Different Thinking: Creative Strategies for Developing the Innovative Business

Over three decades ago, management sage Peter Drucker said that business has two functions – marketing and innovation – and that we should focus on innovating for the present rather than the future. This message is further harnessed by Anja Foerster and Peter Kreuz in their new and stimulating book, Different Thinking: Creative Strategies for Developing the Innovative Business.

The title, Different Thinking is reminiscent of a decade‐old Apple slogan, “think different,” and the book thus fittingly begins by using references from the company's advertisements as well as quotes from a wide spectrum of celebrities from Einstein to German satirist and journalist, Tucholsky cheering us to think unconventionally “outside the box.” Radical (rather than incremental) innovation is seen as the path to business triumph.

Recent successes of iPhone, Google, or MySpace are further testimony to the basic thesis of the authors, (although these examples are too recent to have been included in the book). Different Thinking begins by convincing the reader that in today's era of constant transformation, mediocrity is the sure prescription to failure. This supposition is followed by a detailed explication of their rules of business unconventionality and different thinking philosophy in four chapters, i.e., strategy, markets, products and price.

The “Introduction” chapter dares us to think quirkily by constantly questioning our existing strategies, inventing new profit models, and creating new markets for our products, which should continuously undergo radical makeovers. The following 17 rules for unconventional thinking are proposed:

1. 1.

   “The 360 degree view: glean inspiration from other industries.”

2. 2.

   “Dead Centre: get out of those middle‐of‐the‐market segments‐fast!”

3. 3.

   “Travel light. Cut the ballast.”

4. 4.

   “Out of the box: create completely new markets.”

5. 5.

   “Maxi size and mini size: place no geographical limits on your success.”

6. 6.

   “Mix it! Conquer new markets with innovative combinations.”

7. 7.

   “Quasi‐monopolies: be the champion. Create a monopoly in your market.”

8. 8.

   “Product DNA: question the existing product concepts.”

9. 9.

   “Design matters: design as a competitive factor.”

10. 10.

    “Experience inside: create an experience, trigger emotions.”

11. 11.

    “Easy Inc: offer clarity, cut out the frills to make the product irresistible.”

12. 12.

    “Price DNA: question the established price models.”

13. 13.

    “Price polarization: send your prices skyrocketing or plummeting‐ and win!”

14. 14.

    “Pricing in‐between: be smart‐ position yourself in the middle of the market.”

15. 15.

    “The Rockefeller Principle: Give away the lamp and sell the oil.”

16. 16.

    “Personalized price: let the customer set the price.”

17. 17.

    “Free price: offer free bees to your customers and let others foot the bill.”

The chapter on “Different thinking: strategy” opens with a quote from the media mogul Rupert Murdoch, “There are new worlds to be conquered out there” (p. 9). At the outset, the authors recommend gleaning inspiration from other industries, i.e. taking a 360‐degree view of the marketplace in scanning for new ideas. They give examples of several banks, e.g. Deutsche Bank, Bank of America, HSBC and Citibank, all of whom have redesigned their operations based on ideas from other industries. Citibank, for example, has redesigned and optimized processes based on DaimlerChrysler. The Umpqua Bank in Oregon, on the other hand, recently won the prestigious IDEA award for adding a personal touch, including offering free coffee, having work stations with internet access, a postal service center and a library with books, and having newspapers and magazines on financial issues. The Spanish NH Hotels Group borrowed the idea of lower prices for earlier booking principles from the low prices airlines in Europe.

The second rule of business unconventionality is to avoid the “middle‐of‐the‐market” segments. The authors give the example of how both the luxury, as well as the discount goods markets, are growing at the expense of the middle‐of‐the‐market products. Their examples range from Bruno Banani creating “exciting” men's undergarments to successful repositioning strategies involving Birkenstock –moving from a “back‐to‐the‐nature” image of the 1970s and 1980s to a fashion product endorsed by Heidi Klum today.

The second chapter, “Different thinking: markets,” encourages us to throw caution to the wind and become exciting in what we have to offer in the marketplace. “The only limit is your imagination” (p. 59) beckons Foerster and Kreuz, invoking the famous advertising slogan for Epson printers. They give other examples such as Dell Computers, for innovating new business models via mass customization and disintermediation, the unconventional practices of Cirque du Soleil by creating imaginative performances without animals, thus keeping costs low, and Schwan‐Stabilo, the market share leader for highlighters, focusing on the aesthetic and experiential (vs just functional) aspects of their products.

