Before modeling the design of the system, a project team typically models the business processes to identify the scope of the planned system and to ensure that any chosen system aligns to the demands of both this business model and business vision.

A variety of possible diagram techniques exist for delivering this business model, as well as possible levels of ambition. With business redesign, a risk occurs of having eyes for nothing else but the modeling and ignoring some real dangers. The hard work isn't about creating a best-of-breed business model; it's about enforcing corporate change within the organization. To remind the reader of these risks, we've made separate box diagrams of the more fancy UML features. Here, lengthy modeling exercises might become a convenient excuse for avoiding challenge and confrontation with the permafrost layers found in many organizations. This challenge and lack of confrontation is a common pitfall in implementing new business practices. Therefore, process innovation methodologies spend little time analyzing the current (as is) processes – often, a quick diagnosis is enough. Instead, we focus on the new business models: the business to be.

Ownership of the business models must remain with the stakeholders and process owners. This avoids the danger of the new processes being seen as the work of the IT department, which can lead to rejection of the models by the process owners. It must be made clear that the IT specialists act only as agents in producing the business models.

This part of the book will present the validation of the Template theory and elaborate on some of its aspects. The presentation of the Templates alone may appear somewhat mystical to readers who may wonder about whether Templates prove superior in a more rigorous empirical examination, beyond the examples presented earlier. Understanding the theoretical grounds and the tests that challenge it should improve ability with and confidence in the implementation of the Templates. The empirical studies reported herein were published in Goldenberg, Mazursky and Solomon [1] and Goldenberg, Lehmann and Mazursky [2]. For readers unfamiliar with the statistical methods we are using who would like to learn more we recommend the following introductory texts:

Hair, J. F., Anderson, R. E., Tatham, R. L. and Black, W. C. (1998) Multivariate Data Analysis. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

Lehmann, D. R., Gupta, S. and Steckel, J. H. (1997) Marketing Research. New York: Addison-Wesley. The structure of Part IV is as follows:

1. First we will present the distribution of Template-based ideas in successful new products. It turns out that 70% of successful new products in a variety of categories pertain to one or other of the Templates' structures.

2. Then we present the experiments, which indicated that individuals trained in the Template approach were able to elicit ideas that were superior to those elicited by individuals in various control groups.

3. […]

In order to understand how our Creativity Templates approach compares with other creativity-enhancing methods we look at three possible approaches.

1. Methods for “ management of the ideation session” (brainstorming, the Six Thinking Hats, electronic brainstorming (EBS), decision-making management, etc.) vs. methods which affect or manage cognitive processes (thinking). The Creativity Template proposed in this book approach belongs in the second category.

2. Methods trying to enhance randomness, on the assumption that it is instrumental to creativity vs. methods which are analytical and focused. Our approach belongs to the second category.

3. Generalized vs. specific methods. It is often argued that the more generalized an approach, the weaker it is; the more specific the method, the stronger it is. One may notice that the approaches in the Creativity Template category act in a narrower content world and not in general problem-solving, and should therefore be stronger. The suggested method for new products is different from that for advertising, and we claim that it has to be applied verbatim to general organizational problem-solving. Indeed, in marketing our method had to be specifically adapted to each focused content world. On the one hand, the method thus lacks generality; on the other hand, its effectiveness is increased. The lack of generality requires adaptation of the method to each content world. However, we claim that this is a worthwhile undertaking.

Searching for Attribute Dependency

We have seen that the Attribute Dependency Template may serve to enable the development of a new product on the basis of an existing one – a standard candle becomes a non-drip candle, lipstick is improved, a new model of car emerges. However, each time we added a dependency and obtained a new product, we did not ask how we might identify the relevant variables, but took these for granted.

In this chapter we shall focus on the methodical identification of these dependencies, and describe in detail a structured process of the “management” of a search for new dependencies, by discussing two examples. In conclusion, we give a systematic operational recipe guiding the practical implementation of the method.

Classification of variables

Our aim is to “read” the information embedded in the product as if we were reading a map of potential changes, and to manage this information in a way that will enable the addition of a dependency. First, we must classify the variables according to the following criteria.

Internal versus external variables

An internal variable is under the full control of the manufacturer, who determines its values and characteristics. We have met internal variables such as the strength of a pole, the price of pizza, the color of a car and the melting temperature of wax.

Operational definition of creativity

Creativity is considered the ultimate of human qualities, one of the key measures of intelligence that separates us from the rest of the animal kingdom. Our ability to create, or to innovate, is believed to be Godlike – described by some religions as one of those divine qualities endowed to man, who was created in the image of God, the Creator. Anyone who has had a spark of inspiration, a flash of genius, or even just an odd good idea, understands this seeming divinity of creative energy.

