Experience-Driven Innovation

Sometimes, finding a compelling problem instantly inspires possibilities. Other times, crickets. Rather than waiting around for lightning to strike, we recommend that teams take a more proactive approach, and deliberately provoke their own imaginations. One of the most effective, powerful, and fun tools we have created for such self-provocation missions is what we call “Analogous Exploration.” Building upon the extensive research demonstrating the power of unexpected new combinations, we encourage folks to seek radically unexpected sources of inspiration to provoke their thinking. This means not only leaving the room, and not only leaving the building, but also leaving the industry and the conventional definition of “competitor set” behind. Analogous Exploration is not benchmarking. One early application of this radical tool was with a struggling Semiconductor Company whose sales organization had been refined over time to cater predominantly to its largest customers (who ordered hundreds of millions of units annually). The company’s senior leaders felt they needed to “reinvent the customer experience for smaller customers,” and asked for our help. (Story too long for LinkedIn tldr: they instituted a radical new information-sharing agreement with their largest distribution partner, which they believe is one of the largest supply chain innovations in their industry in the last 50 years.) The COO of the company jokingly confided later that they had been watching the competition closely… but the competition didn’t know how to solve their problems either! By deliberately seeking out unexpected sources of inspiration, the organization was able to jump-start revolutionary innovations that serve the smaller businesses every bit as well as they already did the large customers. Getting out of the box like this will not feel efficient. But it is effective. We have since seen Australian financial services organizations glean insights for how to establish trust with new customers from a barber shops & tattoo parlor (those are fascinating stories), Israeli tech companies learn from farmers’ markets, New Zealand fisheries take notes from prominent tea purveyors and bespoke coffee shops, and Japanese conglomerates attracting top-tier millennial talent based on insights from a rock climbing studio and a belly dancing instructor. Despite their differences, one critical commonality among each of these environments is that the teams positioned to solve the newly-defined problem lacked the requisite inputs to trigger fresh ideas. Imagination is fueled by fresh input, and yet all too often, teams are stuck in a conference room, post-it pads in hand, banging their heads against an all-too-ironically spotless whiteboard. Analogous Exploration is a tool to help folks get out of their context on purpose, with intention, to come back with the inspiration they need to fuel fresh thinking.

One of the most fascinating aspects of working as a senior marketer across five industries (mobile phones, e-commerce, FMCG, beauty, and telecommunications) is seeing how i𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘀 𝗱𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗼𝗿𝘆. Having worked with brands like The Coca-Cola Company, Flipkart, L'Oréal, airtel and Nokia, I've learned that 𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝗼𝗻𝗲-𝘀𝗶𝘇𝗲-𝗳𝗶𝘁𝘀-𝗮𝗹𝗹. It's shaped by the needs of the industry, the expectations of its consumers, and the cultural context. Here are some examples. 𝟭. 𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵-𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗜𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 For technology companies, innovation is about reimagining the future with groundbreaking products, services, or solutions. 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗪𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵 revolutionized wearables by merging health and tech. 𝗔𝗹𝗲𝘅𝗮 brought voice-activated convenience into our homes. 𝗚𝗼𝗼𝗴𝗹𝗲 𝗣𝗮𝘆 and other UPI payment solutions redefined how we transact with effortless digital payments. At 𝗟'𝗢𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹, launching a virtual try-on tool powered by AI to personalize beauty at scale was a game-changer. 𝟮. 𝗦𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲-𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗜𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 In industries where experience is key, service-led innovation takes centre stage: 𝟭𝟬-𝗺𝗶𝗻𝘂𝘁𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 by Quick Commerce companies (think Blinkit) is an innovation driven by speed and convenience. 𝗔𝗜 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝘁𝗯𝗼𝘁𝘀 deployed widely by many brands solve maximum customer queries with human-like efficiency. Even something we now take for granted, like 𝗜𝗩𝗥 𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺𝘀 we encounter when we call an airline, bank or telco, was once a radical innovation that streamlined customer service. 𝟯. 𝗖𝗣𝗚 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 𝗜𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) brands often innovate in products, flavours, and packaging to capture consumer attention. 𝗟𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗧𝗶𝗸𝗸𝗮 𝗠𝗮𝘀𝗮𝗹𝗮 𝗳𝗹𝗮𝘃𝗼𝘂𝗿 – making chips resonate with the Indian and South Asian palettes. 𝗟'𝗢𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗹'𝘀 𝗔𝗯𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁 𝗥𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗿 𝗠𝗼𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘂𝗹𝗮𝗿 repairs five years of damage in a single use – a breakthrough in product efficacy. 𝗦𝗰𝗿𝘂𝗯 𝗗𝗮𝗱𝗱𝘆'𝘀 𝘁𝗲𝘅𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲-𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗲𝘀 adapt based on water temperature – a perfect blend of fun and utility. 𝟰. 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗜𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗦𝗲𝗽𝗵𝗼𝗿𝗮'𝘀 𝗶𝗻-𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝘂𝗴𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗺𝗶𝗿𝗿𝗼𝗿𝘀, which allow customers to try before they buy, add a layer of delight to shopping. In the fitness world, 𝗣𝗲𝗹𝗼𝘁𝗼𝗻 innovated by combining digital technology and fitness equipment to transform home workouts with community-led, interactive experiences. 𝗛𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗜 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗶𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘆? Enlighten me in the comments below. #innovation #business #marketing 

