Think Outside The Pool

Fiona Fairhurst was facing a challenge. The competitive swimmer was in charge of Speedo’s R&D division and charged with inventing a new swimsuit for Olympic athletes to help them win in their ultra-competitive sport. Prevailing wisdom at that time was to make swimsuits as small and smooth as possible. If you’ve ever seen the cringe-worthy dad at a public beach wearing a suit that is far too small, you know exactly what I mean.

Instead of pursuing an incremental gain based on conventional approaches, Fiona instead took a more open-minded view. For inspiration, she began to study the fastest aquatic animals in the sea. Realizing that sharks were among the quickest, she drew inspiration from the high-speed predators to completely reimagine what a swimsuit could be.

The Speedo FastSkin suit looks nothing like it’s predecessors. Instead of the traditional teeny-tiny suits of the past, the FastSkin covers the swimmers entire body, arms, and legs. Unlike its extra smooth ancestors, the FastSkin has tiny ridges in the fabric which were modeled after the skin of sharks. These small ridges, called denticles, reduce drag and increase swim speed.

While the idea was originally mocked, the results were widely celebrated. Introduced for the first time in the 2000 Olympics, 83% of the medals were won by swimmers wearing this new suit. Even better, 13 of 15 world records were broken by swimmers wearing the FastSkin suit. As new versions of the FastSkin emerge, Speedo continues to dominate competitive racing to this day.

Fiona’s approach is the quintessential move of innovators. Instead of seeking an incremental tweak on an old approach, she expanded the possibilities by challenging the core assumptions of her field in order to explore entirely new concepts. She drew her inspiration from far outside the echo chamber of her industry in order to invent something profoundly better.

Whether you’re trying to invent a new swimsuit, upgrade a business process, boost sales, or stand out from the competitive pack, Fiona’s outside-in model can be a powerful framework for progress. By stepping back and asking yourself “Where else in the world does a similar situation exist,” you open yourself up to an expansive supply of new ideas. Fiona borrowed from nature, but you can also try borrowing ideas from adjacent industries, sports, or other walks of life. In fact, applying a core principle from one field to another has driven innovation for centuries.

We’re taught to “think outside the box,” but even that is too limiting since you still wind up on the same piece of paper. By thinking outside the pool entirely, Fiona was able to enjoy remarkable results and make history in her field.

This week, try thinking outside the pool to reel in a fresh catch of innovation. It’s your best shot at landing the big one… hook, line, and sinker.

Read More

New Thinking for the New Era of Business

Albert Einstein famously noted, “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking that we used when we created them.” In our post-COVID world of ...

When an Astronaut Needs a Pen

Ever get stuck on a problem, only to realize you're solving for the wrong thing? That's exactly what happened when the rocket scientists at NASA ...

How Shake Shack Drives Innovation

Do you prefer the crispy mozzarella, tempura watercress, and black garlic mayonnaise cheeseburger or the pumpkin mustard, bacon, cranberries, and sage hot dog? For something ...

Lady Gaga’s Secret to Creativity

Just before she won the Academy Award for Best Original Song, I watched Lady Gaga dazzle the live audience with a pitch perfect performance of ...

Creativity: Does Size Matter?

For some reason, we’ve been taught that for creativity and innovation to count they need to have a magnitude the size of the 1989 San ...

The Lexicon of Creativity

There’s more confusion around the meaning of the word innovation than the chaos at the airline ticket counter after a cancelled flight. Is there a difference between ...

The Brain Science of Becoming More Creative

When we hear stories about iconic leaders like Salesforce.com’s founder Marc Benioff, or widely celebrated virtuosos like Lin-Manuel Miranda for that matter, we immediately think ...

Correct the Overcorrect

When the misguided leaders at Enron, Tyco and Worldcom committed fraud and marred their shareholders with huge losses, the Securities and Exchange Commission rightfully swooped ...

Learning to Color

Fact: Creativity has become the most needed skill in business. It’s gone from a nice-to-have to becoming mission-critical. Fact: Creativity is a learnable skill. All humans have ...