Name: How to Kill a Unicorn
Rating: 4.1 (19 reviews)
Author: Mark Payne

What’s in it for me? Leave the land of unicorns and make innovation happen.

Are you familiar with the land of unicorns? You know, that glittering land of eternal rainbows where everything works like magic. That imaginary place where all fantastic ideas are born – and where they usually remain until the end of days.

In business, an idea is labeled a “unicorn” if it looks great at the start but will only work and yield a profit in an imaginary world.

In these blinks, you’ll learn how to kill these unicorns and make true innovation happen. With the help of numerous examples given by the global innovation firm Fahrenheit 212, you’ll gain an understanding of how to formulate innovative ideas and solutions that actually work in the real world.

You’ll also learn

why an innovation-making team focuses on Money and Magic;
about the wow and how of innovation; and
that an easy-to-steal whiskey bottle is an innovation.

To make innovation happen, build a diverse team and allow them to debate.

Fahrenheit 212 is a global innovation firm founded by the author. Even if you haven’t heard of it, you’ve probably encountered its work; it’s helped many of the biggest companies in the world – including Samsung, Coca-Cola, Nestlé and Toyota – develop innovative ideas, strategies and products.

So what can Fahrenheit 212 teach you about generating innovation?

First, team up with a diverse group of people. At Fahrenheit, they create dream teams with Money & Magic. That is, they combine money experts – commercial, financial and strategic whizzes – together with experts who know how to “magically” navigate consumer wants and needs.

What makes this the winning combo? Well, consider an innovative idea or strategy that appeals to consumers but doesn’t bring in profit. Without a black bottom line, the idea probably won’t be sustainable in the long run.

Let’s see how Fahrenheit 212 puts this advice into action.

To help turn Samsung’s new translucent LCD screen into profitable technology, Fahrenheit brought together a team of analysts and financial experts (Money) with designers, writers, architects and film producers (Magic). Together, they came up with creative product solutions that were also financially and strategically viable.

Next, in order to arrive at those great innovative ideas, forget brainstorming – try debating with your team instead.

A 2003 study conducted at UC Berkeley showed that debate and criticism, rather than inhibiting the development of ideas, tend to stimulate it.

In the experiment, researchers divided 265 students into groups and asked them to come up with a solution to a traffic-congestion problem. One group was asked to brainstorm without criticism, while the other group was told to debate, with all members being free to challenge each other’s ideas.

After 20 minutes, the debate group had come up with far more creative ideas than the brainstorming group, showing the importance of constructive criticism and an array of viewpoints in the creative innovation process.

Become innovative by understanding the interests of the consumers and the business.

So you’ve assembled your dream team. What next? Let’s see how the Fahrenheit team tackled a problem faced by a bank in Dubai: on average, customers only bought two of the bank’s products, neglecting a wide range of other services.

Fahrenheit approached this problem by first adopting the consumer’s point of view. Reaching out to the bank’s customers revealed the root of the problem: customers didn’t fully trust the bank. They feared that the product terms might change to their disadvantage, and they therefore tried to limit risk by buying only a couple of products.

To create successful innovative projects, don’t forget the how in all the wow.

Has an idea ever struck you like lightning, leaving you elated and deliriously happy? When we’re suddenly hit with an idea, it often sparks a euphoric feeling – a feeling of wow.

“Wow” refers to those grand ideas that seem to hold equally enticing possibilities for both consumer and creator, the ones that have the potential to heal a broken market or make available truly new and valuable products and services for society.

What big companies see as radical innovations are often just obvious ideas for start-ups.

We’ve all heard those miracle start-up stories of major innovations being hatched in some garage or dorm room.

Now everyone wants to mimic the start-up approach, including established companies. Mid-size or even big companies often come to Fahrenheit 212, wanting, for instance, to adopt more of the brave and innovative strategies that make start-ups thrive.

Key ideas in How to Kill a Unicorn

About the Author

Mark Payne is the cofounder, president and Head of Idea Development at the successful innovation consulting company Fahrenheit 212, which has offices in both New York and London. His firm has been called the “Epicenter of Innovation” by Esquire and his innovation advice has been featured in Fortune, Businessweek and Wired.