When you hear the words “start-up founder,” what comes to mind? Probably a twenty-something, sporting the latest health-tech gadget and sipping an endless supply of flat whites. But the reality? Most UK founders securing Series A or B funding are in their 40s - and they bring decades of experience to the table. Yet the narrative persists: innovation = youth. A reminder for employers, venture capitalists, and PE investors: • Entrepreneurship doesn’t equate to youth. • Age doesn’t make you any less scrappy - or hungry for success. • Experience brings wisdom and insight into the problems that truly need solving. • Time builds networks, perspective, and the understanding that failure, though painful, often leads to bolder, bigger wins. Innovation thrives on experience. Don’t let stereotypes blind you to it.

 The Rarest Skill: Seeing Patterns Across Worlds Some people look at things for what they are. A rare few look at the same thing — and see a solution to a completely different problem. The difference isn’t intelligence. It’s the ability to connect dots that don’t belong together. When Spotify was being built, one of its biggest challenges wasn’t music quality — it was lag. Songs took a few seconds to start. An engineer noticed how traffic signals manage flow: cars don’t stop because of distance, they stop because of timing. If a system could anticipate movement and pre-load what’s next — traffic never clogs. That insight became the basis of Spotify’s zero-latency playback — pre-loading a few seconds ahead to make streaming feel instantaneous. A traffic light solved a tech problem. We experienced something similar at Explorex. The Call for Assistance feature on Elite — where diners can tap a button to alert their waiter — was inspired by a completely different environment: an aircraft cabin. On a flight, you don’t wave for attention. You just press a button. Quiet, efficient, respectful. We brought that same behaviour to dining — giving guests control and staff instant context. It sounds simple, but in restaurants it was a first. And it came not from studying restaurants — but from observing airlines. History is full of such jumps: Toyota’s assembly system borrowed from supermarket inventory. Dyson’s vacuum came from a sawmill cyclone. Apple’s scroll wheel from radio dials. Spotify’s latency fix from traffic lights. Elite’s assistance feature from call button for air hostess/host in airplanes. The world’s best innovators don’t “think outside the box.” They connect boxes that were never meant to touch. Because creativity isn’t about invention — it’s about translation. #Innovation #DesignThinking #Observation #Founders #Explorex #Elite #Spotify #Creativity

I still remember the face of the senior developer who walked into my Lahore office last year, résumé in hand, asking if his 10 years of experience still mattered. "Mr. Usman," he said, "I built systems that run dozens of Technology and retail organizations, but today a 22 year old with three months of AI training just got promoted over me." That moment haunts me, because it represents the greatest challenge facing every technology leader today. The World Economic Forum estimates that nearly six in ten workers will require training before 2030, with 22% of jobs globally changing due to technological advancements. Yet 80% of organizations say upskilling is the most effective way to reduce employee skills gaps, but only 28% are planning to invest in upskilling programs over the next two to three years. This disconnect isn't just a statistic; it's a crisis of vision. Gartner projects that generative AI will require 80% of the engineering workforce to upskill through 2027, while 60% of employees report insufficient training for core job skills. We're essentially asking people to swim while refusing to teach them. But here's what I've learned building Devsinc across three continents: the solution isn't more training programs. It's about creating what Deloitte calls a "whole work approach to development" that integrates skill building with practical, contextual experience. When you redesign roles and workflows to reduce reliance on missing skills while providing intensive, hands-on management support, you don't just close gaps; you create cultures of continuous learning. That senior developer? He's now leading an AI integration team. Not because we gave him a course, but because we paired him with younger engineers in a true knowledge exchange. His decades of system thinking combined with their AI fluency created something neither could achieve alone. 46% of leaders identify skill gaps as the most significant barrier to AI adoption. But the real barrier is our failure to see that experience and innovation aren't competitors. They're collaborators waiting to be unleashed. The question isn't whether your people can adapt. It's whether you're brave enough to invest in their transformation before your competition does.

