100 GREAT BUSINESS IDEAS • 221In practice
Good ideas can come from anywhere, and the six Rs approach is
especially valuable for identifying opportunities for improvement.
Identify something you want to improve, and use the list below to
generate ideas.
-^ Research: what can you learn from people or organizations that
do this activity well?
-^ Reframe: what is a completely different way of thinking
about this?
-^ Relate: what ideas can you borrow from another activity or fi eld?
-^ Remove: what can you eliminate?
-^ Redesign: what can you do to improve this activity, process, or
procedure?
-^ Rehearse: what can you do to be certain you have a good idea?
Consider the following actions to identify areas for improvement:
- Talk to people in other areas who deal with similar issues.
- Talk to other companies. Explore how things are done in another
industry or country, and think about ideas you can borrow, adapt,
or combine. - Talk to creative people who know nothing about the area but who
may have different perspectives. - Gather a group together to brainstorm ideas.
Finally, it is important to provide a clear focus, otherwise innovation
can drift or move in circles. Ensure that innovations are realistic,
and plan the implementation of new ideas; innovations often fail
because of poor planning or execution.