But what is creativity? And in the context of this book, what is a creative product idea? Numerous definitions exist for the term – more than 200 in literature alone [1, 2]. Attributes of a creative product may be: original, of value, novel, interesting, elegant, unique, surprising, endowed with power to reorder experience, not obvious, qualitatively different, etc. [e.g., 2, 3, 4, 5].

In one of our preliminary studies we distributed a questionnaire to 500 people, asking them to define the concept “a creative idea.” Very few offered an exact definition, but all supplied a short list of characteristics that included adjectives such as “original,” “simple, ” “surprising,” “elegant” and “changing conventions.” As the level of agreement about the list of characteristics is rather high, we may expect the people who supplied similar lists to agree on classifying an idea as creative or routine.

A close look at historical data reveals that new and surprising products were invented by a variety of people, some of whom had no knowledge at all about the market for the products they had developed. It appears that an alternative source for deriving new product ideas to those used at present may be to examine information embedded in the product itself. Just as market research attempts to identify trends in the marketplace on which to base a new generation of products, so market trends can be identified by analyzing the product itself in order to predict the basic characteristics of a new product. Because Creativity Templates inherently carry important codes for the evolution of successful new products, they can be exploited to generate a competitive advantage based on minimal market information. In Part I we describe the traditional methods of new product ideation, and assess the usefulness of market- versus product-based information, as sources of new product ideas.

It should not be a surprise if, when we examine other fields in which creativity plays a crucial role, we find evidence for the universality of Templates. If Templates indeed represent replicable patterns that may be generalized across variables and products, we should expect to discover evidence of Template dynamics in other ideation and problem-solving domains. Consequently, when this research paradigm of “idea archeology” was applied to advertising (perhaps as in other domains of arts) creative activity was found to be of prime importance. In Part III we present the implications of Templates on creative executions of advertisements. Here too, successful ads were typically found to share certain specified abstract patterns. The theoretical rationale for the emergence of such Templates is similar to that of the formation of Templates in new products. Chapter 9 describes and illustrates the Template theory in the context of advertising.

In addition, at this stage of developing the Template approach it is useful to outline it as a specified, formal framework. At various points in the book we have provided configurations of products to exemplify how well defined they are and how they can be used for creativity tasks in a relatively straightforward manner. In Chapter 10 the inference and development of the Templates is presented as part of a formal presentation that can also assist in generalizing and applying them in a variety of other contexts.

What is the Replacement Template?

We have already encountered several examples of the Replacement Template, for instance

1. Edison's legendary gate which forced his guests to activate his private water pump.

2. A keyboard of a portable computer which transforms mechanical energy (from the user's fingers) to charge the battery.

3. The Wirefree device which uses the loudspeakers from a car's radio system to improve the sound quality of the cellular phone.

4. Antenna pole in which the ice that accumulated in the environment was used to increase its sturdiness.

One abstract structure surfaces from all of the above ideas, based on their underlying code – harnessing existing resources from the immediate environment to replace a product component which fulfills the same needed function. Another such code may be extracted from the following illustrations.

The Replacement Template creates a link between a resource (material, energy or a phenomenon) existing in the environment and a role that requires fulfillment. Thus, the system saves resources while it becomes more “compact.” In most cases two existing components are connected, but we must remember that systems undergoing Replacement are likely to be considered creative even when no resources are saved.

In this chapter we will present the structure of this template in detail and suggest the best way to implement it. To illustrate its generalization let us look at some examples before we provide a complete formulation of the Replacement Template.

Creativity Templates are codes embedded in the product itself and in trends observed in its evolution. Those Templates that are more successful and effective are likely to underlie products that survived well. Thus, the Templates may be used in the framework of creative thinking. The well-defined sequence of operations that underlie the change between previous and current product versions enables the construction of a prescribed procedure of invention. In Part II the derivations of four of these templates – Attribute Dependency, Replacement, Displacement and Component Control – are described and illustrated. Subsequently, for each of the four templates an operational prescription is provided.

What is the Displacement Template?

The Displacement Template states that a component may be eliminated from the configuration of a system along with its functions, and thus a new product will be created, targeted to a new market. This stands in contrast to the Replacement Template in which the function (represented by a link) of the removed (intrinsic) component was kept in the configuration. Before presenting the implementation and principles in detail let us illustrate this Template with some examples.

