Don’t fall in love with an idea so much that it blinds you to reality

It seems like all manufacturers, when young, myself included, yearn to have a world-changing invention. They often strive for a product or a line of their own, incorporating some new idea that they envision will make them not just rich, but filthy rich. I did. My grandfather, in his day, had similar visions for his manufacturing company. Many of his peers realized that goal.

For manufacturers, owning intellectual capital (patent protected inventions) are a barrier to entry, offering protection from the competition. Understandably, it is a goal of many.

Ask a designer how to change a light bulb, you might hear, “Does it have to be a light bulb?” True creative professionals are accustomed to thinking of new things. That’s their raison d’être.

Unsurprisingly, I find those who ply the design trade to be extremely bright, with intellect that is sharp as a tack and wit to match. Inventing is fun. Working on new things can inject excitement into the less exciting world of making pieces parts.

As a contract manufacturer, our involvement with the invention process is usually tangential. However, we often come up with innovative processes and ways to produce a product or component. That is usually our contribution to the creative process.

We figuratively and literally bought into a disruptive idea that was a game-changing, innovative product. We obtained the patent rights. Despite being fully aware of the difficulties of introducing new ideas into the notoriously conservative building products industry, we forged ahead. We were going to change the old way of doing it.

We spent a fortune developing this product. When we exhibited at trade shows, attendees beat a path to our door. Little did I realize, we were self-selecting for confirmation bias. The prospects who came to see us and showed interest were those that liked the product. The detractors simply stayed away.

We conducted focus groups to confirm our beliefs in how great the invention was. The focus group participants universally panned the idea. We instinctively knew they were wrong. We were in love with the idea, with our product.

We spent millions of dollars and years of effort chasing the invention dream, eventually to no avail. This story is simply one of many.

It should be kept in mind that a huge win can be had by many small gains. Games are won by hitting lots of singles, not always by a grand slam of an idea.

The corollary is, we have been extremely successful by playing small ball and focusing on what we do well: manufacturing. It is not inventing. As fun and exciting as inventing is, it just was not our core competency.

There were three major lessons learned:

1. Don’t fall in love with an idea or a product so much that it blinds you to reality.

2. Listen to focus groups.

3. A new product isn’t a winner until it flies off the shelves.

I am reminded, no matter how many times I read the parable, the rabbit never wins the race.●

Steve Peplin is CEO of Talan Products