Foerster and Kreuz further urge us to ignore geographical boundaries of our businesses, yet tailor our products to meet local tastes. Starbucks recent success with over 8,500 coffee shops around the world (now over 15,000 in 44 countries, according to the company website), the achievements of microbreweries Fischertube and Augustiner surviving competition from global goliaths such as Heineken and Anheuser‐Busch, and regionalizing news content as exemplified by Vorarlberger Nachrichten in Austria are some examples offered in support of their proposition. They also encourage firms to consider innovative and unconventional horizontal and vertical integrations in creating new markets such as the “Cleanicum” launderette in Cologne, which also has a lounge, Babette's book store in Vienna with cookery books and a place to eat, and the Library Hotel in New York City.

The next chapter, “Different thinking: product,” begins by asking us to question existing product concepts. We are reminded of George Bernard Shaw's famous quote, “You see things and you say: why? But I dream things that never were and say: why not?” We are warned to be skeptical if everyone in the company loves the product, and are asked to hark back to the founder of IBM, Thomas Watson's advice, “the fastest way to succeed is to double your failure rate.” We are further told again that customers buy solutions, not products, and how being naïve like children (reminds one of the movie Big! starring Tom Hanks) by continually asking “Why?” “How?” “What?” is imperative to sustaining our sense of innovativeness.

The authors also cheer us to explore unusual designs of products, packaging, and sales outlets to ensure their successes in the marketplace. Renault, for example, asks the chief designer to have a vote on the board of directors, while Apple focuses on affective aspects of their design. The Ice hotel in Jukkasjarvi, Sweden is rebuilt from ice every winter; the beds are made of ice with coverings of reindeer skins creating unique customer experiences and make their stays memorable. Clarity and simplicity are the final two mottos in the chapter accentuated by the authors, best exemplified by pruning the number of products as practiced by Unilever, and the “Sense and simplicity” slogan used by Phillips.

The final chapter, “Different thinking: price,” begins by dispelling the myth of low prices being the most reliable guarantee for success. Foerster and Kreuz point out how JetBlue differentiates itself from others by offering superior service at modest prices. The Rockefeller Principle, “give away the lamp and sell the oil,” is perhaps best exemplified by printer firms selling inexpensive printers, yet charging a lot for their cartridges.

Other unconventional pricing strategies include letting customers set the price, as Hotel Tannenhof in Germany or the internet based service, Priceline.com. Clubschiff uses price lining by offering cruises at different prices, where as Ryan Air, the Irish discount airline, even plan to offer free trips to passengers, while using third parties such as airports, shopping malls and hotels pay for the trips.

The book is enjoyable reading indeed – the best way to read it is to look for examples of innovative thinking on various facets of business and look for the appropriate examples in the pertinent chapters. It does end abruptly – the authors do warn in the introduction that the best way to read it is to pick and choose the ideas that most appeal to the reader.

The examples are current and fascinating, although most of them are from Europe (majority from Germany), that should be additionally appealing to readers outside the continent, i.e. in the Americas, Asia and in Africa.

There are a couple of issues that might be questionable, e.g. on pages 62‐63, the authors recommend trying to be first movers in any business, because of pioneering advantages. Recent studies, however, have shown that in some industries (e.g. technology based) followers have performed better than the pioneers. Furthermore, some rules may appear to be contradictory. For example, Rule 13 suggests “price polarization: send your prices skyrocketing or plummeting‐ and win,” (p. 159)while the next rule (#14) recommends, “Pricing in‐between. Be smart – position yourself in the middle of the market” (p. 169).

Although the book has plenty of great examples regarding strategy, markets, product, and pricing, it would have been nice to have had chapters on innovations on the other elements of the marketing mix, i.e. advertising/promotion and networks/distribution (e.g. Netflix, Facebook, Google). Finally, with so much emphasis on emerging markets in today's economy, it would have been nice to have included innovations that are making a difference in the “bottom‐of‐the‐pyramid” markets or those that have contributed to the betterment of society in general.

Overall, Anja Foerster and Peter Kreuz's Different Thinking: Creative Strategies for Developing the Innovative Business, is a fun, uplifting book full of interesting nuggets from both from Fortune 50 as well as not so well known companies, supported by inspiring quotes from distinguished luminaries juxtaposed with insightful commentaries by the authors. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it, and would highly recommend it to anyone in search of stimulating, yet avant‐garde ideas to succeed in today's hyper‐competitive world.

So, whether you are in the business for organic bouquets, lunch hour liposuction, body parts from bovines, or smart filters for rain water, forget about any existing industry based benchmarks and keep thinking about the wildest possibilities – this will be the only way you can succeed in the future!