A philosophy for innovation

I often have my head in books I can apply to my work.

Recently I'm reading “The Innovator's Dilemma” which is fascinating because well, why is it a dilemma?

The crux of it is: it makes no sense for incumbents with majority market share, to invest in new product spaces.

And yet, if they don't (and there are many examples of companies and industries who called this incorrectly) they wait until it becomes too late to compete with early adopters and disruptors

So many businesses die because they get stuck in this dilemma. They won't take bold moves.

Innovating requires risk taking, as one of the great innovators of our time preached:

"You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something…your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. - Steve Jobs

That doesn't mean you don't manage and minimise risk at all.

Value to innovation is an S-curve. 

In each curve, iterative product improvements initially provide minimal customer value, but in time the base is created and value increases exponentially.

To move along the S-curve, and jump to a new one, companies need to make both tactical and strategic innovations.

A key part of this is creating the right conditions for innovation to thrive.

At Johnson Controls-Hitachi Air Conditioning, it’s my role to make sure the design team (which is designing the user experience) goes hand in hand with the product management team (which is coming up with the vision for how we play in the connected air-conditioning space).

We need to always be willing to turn up the heat and take risks. But we have to balance the excitement of opportunity with rationality, to put effort and momentum behind the right ideas.

This is why we test concepts. We visually and tangibly prototype products and gather user feedback throughout the design, engineering and production stages so that we make refinements and subtle changes in direction. That way, the moment we launch, we’re robust enough to continue to scale.

Beyond the functional

To compete in a mature market, we have to be asking:

●      How do we stand out?

●      How do we create desirability?

●      How do we build on our foundations, to design for the future?

First of all, we need to think beyond the market criteria: cooling functions, fan adjustments, filter cleaning options.

Hitachi air conditioners are known for engineering excellence and technological innovation; we’ve always been utility and function driven.

As a joint venture, Johnson Controls-Hitachi brings together two 100-year-old cultures and histories, to evolve a legacy portfolio.

This is an exciting opportunity for the design team to think about how our customers are experiencing our products (both physical and digital) – beyond the functional.

The Hitachi Silent-Iconic 4-Way Cassette Design Panel is a case in point. Is it new to the market? No, there are lots of cassette air conditioners. What is new to the market is its minimal aesthetic.

Typically, architects do not like air conditioning products to stand out too much because they don’t want to overwhelm the interior.

We experimented with aesthetics to bring a sleek yet integrated look to the traditional cassette. It met the requirements of architects and added emotional aspects to the design and operation of what remains a piece of engineering, without losing sight of the expectations users have of the product - to keep them comfortable.

Silent-Iconic works so well because this linear aesthetic itself was generated in Japan. It was created using the Hitachi Cooling & Heating Duality Design philosophy that drives our approach to design.

To lead innovation, having a design and engineering philosophy is essential. It anchors our brand values and promotes consistent, harmonious customer experience. This helps us deliver on our brand promise of ‘Living Harmony’.

The Hitachi Advanced Color Wired Remote Controller is, again, not new to the category, but by enhancing its navigation and aesthetics, we elevated usability and made it more intuitive for customers.

These are the incremental bends in the S-curve.

They strengthen our foundation today, to help us launch in the right direction tomorrow.

Dreaming the future – and making it a reality

To strategically innovate, to create new S-Curves and ‘dots before the line’ – we need to dream.

Myself and my team are currently leading a series of workshops around the future of residential air conditioning and digital controls.

The aim is to uncover needs customers didn't even know they had.

It requires everyone to be on the same page and on the journey collaborating together. And with COVID-19 around, you have to do everything online, so it poses different challenges again.

To start, we share experiences, observations and ideas for must-haves, nice to haves, and completely future-oriented scenarios.

Then we look for patterns, and the “dots” that others missed, and consider novel possibilities.

The utopia space for air is "I never have to think about air". Apps sense you in the home and direct air toward you, at the right temperature, based on your preferences, habits, and the ambient conditions. Placement of the units is completely versatile and design almost invisible.

Path to purchase and installation is seamless, maybe even self-installing, and it’s completely integrated with your smart home devices, always improving energy and cost efficiency.

We still have a way to go to realise the promise of total automation and IoT in smart buildings, but by bringing together interdisciplinary teams and going on an adventure to assume the hypothesis, we’re beginning to create the future of air.

Innovation is not aspirational if it can never be realised.

So, to take the risk, and to be fearless in the pursuit of excellence – that has value.

The perfect philosophy for innovation is one that adapts to change seamlessly and drives us to understand an improved future is possible.