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March 31, 2009 (1:21 PM) by Joe Kim
This week I participated in an interview with a well-known chef who is part of Maddock Douglas’ Global Expert Network. It was an informative and entertaining (all top chefs are personalities, right?) discussion. One comment he made got me thinking about the innovation process. (Now, you should know that I’m a process junkie. I fancy myself to be a creative type, but truth be told, even my creativity follows a bit of a process. In fact, IMHO I believe all creativity follows a process, but I’ll save that for another blog post.)
Back to the comment from our chef. He was discussing how the majority of his clientele really just wants simplicity and not over-the-top fancy menu items. He gave several examples of new dishes that included exotic ingredients that didn’t sell well and other simple dishes with more common ingredients that sold incredibly well. When we asked why people would come to an upscale restaurant and pay for a meal they could seemingly make at home, he replied with a question: “How many of you know how to roast a chicken?” He explained that most people know what the process is, but many can’t cook it just right. It’s the chef’s technique that gets it to taste “restaurant quality” delicious.
I thought about this comment on process vs. technique and he’s absolutely right. It’s one thing to know what the steps are to doing something (process) but another to know how to do it well (technique). One of my favorite quotes:
“The gap between knowing and doing is far greater than the gap between ignorance and knowledge”
- John Maxwell, author
So what’s the point? When it comes to innovation, the same holds true. There are lots of firms that can tell you about their innovation process or methodology, but ultimately it’s the people with the skillful techniques that will net you the greatest tasting roast chicken. Good thing for us (Maddock Douglas) that we have some amazing innovation chefs in our kitchen. Do you?
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