CHAPTER II

“ THE INCONGRUITY BETWEEN REALITY AND THE ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT

IT “

Whenever the people in an industry or a service misconceive reality,

whenever they therefore make erroneous assumptions about it,
their efforts will be misdirected. They will concentrate on the area
where results do not exist. Then there is an incongruity between reality
and behavior, an incongruity that once again offers opportunity for
successful innovation to whoever can perceive and exploit it.

THE PRACTICE OF INNOVATION

freighter methods which, much earlier, had been developed for trucks
and railroads.
The incongruity between perceived and actual reality typically characterizes
a whole industry or a whole service area. The solution, however,
should again be small and simple, focused and highly specific.
 CHAPTER III
THE INCONGRUITY BETWEEN PERCEIVED AND ACTUAL
CUSTOMER VALUES AND EXPECTATIONS
THE PRACTICE OF INNOVATION
big firms have not yet accepted that their competitor exists, let alone that it is successful. Behind the incongruity between
actual and perceived reality, there always lies an element of intellectual arrogance, of intellectual rigor and dogmatism. “It is
I, not they, who know what poor people can afford,” the Japanese industrialist in effect asserted. “People behave according
to economic rationality, as every good Marxist knows,” as Khrushchev implied. This explains why the incongruity is so
easily exploited by innovators: they are left alone and undisturbed. Of all incongruities, that between perceived and actual
reality may be the most common. Producers and suppliers almost always misconceive what it is the customer actually buys.
They must assume that what represents “value” to the producer and supplier is equally “value” to the customer. To succeed
in doing a job, any job, one has to believe in it and take it seriously. People who make cosmetics must believe in them;
otherwise, they turn out shoddy products and soon lose their customers. People who run a hospital must believe in health
care as an absolute good, or the quality of medical and patient care will deteriorate fast. And yet, no customer ever perceives
himself as buying what the producer or supplier delivers. Their expectations and values are always different. The reaction of
the typical producer and supplier is then to complain that customers are “irrational” or “unwilling to pay for quality.”
Whenever such a complaint is heard, there is reason to assume that
the values and expectations the producer or supplier holds to be real are incongruous with the actual values and expectations
of customers and clients. Then there is reason to look for an opportunity for innovation
that is highly specific, and carries a good chance of success.
 CHAPTER IV
INCONGRUITY WITHIN THE RHYTHM OR LOGIC OF A
PROCESS
THE PRACTICE OF INNOVATION
And without such a tool, there was an internal incongruity in the logic of the process that upset and frustrated
customers. Does the identification of such internal incongruity within a process rest on “intuition” and on
accident? Or can it be organized and systematized? William Connor is said to have started out by asking
surgeons where they felt uncomfortable about their work. O. M. Scott grew from a tiny local seed retailer into a
fair-sized national company because it asked dealers and customers what they missed in available products.
Then it designed its product line around the Spreader. The incongruity within a process, its rhythm or its logic,
is not a very subtle matter. Users are always aware of it. Every eye surgeon knew about the discomfort he felt
when he had to cut eye muscle— and talked about it. Every hardware-store clerk knew about the frustration of
his lawn customers—and talked about it. What was lacking, however, was someone willing to listen, somebody
who took seriously what everybody proclaims: That the purpose of a product or a service is to satisfy the
customer. If this axiom is accepted and acted upon, using incongruity as an opportunity for innovation becomes
fairly easy—and highly effective. There is, however, one serious limitation. The incongruity is usually available
only to people within a given industry or service. It is not something that somebody from the outside is likely to
spot, to understand, and hence is able to exploit.