Creating breakthroughs at 3M

This article argues that breakthrough innovations can be found by finding lead users and looking at what they are creating. These are users at the edge of the marketplace, not in the centre and can be found by asking people to recommend people they know who are at the top of their field. Going cross-market can also be a valuable source of information - finding people with similar problems but in very different markets and learning how they approach problems.

Users who face a similar problem but in a field where the demand is much higher are a good source of innovation, necessity is the mother of invention, so go other markets where the necessity is greatest. Lead users operate in the cutting edge trends in a market - care must be taken not to follow fads. Lead users are similar to the innovator group in the technology adoption lifecycle, and this approach is similar to Paul Graham when he says lots of great innovations start out as “toys” in the hands of lead users - but go on to be mainstream.

One way to know if a lead user really is a lead user is to invite them to talk to you directly on an intellectual level, lead users are at the edge of the market and are very willing to speak to others at the edge. Users who want something in return are typically not at the edge.