TCMBA #7 - Creating an Innovation Pipeline in Specialty Coffee
We did it! We’re at the sixth (and final) newsletter about innovation.
Here’s what we’ve covered so far:
1. Specialty coffee won’t be able to realize the profitability it needs if we don’t start innovating.
2. Product innovation requires consumer-focused thinking.
3. Process innovation can be incremental and is key in the long-term sustainability of any business.
4. Position innovation can help you unlock the full potential of your business.
5. Paradigm innovation is coming for coffee and it’s much-needed, but it’ll take a community.
Now? We need to talk about committing to Innovation as a company or individual so that the flow of new ideas and action plans can continue.
We need an Innovation Pipeline.
⚠️ WARNING ⚠️
This may all feel overwhelming when you read it.
I want you to remember two things:
This can all be broken down into really simple steps. Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good.
Help is available. You don’t have to do this alone.
This humble website was a key reference in my MBA course on Entrepreneurship and Innovation from the University of Manchester.
It’s from Steve Blank, a highly credentialed and often-cited creator of the Lean Startup methodology. We’ll talk more about this some other time, as I think his Customer Development concepts are highly applicable to The Coffee MBA!
Anyhow, I think the work Steve Blank did with Pete Newell, the Director of the U.S. Army’s Rapid Equipping Force, could have a giant impact on the way coffee businesses think.
It is detailed in a blog post on Steve’s site titled, “These Five Principles Will Accelerate Innovation.” This is written in some serious DoD jargon, so, I’m translating it and reapplying it to coffee. If you’d like to read the original, you can find it here.
But first, let’s start with some results (also translated from super-smart defense department jargon):
Pete says he’s shocked by how quickly they’re “discovering the pathways toward solving incredibly hard problems.”
Wow! Sounds like something we all need!
Here are some examples he gives:
A Navy team identified 80 problems and was then able to “curate” it down to a single prioritized problem to solve. In under 60 days, “they created 26 MVP’s (minimum viable products) while interviewing over two dozen companies.” Then, they “incubated and delivered a solution” that will save the Navy $20 - $30 million per year (the solution is to get large vessels back to sea faster).
The Defense Intelligence Agency found 100 problems from 400 interviews and turned it into five validated proof-of-concepts with the evidence needed to confidently invest resources to prototype them.
The process they’re using builds data and outside feedback into the system so that you can make clear decisions and keep narrowing focus as you move through the process.
Let’s look at the how.
But first, we may want to get clear on what a pipeline is.
A pipeline is when you develop a process for taking people, ideas, prospects, from a large pool of potentials toward a very small chosen set. It’s often called a “funnel” because you’re going from big to small, wide to specific, many options to a few options.
Defining the processes for your funnel is really important so that decision-making is intentional and as repeatable as possible. Everyone in the process should have an understanding of how decisions are made.
And a very important note from Steve Blank:
“An Innovation Pipeline requires a disciplined, evidence-based, data-driven, process for connecting innovation activities into an accountable system that rapidly delivers solutions to hard problems.”
That’s right. We’re being quick, using data and evidence, and solving hard problems.
Now, let’s look at 5 key concepts that Pete Newell from the DoD took away as essential to quickly delivering solutions.
1️⃣ This process is most powerful when there’s a “well-curated and prioritized problem.” But, getting there “requires access to a source of hundreds of them.” (You need a really long list of problems in order to identify one really good/solvable one)
2️⃣ Trying to find the solution often helps identify the problem. So don’t be afraid to cycle through the first few steps a couple of times.
3️⃣ It’s imperative that all potential stakeholders (and saboteurs in the case of the DoD) are considered. And nailing the value proposition is critical for getting from ideation through integration.
4️⃣ You will get to the best value proposition through interviewing stakeholders and basing these interviews on your best data-driven hypotheses and by showing them something. It could be an image of a concept or an MVP, but give them something to react to.
5️⃣ I’m gonna just fully quote this one because it’s really good! “Innovation happens because of people and it takes a village. Accelerator teams perform best when supported by:
✅ Teachers – who can ground teams in a common framework and language for the discipline of innovation and entrepreneurship.
✅ Coaches – who can walk teams through the practical application of innovation tools in context with the problem they are trying to solve.
✅ Mentors – who will provide relentlessly direct feedback to teams and challenge them on the quality of the hypotheses, MVPs and the analysis of what they’ve learned, while driving them through each pivot rather than letting them get bogged down in ‘analysis paralysis.’
✅ Advisors – who will provide alternative viewpoints that will enable teams to see clearer pathways through bureaucracies.
✅ Connectors – who will help teams rapidly grow their networks to gain new insights from unique partners not yet discovered.”
Final thoughts from Pete Newell: “If your organization is running innovation activities or an accelerator and these five principles aren’t part of their program they are likely wasting your organization’s time and resources, and contributing to Innovation Theater instead of deploying solutions to real problems.”
Alright, let's move forward.
Here’s my recommendation for next steps:
Get honest with yourself on whether you want to commit time and resources to innovation. If you need some encouragement, go back to the first innovation newsletter.
Drive your team toward crystal-clarity on the process. Who is involved? What are the activities you’ll do to work through the pipeline? How are you making decisions? Who are the stakeholders? Etc.
Just start. I got a banjo for my 40th birthday in September. Am I good yet? Of course not. How do I get good? Pick up that banjo everyday and keep trying.
You’ve got this!
When you’re ready for help, here’s how we can work together:
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Access weekly group coaching in The Coffee MBA Community.
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