idea > logic > magic

Now the interesting thing about innovation – whether it’s change for change’s sake or driven by a desperate need – is that it’s no good to simply move away blindly from something that doesn’t appear to be working.

Ultimately, you won’t really know where you’re going. It’s like heading off on a road trip with no specific destination in mind, no roadmap, and no real plan how to get there.

Unless you’ve meticulously scoped the extent and direction you want to move towards, you’re probably better off staying where you are. For now. The inherent risk you run is that you’re going to be making important decisions with crucial ramifications and you don’t want these decisions to be based on little or no information with regard to the potential outcome.

Some years back, a well known department store attempted to rebrand their identity and offering to attract a more upmarket clientele than that which they were ‘successfully’ servicing at the time. The result of this ‘innovative’ program was that they somehow ended up not attracting this market at all, and at the same time they managed to alienate their current client base, who no longer related to their ‘new’ brand. Well-intentioned, but not good for business.

You have to ensure that you really know where you’re going, why you’re changing something, how you’re going to achieve this and understand the implications of where you might end up. Your old picture might not be as broken as the new one you’re attempting to implement could become…