Knowledge vs Experience In every professional journey — especially in the oil & gas industry — there comes a point where we realize that knowledge and experience are not the same thing. Knowledge is what we learn. Experience is what we survive. You can read hundreds of manuals, attend training after training, and know every theory about artificial lift systems, pressure curves, and production optimization. That’s knowledge — and it’s powerful. But experience… that’s different. Experience is what happens when theory meets reality — when you’re standing at the wellsite at 2 a.m., facing an unexpected shutdown, and you have to decide quickly what really matters. 📘 Knowledge tells you how the pump should behave. 🧠 Experience tells you what to do when it doesn’t. 📘 Knowledge gives you equations and guidelines. 🧠 Experience gives you instincts, timing, and judgment. At PT. Endurance Lift Dynamics Indonesia, we live in the balance between both. Because innovation without knowledge is guesswork — but knowledge without experience is just paperwork. When we introduce new lift technology, controllers, or gas separation systems, we rely on data, design, and simulations. But what makes the difference in the field isn’t just the specs — it’s how our engineers and partners have experienced real challenges and learned what truly works under pressure. One day, you might meet a young engineer with deep theoretical knowledge but limited exposure. Another day, you’ll meet a field technician who’s been in the industry for 25 years but never studied the latest algorithms. Both are valuable — but the magic happens when they work together. Because knowledge feeds innovation, and experience grounds it in reality. I’ve seen projects succeed not because the technology was the most advanced, but because the team had the humility to listen to experience — and the curiosity to keep learning. In this industry, every failure teaches more than a successful trial. Every broken rod, every unexpected shutdown, every late-night restart — they all turn knowledge into wisdom. So, if you’re new in your career: 👉 Don’t rush to prove that you know everything. Seek opportunities to experience it. And if you’ve been in the field for years: 👉 Don’t stop learning. The industry is changing fast, and your experience becomes even more powerful when paired with updated knowledge. True expertise is not about choosing between knowledge or experience — it’s about combining both until they become insight. That’s what drives progress. That’s what builds trust. And that’s what keeps our wells — and our careers — running strong. #Leadership #OilAndGas #Engineering #KnowledgeVsExperience #EnduranceLiftDynamics #ProfessionalGrowth #ArtificialLift #EnergyIndustry #Teamwork #ContinuousLearning #FieldExperience #Mentorship #Innovation

Experience isn’t an accessory. It’s the architecture. 🏛️ For years, digital transformation focused on technology, systems, platforms and tools. However, adoption has often lagged and Impact plateaued. Why? Because transformation is designed for machines, not minds. It will always hit a ceiling. Today, the real differentiator isn’t just tech, it’s human alignment. When we embed behavioral insight into the very fabric of change, transformation becomes scalable, sustainable and measurable. This shift reframes how we think about: 1. Cognitive design: Nudges, defaults and simplicity that make the right actions effortless 2. Social dynamics: Peer influence, purpose and recognition as catalysts for adoption 3. System alignment: Governance, incentives and telemetry that evolve with human behavior Experience is at the core of Digital Foundation; it's not a slogan, but a structural imperative. It demands leaders who can bridge the gap between technology and psychology, who measure adoption as rigorously as they measure deployment and who design ecosystems where humans and intelligent systems co-create value. The question isn’t “how do we implement more tech?” It’s “how do we architect transformation around human experience? 👉 What’s your perspective? Are we ready to make experience the foundation of digital change? #DigitalTransformation #Leadership #HumanCenteredDesign #ExperienceAsInfrastructure #FutureOfWork

