Is perfectionism the #1 innovation killer?

A recent article in BusinessWeek discusses the benefits of selling early-stage, imperfect products to increase the success rate of innovation products.

If you had tasted the very first PowerBar, you probably would have gagged.

It was a chewy, tasteless mass of goo: barley malt, nuts, brown rice, molasses, and nutrients blended into a taffy-like bar, packed in a metallic wrapper with a crude logo.

Created by Brian Maxwell in 1986 for a few thousand dollars, PowerBar received mixed initial results. Serious athletes liked it because it met an important need—quick energy during competition—but the taste and consistency needed work.

Maxwell knew his product wasn’t optimal. But by getting feedback on an early version, he was able to modify it, changing the package and marketing strategy to build a following among athletes and weekend warriors.

The idea that it is beneficial to test products with customers as early as possible is not necessarily new. The challenge is that this common sense idea is very hard to implement because it turns out that in many organisations the willingness to experiment and learn from products or services that are not yet perfected is frowned upon.

An additional challenge is that the departments running the daily operations have no incentive to focus on developing the next innovation that will replace their existing products.

An early-stage PowerBar would never get out the door: R&D would want a better formula; packaging would need a more elaborate wrapper; a design agency would have to create the right label; manufacturing and sales would have to weigh in; and the corporate lawyers would insist on a detailed risk analysis.

In order to innovative a team needs to be willing to experiment and learn from early prototypes and customer feedback. Keep that in mind the next time somebody presents a rough PowerPoint or a cardboard prototype.