Lightning in a Bottle: The Proven System to Create New Ideas and Products That Work

I had the privilege of working with David Minter at Blockbuster in the glory years. As he shows in this book, the management team under Huizenga was in `the zone' so-to-speak. It was a great time, and Minter and Reid point out why Blockbuster had that success, and how other entrepreneurs can as well. Highly recommend reading this more than once!

Recently I came across an interesting book Lightning in a Bottle, by David Minter and Michael Reid. Mssrs. Minter and Reid are partners in a Denver idea development group. They have worked with companies like Dole, Blockbuster, Sony, Viacom and Einstein Bagels. I like this book. It is different from other books on product development. Mssrs. Minter and Reid present a concept called Idea Engineering, based on disciplined, financially driven methods of product development. Lightning in a Bottle is an interesting and entertaining read. Mssrs. Minter and Reid present a number of very interesting case studies to illustrate their points. I liked Chapter 5 - Why Nine out of Ten New Products Fail where they point out the shortcoming of commonly used product development ideas like focus groups, brainstorming, quantitative research and market segmentation. Chapter 7 presents The Top Ten Reasons Ideas Fail: 1. Trying to sell things people don't want to buy. 2. The ideas don't make financial sense. 3. Giving up too soon on good ideas. 4. Pushing bad ideas too long. 5. No separation of good ideas from bad. 6. Thinking small. 7. Delegating idea development to junior people. 8. No specialized talent for developing ideas. 9. No process, or a poor process for developing ideas. 10. No real, important difference versus the competition. However, the real meat of the book is in Chapter 11 - Idea Engineering: Seven Steps. Here is a quick overview of what the authors offer. Idea Engineering 1. Learn. Effectively research, compile and sift relevant information. 2. Develop working theories. Synopsize that you've learned and develop working paradigms. 3. Develop ideas and concepts from the working theories. Bring research and working theories together to develop actionable ideas with maximum potential. 4. Conduct financial due diligence. Determine if ideas will actually make money --before you talk to consumers. 5. Talk to consumers: not in groups, but one person at a time. Test and modify ideas with one-on-one interactions with consumers. Avoid depending on focus groups. 6. Iterate the concepts by listening to consumers. Modify your questions and your concept during one-on-one consumer interaction. Employ, real time concept development with real time consumers. 7. Monetize the best concepts; predict real world revenue. Predict real world revenue by conducting a large-scale quantitative survey with consumers. In my needs analysis work in my coaching and consulting practices, I have found idea number 6 to be helpful. You learn as you conduct interviews. Use this learning to shape and sharpen your questions and develop paradigms. As I've said, I like Lightning in a Bottle; if for no other reason than the authors are not afraid to take on some sacred cows about product development. It has some great common sense ideas on how any business owner can develop his or her next product. If you're planning on introducing a new product, it is a must rea

I recently completed reading this most provocative and immensely fascinating Lightning in a Bottle book by Minter and Reid. Let me tell you that the lightning has escaped from the bottle and is now enlightening my new approach to successful business venture evaluation. Utilizing the basic concepts I learned from the book not only works for idea and product analysis, but is also streamlining my business investment decisions. Bottom line - I have discovered a great new tool that is already putting big bucks in my pocket! I can't recommend a business advisory publication any higher - five gold stars.