Forget MVP (𝘔𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘮𝘶𝘮 𝘝𝘪𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘵) 𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗠𝗩𝗘. Most startups begin with a light-bulb moment. Founders see a problem but ask the wrong question. It's not "How can I solve that?" It's "How can I create value that transforms lives?" This is why: 90% of startups survive YR 1 But only 30% make it to YR 5. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗮𝗺𝗲-𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿? 𝗠𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗠𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗺𝘂𝗺 𝗩𝗶𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 (𝗠𝗩𝗣) 𝘁𝗼 𝗠𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗺𝘂𝗺 𝗩𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 (𝗠𝗩𝗘). 💡𝗟𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗘𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗻 Edison didn't invent the light bulb. He made it matter. While many before him made bulbs that could glow, none offered a solution that was affordable, durable, or scalable. His bulb lasted over 1,000 hours. It became a household staple. Edison created a Minimum Valuable Experience (MVE). 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗼𝗳 𝗠𝗩𝗘 𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗲𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗠𝗩𝗣.  MVP = Launch fast MVE = Launch with value Today's customers want more than half-baked products. MVE is: 📌 Not an excuse for poor UX or branding 📌About delivering essential experiences quickly 📌Giving room to improve without losing users 𝙀𝙭𝙖𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙚: 𝙎𝙪𝙗𝙨𝙘𝙧𝙞𝙥𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣-𝘽𝙖𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙈𝙚𝙖𝙡 𝙆𝙞𝙩 𝙎𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙞𝙘𝙚 - MVP: Pre-portioned ingredients and recipes. - MVE: Offers flexible dietary options (e.g., vegan, gluten-free), a recipe app with cooking tips. Result? An experience that fits lifestyles, not just dinner plans. 𝗠𝗩𝗘 𝗳𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝗷𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗲𝘆: 1. Meeting basic needs + adding meaningful value 2. Creating memorable touchpoints from first search to first use 3. Turning curious customers into passionate advocates 𝗥𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿: 𝗠𝗩𝗣 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. 𝗠𝗩𝗘 𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗶𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲. Your mission: Elevate from MVP to MVE. What's one way you could add value to your customer's experience today? #MVERevolution #StartupStrategy #InnovationMindset #CustomerExperience #EdisonPrinciple

A $100B company was built on blurry photos. Until three founders flew to New York with cameras. In the early days of Airbnb, listings had terrible photos. Blurry rooms. Dark apartments. Low trust. The founders formed a hypothesis: Professional photos will increase bookings. They did not commission a strategy deck. They grabbed cameras. Tested it manually. Result: Listings with professional photos received more than 2x bookings. One experiment. A new growth engine. That mindset scaled. Airbnb increased testing velocity from fewer than 100 experiments per week to more than 700 per week. But the real breakthrough was alignment. They chose one north star metric: Nights Booked Not clicks. Not impressions. Not feature adoption. Every experiment answered one question: Did it increase nights booked? Examples: ✔️ Simple UI test Opening listings in a new tab → 3 to 4% increase in bookings ✔️ A/A tests Control vs control → Ensured the experimentation system itself was trustworthy ✔️ Internal Experiment Reporting Framework Automated analysis → Limited bias → Standardized review Lessons for operators: ➕ Start with a hypothesis, not a feature ➕ Hire data talent early ➕ Embed analysts in product teams ➕ Align everyone to one metric ➕ Validate your testing system Data is not a dashboard. It is the customer’s voice. I share insights on how experimentation fuels innovation and transforms company culture. Follow me for more on building a culture of curiosity.

Despite the rapidly changing landscape of healthcare technologies, the most powerful innovation methods aren't constantly changing—they're remarkably consistent. The fundamentals of human-centered design prove their value across decades precisely because they're grounded in how people actually experience and navigate the world. Three approaches in particular continue to drive meaningful transformation in healthcare environments: Deep observation reveals what interviews alone cannot. When we observe people interacting with systems, spaces and each other, we discover the workarounds, adaptations, and unspoken needs that people themselves might never articulate. Watching clinicians unconsciously develop elaborate workarounds for poorly designed systems—creating informal notes, using hallway conversations to supplement formal handoffs, repurposing spaces in ways architects never intended—reveals opportunities that no survey could capture. These tacit behaviors contain profound wisdom about what actually works in complex environments. Prototyping accelerates learning through experience. The most valuable insights often emerge not from discussions but from creating something tangible that people can interact with. The goal isn't perfection but learning. Early prototypes should be rough, focused on answering specific questions, and created rapidly. Simple cardboard mockups of clinical spaces can reveal profound insights about workflow that sophisticated 3D renderings miss entirely. By making ideas experiential rather than theoretical, we activate different kinds of knowledge and feedback. Diffusion happens through reinvention, not replication. Perhaps the most underappreciated aspect of innovation is how it spreads. Successful adoption rarely means exact replication of an original idea. Instead, each team adapts and reimagines the innovation for their context, making it their own. The most effective innovations provide guiding principles rather than rigid prescriptions, creating a framework that invites intelligent adaptation. These approaches remain valuable because they acknowledge fundamental human needs: to be understood beyond what we can articulate, to experience ideas rather than just hear about them, and to participate in shaping solutions rather than simply implementing someone else's vision. As healthcare faces unprecedented challenges—from workforce shortages to technological transformation to evolving patient expectations—these human-centered methods offer not just a process but a mindset that can help us navigate complexity with wisdom and creativity.