The Laggard is an interesting beast.  In marketing terms, the Laggard consumer is so far behind the adoption curve that it makes little sense to expend resources to attract them.  When we are developing new products and services, however, we may want to reconsider the time and attention we give them. 

We've talked about learning from Lead Users as a way to stay ahead of market needs when developing new products and services.  In trying to ensure that the new offering will appeal to a broader audience than just the Lead User, many people like to also learn from the Early Adopters.  While the intent is good, the problem is that the Early Adopter likes new products simply because they are new, and this enthusiasm may lead you down a path that is interesting, but not particularly useful.  Learning from the Average Joe in your category is even less helpful, because these people don't care enough in either direction to illuminate their underlying motivations.

Learning from the Laggard, on the other hand, can yield a treasure trove of useful insight.  In some cases, these people are working just as hard to shun your category as the Lead User is working to innovate within it.  While the Lead User is helping you to understand what your new offering should do, the Laggard can help you to understand what your new offering should not do. 

An (oversimplified) example can be illustrated by the evolution of the PC.  The original PC made it easy to input and store documents and other data.  It also required that you sit in front of it to type in notes you may have taken at a meeting.  Many people did not want to do two steps and limited their use of the PC.  Enter the laptop.  Take it to a meeting or on a trip, and you never miss a beat.  Then there were people who disliked that fact that the screen was so small that they didn't like using it as a sole computer, didn't want to maintain two, and limited their use of the laptop.  Enter the docking station.  You get the point.

Of course, there are some people who are Laggards because their inertia and reluctance to change present too great an obstacle to be overcome, and I'm not suggesting that we break our backs to try.  What I am suggesting is that when trying to innovate within your category,  it may serve you well to find the people who are Laggards because using your current products would force them to give up something valuable.  If you solve that problem for the Laggard, chances are that the rest of your market will like it too.

If you think the key to innovation is infusing your organization with creativity, and that creativity manifests itself through successful ideation sessions, please think again.

Additional creativity is a good thing.  Ideation sessions certainly have their place, and can be very good tools.  But they are just that - tools.  If you were going to build a house, would you start the process by buying the best tools?  Of course not.  You would first figure out what type of house you should build.  And if you couldn't do that by yourself you would hire a designer, architect, or both.  And if they proceeded to do their work without talking to you about your lifestyle, you wouldn't get the house that was right for you.

 Starting the innovation process by trying to boost creativity or having ideation sessions, is like trying to build a house by starting with buying the hammer, nails and other materials.  You need to know where you are going before you start.  You need to have a corporate strategy, or at least some solid business goals.  You need to understand the needs of the people who will buy your offering.  And you need to make sure the two are connected.  When the criteria for successful innovation is defined, you can then get creative and have successful ideation sessions.  They will work because you will know how to judge the outcomes.

Innovation is not random.  Neither is ideation if it's done at the right point in the process.  If you're having an ideation session and you look at all the "new ideas" being discussed, yet you have no idea of which ones will be right for your business, then you probably weren't ready for the session in the first place.

Go back, do the rest of the work, and then try again.

Great article in Forbes that illustrates the fact that social networking sites are finally catching up with the idea that intimate knowledge of your consumer will serve your business well.  Smaller niche-enthusiast sites are gaining members at a surprising rate.  People are shunning Facebook and MySpace as a place where they can find others that share specific interests.

Don't get me wrong, Facebook and MySpace are great communities, but they focus on volume.  Finding another person who is absolutely passionate about your interests is like finding a needle in a haystack.  Niche communities solve this problem for consumers. 

My question to you is, do you know what your consumers are passionate about?  Are you providing it?  Can they find you?

Listen to how people talk at your company.  If your company is like most, there will be many people talking about how consumer oriented they are, or how customer focused, or how they strive to provide a great consumer experience. 

Then listen to what gets said at any product team meeting.  Why the end product may not be delivered when, or how, it was originally intended.  Why that will be OK because "people will get it because I'm going to implement it like Facebook. Everyone knows what that is."  Why it's better to change the product so that the development pipeline won't be overtaxed. 

And just for fun, try to raise a "constructive consumer oriented concern" like, "We can't do it like Facebook because if people wanted it that way, they'd go to Facebook.  We need to differentiate.  I would like to discuss what it would take to make it like it was defined in the beginning."  See what type of answer you get.

You will then know whether or not your company is consumer oriented.