I want to start with something simple that might challenge how you’ve been thinking about innovation. It’s not a department. It’s not a budget line. It’s not something you wait to “get to” when the business is running smoothly. It’s a decision. And more often than not, it’s a decision about how you choose to look at what’s already in front of you.
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Over the years, I’ve seen many businesses hold back because they believe innovation requires a lab, a team, or some kind of breakthrough idea. In reality, most of the opportunities are sitting quietly inside your current product, your customers’ behaviour, and your day-to-day operations. The shift happens when you start paying attention again, with fresh eyes, and when you begin asking better questions.
One of the most powerful ways to do that is through observation. Not surveys, not focus groups, not asking people what they think. Just watching. I call it bare observation. You go to where your customers actually use your product or service and you simply observe what happens. No interaction, no influence, just real behaviour in a real environment.
When you do that enough times, patterns start to appear. Humans are incredibly good at recognising patterns, and once you see them, you can’t unsee them. Friction becomes obvious. Small frustrations become visible. And those moments, the ones people rarely talk about, are often where the best opportunities sit.
We did this years ago observing painters. Professionals and DIY alike. What we noticed wasn’t dramatic. It was subtle. They didn’t know where to put their brush or roller when they paused. It ended up on the floor, on a ledge, making a mess. That small, repeated frustration led to a simple idea that turned into a product. Not because we asked them what they wanted, but because we watched what they actually did.
That led me to another realisation. Innovation is often about simplifying sequences. If you map out the steps someone takes to use your product, you’ll usually find unnecessary complexity. Think about something as simple as ordering a coffee. The steps between deciding you want one and taking that first sip can be surprisingly long. Ordering, paying, waiting, collecting. Each step is an opportunity to remove friction. You don’t need to reinvent coffee. You just need to make the experience easier.
From there, I often move into something a bit different, which is language. Or what we call semantics. It’s about how a product communicates visually and emotionally. Sometimes innovation isn’t about function at all. It’s about how something makes you feel or how it captures attention.
In that same painting example, the solution could have been purely technical. And there were already products on the market doing something similar. But they were dull, almost invisible. So instead, we shaped the holder like a lobster. It grabbed attention instantly. It created curiosity. It made something very ordinary feel playful. And that alone created a competitive advantage.
Of course, this only works if it’s intentional. You can’t just randomly apply playful design everywhere. There needs to be coherence. A clear identity. Otherwise, it becomes noise rather than differentiation.
Then there’s what I consider one of the most powerful tools, and also one of the simplest. The question. Every product or service you have today is the answer to a question that was asked at some point in the past. The problem is, we rarely go back and check if that question is still relevant.
This is where businesses get stuck. They keep improving the answer without questioning whether they’re solving the right problem. When you step back and redefine the question, everything changes. You open up entirely new directions.
We saw this when redesigning something as traditional as a bicycle seat. The original question was how to support the rider’s weight. That made sense 150 years ago. But we reframed it to ask how we could create ultimate comfort. Same product category, completely different thinking. And that shift leads to different solutions.
Another layer that often gets overlooked is stakeholders. Most people focus on the end user, which is important, but it’s only part of the picture. Every product touches multiple people along its lifecycle. Buyers, installers, maintenance teams, logistics, retail staff, even the people responsible for disposal.
When you map all of them and start designing value for each, you begin stacking advantages. We worked on an aquarium product where even the packaging dimensions were designed to fit perfectly on pallets. That made life easier for logistics teams. It reduced costs. It simplified handling. None of that changes the product for the end user directly, but it strengthens the entire system around it. That’s where real competitiveness builds over time.
Finally, there’s something more playful, but still incredibly effective. Proportions. Changing the size or scale of something can completely shift perception. It challenges assumptions. It catches attention.
Think about everyday objects made larger or smaller than expected. A giant lamp that feels like a desk lamp. A flower pot shaped like an oversized teacup. These ideas aren’t complex. They don’t require massive investment. But they stand out because they break convention in a very simple way.
And that’s really the thread that connects all of this. None of these approaches rely on big budgets or specialised teams. They rely on attention, curiosity, and a willingness to question what you’ve been taking for granted.
One of the things I’ve learned over the years is that innovation doesn’t belong to a specific type of person. I’ve seen some of the most powerful ideas come from people who would never describe themselves as creative. An accountant in a workshop once shared an idea that outshone everyone else in the room. Not because she was trying to be creative, but because she saw the problem differently.
That’s why involving your team matters. Different perspectives reveal different insights. And sometimes, the most valuable contribution comes from someone who isn’t emotionally attached to how things have always been done.
If there’s one thing I’d encourage you to do from here, it’s to start small. Pick something in your business. Observe it. Map it. Question it. Look at it through someone else’s eyes. You don’t need to change everything. You just need to notice one thing you hadn’t seen before.
Because once you start seeing differently, innovation stops being something distant or complicated. It becomes something you do, quietly and consistently, as part of how you think.
And if this sparked something for you, I’d love to continue the conversation. Whether it’s over a coffee or at the next Masterclass, bring your questions, your observations, and your frustrations. That’s usually where the best ideas begin.