Actually Deliver
You can get to great ideas in less time, if you plan for it. Sound like a lot to take on? We can help.
We get plenty of requests to run innovation sprints that last weeks, instead of months. So we are no stranger to managing that process for you.If you’re looking for a little help as you sprint, reach out to Beth at bklein@thesoundhq.com.
Written By:
Beth Klein
Beth joined The Sound in 2021 with 12 years of experience exploring how people make decisions. Earning a degree in both Marketing and Print Journalism, she knows the value of using data to tell a good story. She is particularly fascinated by research methodologies that uncover hidden emotional truths; always looking for new ways to go beyond the obvious. She has worked across industries, but has put time and passion into food, beverage, and tech - which also incidentally mirrors how she spends a fair amount of her personal time. Outside of work, she likes to end a particularly long week with a drink and the latest book on behavioral psychology... much to the disappointment of her husband, who wishes she would talk about literally anything else.
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