In the early 1970s, after a lengthy marketing campaign, the efforts to introduce food products based on a powder for instant home preparation (among them, of course, instant coffee and various soup mixes) into the US market finally succeeded. Among the products introduced in the market was a cake mix for home baking. The idea was that a customer buys the special powder, mixes it with water, pours it into a baking pan and puts it in the oven. Expectations for success were great, both because the product seemed to capture a large market share, and because all the tests gave its taste a high grade. To the manufacturer's great surprise, the marketing efforts failed.

Extensive market research discovered that although US customers wished to save time in food preparation, they were interested in adding their personal touch to the cakes they bake, to give the cake a special “home–made” taste. In order to meet this need, it was suggested that a bit of the product's final form be “eliminated”.

Introduction

Among all the domains in which problem-solving paradigms are applied, marketing is most probably the most dominant in its attention to and respect for innovative ideas. This salience ascribed to innovativeness in marketing may be a consequence of the fact that in some situations (e.g., new products) innovation provides added value. For example, an engineering solution is selected when its cost-effective value meets predefined requirements, a scientific theory dominates because it is correct, while the effectiveness of an original idea in marketing sometimes may provide a competitive edge beyond cost-benefit considerations. Consequently, marketing presents an ideal arena in which ideation, problem-solving and innovation may be studied and in addition it affords plenty of documented evidence.

The advantages of the Template approach lie both in its consistency with related theories on ideation and in its practical utility. On the theoretical plane, Templates which are generated by analyzing the evolutionary trends of successful products at their mature stage are applied to non-mature situations. The empirical findings reported later in this book indicate that ideas elicited by individuals trained in Template ideation were judged superior to ideas produced through alternative methods, such as morphological analysis and random stimulation.

It should be expected, therefore, that by examining other fields in which creativity plays a crucial role we can find evidence for the universality of Templates.

Market-based vs. product-based information

The emergence of the Creativity Templates approach can be best illustrated by looking at the reality of new product innovation and the widespread methods typically used to detect and identify ideas for new products.

Introducing new products is one of the prime activities of firms and one of the most important determinants for their survival. Yet, while 25,000 products are introduced annually in the US alone, most of them are doomed to fail [1, 2]. The greatest financial loss caused by failed products occurs at the market introduction stage [3]. This state of matters may be a reason for the substantial efforts constantly devoted to “me-too” products and brand extensions [4].

Nevertheless, there is a significant correlation between innovative firms and leadership status [5]. In view of this fact, it is useful to screen at the major information sources that may determine the success or failure of new products at the ideation stage [6,7]. In marketing practice, creative ideas are highly valued and rewarded, and exploring new ideas is part of the daily activities. The high rate of failure, and the difficulties in obtaining accurate predictions of success (which are amplified when it comes to genuinely new products), are facts that need to be considered when we want to develop a marketingoriented ideation approach.

Mapping research: toward a product-based framework for Templates definition

We initially identified Creativity Templates through a backward analysis of product innovations, a process we call mapping research. We traced the history of a product through its former versions. By portraying the configuration of each product version and, subsequently, examining the stepwise changes between versions, we were able to observe common patterns of change that we later classified into the Creativity Templates. In other words, we tried to discover “laws of product evolution” through the observation of changes in successful product configurations over time. The application of these “laws” to an existing product and predicting a new product thereof is the basis of the Creativity Template approach.

In order to map the configurations of the products, we drew only on their internal dynamics. Our maps consist of product characteristics and reciprocal influences of characteristics. The taxonomy of templates is partially based on and is consistent with the works of Altschuller [3,4], Maimon and Horowitz [5]. The taxonomy and details of doing this are explained below.

As an illustration we present here one of the first mapping research examinations that was performed on soap-related products.

Creativity in Product Innovation presents the culmination of years of research on the topic of creativity in marketing. Creativity has been a hot topic for many years in self-improvement books and articles. Creativity in Product Innovation brings a new dimension to the academic philosophies now beginning to emerge on the subject. This new paradigm has been recognized as a breakthrough in major scientific journals (e.g., Science, Journal of Marketing Research, Marketing Science, Management Science and Technological Forecasting and Social Change).

Breaking away from traditional postures, we posit that marketers may hear the voice of the customer by listening to the voice of the product. We further propose that the product itself contains necessary and sufficient information to serve as a basis for innovation, especially in cases of mutable and inconsistent markets. Certain regularities in product development are identifiable, objectively verifiable, learnable and consistent across product classes. These regularities, which we term Creativity Templates, can be used to channel the ideation process and thus enable people to be more productive and focused.

Research indicates that approximately 70 percent of successful new products match one of the Creativity Templates to be described in this book. Likewise, the failure rate of products developed according to the Templates is phenomenally low: only 8 percent as compared to a general failure rate of some 60 percent for all new products.