The Power of Anomaly

"In a typical new-product-development process, market researchers comb through historical data, form multiple hypotheses, and check them through experimentation. That allows the researchers to identify a value proposition, which can then be developed and rolled out. The process may take many months.

Anomaly-driven innovation is very different. To be... See more

For example, when given an opportunity to buy the patents for the telephone shortly after it was invented, William Orton, the president of Western Union (then the dominant telegraph company), reportedly dismissed the device as an “electrical toy.” The view prevailing at the time was that the telephone would be used merely for short updates—a purpos... See more

Embrace ambiguity. Anomalies usually don’t point to obvious actions. They fall into gaps that are not well explained by current models, and the data supporting them may not be clear-cut. Established businesses often have difficulty embracing this kind of ambiguity, as is demonstrated by the adage “What gets measured gets managed.”

But ambiguity crea... See more