MASSIVE Feedback
According to Jeff Hawkins, in his book On Intelligence, one of the things that make us able to function on a daily basis is a MASSIVE feedback and feedforward pipeline between our brains and our body. Its interesting that we don’t perceive this information going to and from our brains, but it is necessary for the everyday, but deceivingly complex behaviors we exhibit in the world. Feedback (and feed forward) is a very important concept to innovation. Too many people fail because they do not get the feedback they need prior to launching their assumed revolution. Dean Kamen, in spite of his technical and management genius, kept the Segway (or Ginger for those who remember) so secretive that the company was could not have imagined such a tepid market launch. They continue to search today for a viable and lucrative market for their “revolutionary” human transporter.
The question for business leaders, or even the individual inventor, is how to foster MASSIVE feedback for any given project you have in the pipeline. Your attitude and values should drive for feedback rather than spurn it. At every opportunity, look for ways assemble those who are not a part of the effort to review your work. It doesn’t matter they have little knowledge of what you have done — it only matters if they understand and value what you have created. Open your ears and listen to their feedback with no defense. For any criticism, ask them to say more. Enjoy the naive, neutral, unimpassioned response to your idea. And then go make your idea better.