Further thoughts on the home page statements.
Seek to understand the mind of the customer more than their voice
Voices can mislead. Surveys, focus groups and interviews are useful, but what people tell you is often not what they do. Understanding the mind of the customer, their motivations and aspirations, is critical if one is to truly innovate.
Examine a technology's effects instead of it's specs
It's not the specifications that matter, it's technology's transformations and effects that make a difference. People respond to what a technology does, not how it works.
Look to new communities, not existing markets, as a source of innovation
Communities exist before markets form. Something new can create a market, but only after a community recognizes its value and adopts it.
Look for the qualitative insights before seeking the quantitative ones
Wherever there exists complexity and ambiguity, qualitative results provide the best insight. Never let precision exceed accuracy. Don't use a 100 point scale when low, medium, high will do. It is necessary to understand the relationships and influences before knowing how much or many.
Imagine the experiences that will compel people to adopt
Experiences are as compelling as outcomes. Desires come before needs. Understanding experiences and desires gives insight into why people adopt something new.
Go outside your organization to find the knowledge, understanding and insight you need
The answers reside outside the four walls the organization you're a part of The knowledge and experience you need to know is inside the minds of others.
Let innovation be your process for learning about the future
Innovation is a knowledge process. This knowledge is of plausible futures and how they can come to be with the new thing in it. Predicting, and influencing, the qualitative aspects of these plausible futures, can be done with the right knowledge and the right tools.
Consider the opportunities that emerge from people’s unmet needs and desires
The things people do, would like to do, or have even never considered doing, are the source of opportunities. Understand these needs and desires before devising solutions. These opportunities abound - explore!
Discover opportunities that create options for futures you can control
Opportunities create options. Having multiple options and keeping these options open until it is time to exercise them or kill them is the way to maximize success. Early insight gives you the knowledge to choose your options wisely.
Realize that what is important to know resides in the subconscious
People are complex - understand the rational and the emotional factors that go into any decision to adopt or advocate. Even the most analytical, B2B purchase decision is driven, in part, by emotional factors. Getting to the customer's subconscious is key to gaining insight into how and why they will adopt.