Read our latest newsletter……

April update 

Cocktail shaker causes a stir…..

Find out more about how how our work with our client Tails Cocktails is allowing consumers to mix their own bar-quality cocktails at home……

Mind The Gap (In The Market)

So you’ve got a great idea. But now what? How do you take your innovation from the drawing board and into practice. Quality World spoke to our MD Steve May-Russell about getting products to market.

Read the full article here….Insight QW April 2012

We’re exhibiting at the Brand & Design Village on 4th & 5th October 2012 at the Business Design Centre

To find out more click here…

The Orb design by Smallfry keeps wax warm for maximum limits…

Read more here…….

Tech to tickle your pleasure zones!

Develop3DLIVE is a celebration of the new way to design, engineer and manufacture and will bring together experts from around the world to give insights into what is coming next; capabilities such as real-time simulation, advanced 3D modelling, laser scanning, rendering and cloud-powered applications.

The event will also include a broad range of case studies from toy manufacturers to automotive firms that are using the latest technology to their competitive advantage bringing new ideas to product development and manufacturing processes.

We are pleased to announce that our MD Steve May-Russell will be speaking at the event : 20th March at Warwick Arts Centre, Warwick University.

Register today at www.develop3dlive.com

Med-Tech Innovation conference & exhibition 2012

The UK and Irish medical industries continue to be world leaders in medical device innovation and are considered to be centres of excellence for design and R&D. Much of that excellence is driven by Universities and as such Med -Tech Innovation is delighted to announce its inaugural exhibition and conference.

We will be exhibiting at this event so please make sure you pop along to our stand and say hello…..

Designing medical devices for humans….

Steve May-Russell, MD of Smallfry, looks at why medical devices that have been designed around user needs will result in better compliance. Click here to read more.

What every CEO should know about nurturing an innovation culture……………… by Smallfrys MD Steve May-Russell

While delivering a CEO coaching session to Chairman and Board members recently, I was struck by a very candid comment one of the delegates made “I am sitting on a tactical, defensive board, and now I know why I don’t like it.” The comment was provoked by some of the models and case studies Smallfry use in coaching techniques to enable businesses to commercialise creativity. In simple terms we coach how to ‘turn good ideas into great products and services’.

Having worked with a range of clients that span the complete spectrum from ‘Fred in a shed’ through to multinational conglomerates I see a very broad range of approaches to innovation and what it takes to consistently deliver it. One observation I have made is that some of the most successful companies are seriously constrained by their own success. As Jim Collins (author of Good to Great) puts it  “Good is the enemy of great… the vast majority of good companies remain just that – good not great”  Naturally, while your business is on good form, delivering to forecasts and expectations, it is hard to see why you would want to change anything.  After all people are motivated more by the fear of failure than they are by the desire to exceed.  Keep your head down and carry on!  If it ain’t broke don’t break it…  we’ve heard it all before.

However, for those looking for something more ambitious, setting a BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goals) and motivating the organisation to deliver it doesn’t need me to tell you what the resistance might be like.   We know there are a variety of personalities to persuade from the ‘Conserver’ through to the ‘Pragmatist’ and ‘Originator’.  In every organisation there are always going to be management personalities at polar opposite ends of the spectrum and this is fine.  Sure, good teams have a balanced combination of complementary skills, but sometimes the key areas of expertise might need flexing according to the goal in the mind.

The truth is there are two dimensions to what requires the energy to succeed.  Simply put, it splits into the Now! and the Now what?  The day job is all about what you need to do short term right here, right now.  While the visionary work needs to be addressing the more strategic issues of the Now What?

When I probed further about the frustration behind the delegates comment, I was told “We are so focussed on making money short-term that longer-term opportunities remain unexploited.”  We all know that what gets measured gets done so board members are thinking ‘if you can’t measure it you can’t manage it’.   Consequently, non-creative thinkers are going to find it difficult to spot ‘Entrepreneurial Opportunities’ and nurture Innovation.

In 2010 an IBM Global Survey of 1500 business leaders across 30 sectors in over 60 countries identified ‘Creativity’ as the key competency needed by the leaders of tomorrow if they want their business to stand out in a complex world.  The survey quotes: “CEO’s must be able to test, tweak, and redesign their core activities continually”. If you buy into this philosophy, then how are you going to make provision to accommodate and implement this into your existing culture?  More to the point, are you even going to try?  Will you carry on as you are and isolate and insulate rather than integrate?  Past experience tells me that if it doesn’t look like one of us and it doesn’t feel like one of us, it’s not one of us. Kill it off, reject it and everyone can go back to what they know and are perfectly comfortable with.  Incremental evolution and tactical mediocrity!

‘Creating Entrepreneurial Opportunities’ needs to become an on-going quest rather than a one-off event.  This is particularly true if you’re hoping to build and nurture an innovative culture within your organisation, with a never-ending stream of innovative thinking and entrepreneurial behaviours.  Within the context of a busy thriving successful organisation, what chance does the professional anarchist stand?

But, professional anarchists are what you’ll need if you are ever going to find that disruptive ‘breakthrough’ innovation. The need for spotting and developing creative and lateral thinking skills has never been greater but how receptive would your current corporate anti-bodies be to the introduction of such a maverick force who’s permanent raison d’être is to challenge the status quo and stimulate divergent thinking?  After all, the future isn’t what it used to be……

Truth is many companies will struggle to surface the radical ideas from within their own teams without a little outside help.  It often takes some detached thinking and independent curiosity to ask the stupid questions that turn out to be not so stupid.  We’ve regularly asked our clients the stupid question that can trigger a fertile mind and become part of their new revenue stream.  By working together, but outside the existing structures and free of the corporate bureaucracy and political constrains, you’ll stand a better chance of getting to ‘the next big thing’.  Key steps are: use a robust innovation process, gently change behaviours and eventually leave the legacy of an innovative culture.

Smallfry answers your questions….

We understand it can often be daunting when you work with a design consultancy for the first time. Our clients, large and small, often have anxieties so here we have selected ten of our most frequently asked questions, which might just cover the answers you are looking for as well….