You are better than you think
By Ed Bernacki
I recently read a blog bemoaning the lack of innovation in New Zealand. The author says that many companies don’t foster innovation and that the status quo is bound to be defended.
They add that the climate of under-investment and fear of change provide a powerful cocktail that makes the spirit of innovation an uphill battle.
This is all true, yet it is not the full story. I had the same attitude when I lived in New Zealand.
Then I moved back to Canada.
I have since changed my mind about Kiwi ingenuity.
Perhaps it started with the ‘#8 wire’ mentality but it now includes a vast volume of everyday creativity that I truly miss.
New Zealand has many everyday companies that sell to world markets. I see it every day here in Ottawa.
I do Les Mills aerobic classes. I can buy Icebreaker products.
I can buy New Zealand spring lamb, wine, avocado oil and my newest discovery, Rutherford & Meyer gourmet wafers.
Much of Canada is now packed with large franchises and foreign multinationals which seem to stifle creativity in two ways.
First, they succeed by selling the exact same products in every community.
Instead of a generation of small business owners being innovative to compete for a share of consumers based on their imagination and creativity, the big players standardise everything.
They then compete for locations to build another outlet.
Second, it imposes a blandness on consumers which becomes the acceptable norm by default.
It may sound trivial, but I miss the creativity that I saw in the many cafés which opened throughout the country.
The innovation game takes two players:
- businesses that want to innovate and;
- consumers who are open to try new and different products and services.
I miss the many companies that seem to carve a niche in the mainstream stores.
In Canada, you will not find an equivalent of Hubbards, 42 Below or Morris & James.
New Zealand is limited by its small size, yet this also seems to allow more companies to launch new and interesting products.
A recent book, Why Mexicans Don’t Drink Molson, summarises a bizarre paradox. Canada sells a Mexican company the ingredients to produce beer which it then turns into Corona, a global brand.
Yet Molson, which is a century-old beer company, was unable or unwilling to do the same.
This is not just about products, it is about innovative marketing and distribution, a desire to learn about international markets and then compete in them.
Original thinking
One aspect of Kiwi society, which may support the creation of more innovative products and services, is the attitude of its people.
It is crucial that consumers demand originality.
When consumers accept the status quo, the corporate world can sit back and stop competing in the design and delivery of products and services.
Perhaps a factor is of this is the Kiwi phenomenon of travelling round the world: the big OE.
Intrepid travellers tasted coffee in Italy, saw the latest designs in Europe and experienced the world’s tourist sites.
This makes them more demanding and appreciative of quality when they see and experience it.
One of the tired clichés of this world is ‘innovate or die’.
I now see it differently. Companies do not die unless their customers kill them.
In Canada, many seem to survive selling dated and mediocre products.
I am being vastly overdramatic in my comments.
Yet my point is that New Zealanders learned some lessons extremely well.
The inventiveness of the #8 piece of wire mentality can lead to new, original and, often, better solutions.
The blogger I referred to also wrote: ‘Innovation requires the courage to say we haven’t got it right. And that can be intimidating.’
This is profoundly true as well.
Times are tight in New Zealand at the moment and this creates a great opportunity to focus on the basics.
Every business owner looking for new ideas can take an innovation eye to everyday companies to see two things:
- What they could offer their consumers if they maintained the status quo.
- What they do offer based on finding unique ways to add value to the customer experience.
Notice the originality and uniqueness that exists or doesn’t exist. Notice what interests or intrigues you about its products or services.
Look for the differences and how these everyday businesses solve the problem of creating value in new ways.
You may discover ideas that are useful for your business.
The challenges of distance and a small market also creates the freedom to explore new business models, new branding approaches and new ways of serving customers.
Ed Bernacki is an international writer and speaker on innovation based in Ottawa. This article originally appeared in Bright magazine on July / August 2008. Issue 29.