1. Cincinnati & INNOVATION
A
ll innovations aren’t created
equal, says entrepreneur Mike
Hooven.
“Thereareallsortsofinnovationspeople
can come up with, but if you’re not focused
onahigh-valuemarket,itwon’thavemuch
impact,” says Hooven, president and CEO
of Enable Injections LLC, the third medi-
cal equipment he’s launched in the last
27 years.
Just as important, he says, is having the
right talent to make the idea a success.
“Itallstartswithpeople.Firstyougetthe
right people and then you have to create
an environment where they are not afraid
to disagree, bring up problems and voice
their opinions,” he says.
Without that freedom, he says, “it limits
people and their ability to think and in-
novate.”
Sometimes the best inventors aren’t
the best innovators, says Micah Zender,
co-founder of Start Something Bold, a
Mariemont consulting firm he and Paul
Miklautschlaunchedmorethanayearago
to help companies grow with new ideas,
products and markets.
“We are an innovation consultancy in
that we get pigeonholed into that, but we
hate the word ‘innovation,’” says Zender.
“It’s too often used in the wrong way.
People say, ‘This is a really innovative
spreadsheet I’ve developed.’ No! It’s ef-
ficient; it’s not an innovation. “
The key to a successful innovation, he
says, is solving a customer’s problem.
“We’ve both worked in a number of
companies, but we recognized there was
this underlying pattern. The companies
that built their products around their cus-
tomers were the most successful,” he says.
Zender and Miklautsch envision the
various shades of innovation
like a wheel where the biggest
pieces are reactive innovation
and incremental innovation.
A new product or service
broughtonbyachangeinregu-
lations or market preferences is
a reactive innovation, Zender
says. “You hear someone say,
‘I’ve got to get into social me-
dia everybody else is doing
it.’ That’s a very reactive way
of thinking. There are a lot of
reactive innovations.”
The auto industry is
famous for incremental
innovation. “The backup
camera on a car was a
cool thing. Now it has
become almost standard
equipment.”
The less common but
more difficult kinds of
innovations they call
t ransformat ive and
pioneering. Transforma-
tive innovation, Zender
says, “ is something that
forces your competition
to react. ”
Pioneering innovation
“is giving birth to a whole new industry.
It’s not just new, it’s something that’s never
been done before,” says Zender.
“Pioneers rarely know how to com-
mercialize and bring ideas to life. They’re
skilled at finding an innovative formula
but don’t always know how to apply it.”
Thomas Edison was a phenomenal
inventor, he says, but it took financier J.P.
Morgan to see the full potential of Edison’s
electric light.
On the other hand, Steve Jobs’ real in-
novation was understanding people, says
Zender.
“The pioneering moment at Apple was
understanding that the computer wasn’t
a business tool, it was a tool for people at
home. If you look at the iPhone today, it’s
just a smaller PC. [Jobs] understood com-
puting isn’t just a hobby or for business.
It’s for people and he figured out how to
commercialize it.” n
A GOOD IDEA Needs
RIGHT PEOPLE to SucceedBy Mike Boyer
Micah Zender and Paul Miklautsch, owners of Start
Something Bold, a Mariemont consulting firm