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How to innovate on demand?...Continued.

Writer's picture: Meira SpivakMeira Spivak

Last week, we began to implement S.I.T. with the subtraction method via an example of trying to open a restaurant. In order to innovate the restaurant, we subtracted one of its components, say the food, and then imagined what the restaurant would be like without any food.


No food in the restaurant? Yes.

After a short while, we realized that we could also sell food accessories such as cutlery or table linens. Even though we might end up selling food in our restaurant, we have now opened up a new line of thinking.


Let’s try this with another component. Imagine the restaurant with no staff.


No staff at all?


Yup. What would be the benefits of not having staff in the restaurant?


Well, I would save a lot of money on salaries and insurance. I wouldn’t have to deal with no-shows or cancellations or sick days, and I wouldn’t have to deal with screaming chefs.


Well if you had no staff, how would people get their food?


Maybe we could have a restaurant where all the ingredients are purchased pre-sliced and prepped, and then people use our kitchens to prepare their own meals. Or maybe we don’t even sell food at all, but people can rent out our kitchens, bring their own food and volunteers and self-cater their events?


Or maybe we only offer buffets and self-serve?


Wow. I never would have thought of all these ideas, and definitely not this quickly.


Exactly. And if we did this with location – imagine you had a restaurant with no location. You’d save money on rent, cleaning and insurance. But how would you sell food?


Hmm. That’s a hard one. Maybe I can offer to come cook in people’s homes and prepare the food on the spot? Or maybe, we don’t even sell our own food? Maybe we subcontract with another restaurant and use our name. When someone orders from us, we order the food from somewhere else and then repackage it.


Wow. Brilliant! I’m glad you’re starting to innovate on demand. Let’s continue next week with learning how to implement some of the other S.I.T. methods.


To be continued…

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