Page 91 - (DK) The Business Book

LIGHTING THE FIRE 89

See also: Gaining an edge 32–39 ■ Keep evolving business practice 48–51 ■ Creativity and invention 72–73 ■ Changing
the game 92–99 ■ Forecasting 278–79 ■ Feedback and innovation 312–13

The nine-dots puzzle challenges
players to connect the nine dots with
four straight lines or less,
without lifting pen from
paper or tracing the same
line twice. The solution
involves drawing lines
“outside the box.”

Nintendo’s Wii console is a product
of lateral thinking. Rather than taking Zuckerburg’s hugely successful price and increasingly
on their industry rivals head on, the Facebook. The future survival of sophisticated games, the Nintendo
Wii’s designers redefined gaming MySpace depended on new Wii created a whole new market. Its
as a family-friendly, social activity. thinking—it turned its business unique player interface—with a
around by successfully refocusing range of handheld, wireless
consultants to encourage lateral on a core market of creative music controllers—and focus on group-
thinking. Several of its solutions professionals, leaving the social- based gaming made it family-
involved drawing lines that were media mass-market to Facebook. friendly; suddenly gaming was a
literally outside the puzzle’s box. Other companies have social activity for gamers of all ages
The phrase was adopted to represent employed leaders with a more and experience levels. The console
any kind of creative thinking that radical approach to guide them quickly outsold the competition in
goes beyond the obvious. Today, through fast-changing times. almost every territory.
thinking outside the box represents Nintendo’s response to the Leaders taking this kind of “bold
innovation, the need to be aware of technological superiority of the retreat” willingly cede technological
market changes, and the need to X-Box and Playstation, for example, advantage or market position to the
avoid fixed ways of thinking. was to think differently. Instead of dominant player, pursuing instead
competing on the usual grounds of less vulnerable (and often more
The bold retreat profitable) market positions.
Linear thinking—the opposite of
thinking outside the box—has been Rethinking the box
responsible for the downfall of Some business leaders believe that
many businesses. MySpace, a even creative thinkers may take
website that dominated the online BT should have invented certain things—such as
social-media market in the early Skype. But they didn’t organizational structure—for
2000s, is an example of a business because the concept of a free granted. They are therefore
that fell victim to strategic platform totally disrupts their encouraging their staff to think
retrenchment—sticking to a failing business model. literally “beyond the building” for
strategy rather than adapting to Alan Moore new ideas. Procter & Gamble CEO
new competition or a changing A G Lafley sent employees to live
US systems expert
marketplace. Purchased by News temporarily in the homes of
Corp for $580 millon in 2005, the consumers to better understand
business was sold in 2011 for $35 their needs and identify product
million, having failed to match the opportunities. The box itself, it
creative vision of Mark seems, is perhaps a distraction. ■