In last month’s publication of the Wall Street Journal (online) – Cesare Mainardi - the CEO of Management Consulting firm Booz & Co. – noted in an article that in 2012, innovation expenditure reached a record level of US$600 billion among the top 1000 spenders; that is, an average of US$600 million per top innovation spender. However, only a quarter of those spenders say that they are highly effective at innovation. The conclusion is that a large number of companies are spending hundreds of millions of dollars on innovation but getting poor results. In other words, business innovation projects are mostly not cost effective. But, what are Cesare Mainardi’s suggestions for improving innovation? Mainardi lists three points: #1: Know exactly where you need to innovate most #2: Innovation is nothing more than new combinations of old elements #3: Crack the “innovation immune system” in your organization To me, the above points seem more like platitudes than as stratagems on how to make innovation projects more cost-effective in organizations. To put things in context, I wonder what the late Steve Jobs’ would have said after reading Mainardi’s points on improving business innovation. “The points suck!” would have been Jobs’ likely response. Just imagine the year 2000 when Jobs was desperately looking for ways to help Apple rapidly escape out of its financial abyss. How helpful would have been Mainardi’s three points to Steve Jobs? Existing tools for business improvement and innovation projects are complex, fragmented, time consuming, costly, and ineffective. There’s a paucity of holistic tools for business improvement and innovation projects. It’s interesting to note that Steve Jobs neither used business innovation consultants nor used explicit business innovation tools. So, what tools did Steve Jobs use? For over 10 years, I’ve been studying the works of world-class entrepreneurs such as Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos, and the magician David Copperfield as well as highly innovative organizations such as Apple, Google, and Amazon. Irrespective of background and domain, world-class innovators formulate and iteratively answer just 4 Red Ocean Disruption (ROD) Questions: the Vision question; Present Performance question; Strategy-Business Model-Execution Cycle question; Future Performance question. These 4 ROD Questions comprise a simple holistic framework that can be used for collaboratively organizing ideas, principles, and tools for business improvement as well as innovation projects in any domain; see http://goo.gl/kwcu3W. Your feedback is appreciated.

1.
Red
Ocean
Disrup/on
(R.O.D.)
Scorecard:
4
ROD
Ques*ons
Cost-­‐effec*vely
Improve
and
Innovate
on
Products,
Services,
and
Business
Models
Date:
………………………………..
VISION
(“LEAP
OF
FAITH”):
What
do
customers
&
non-­‐customers
(stakeholders/“tribes”)
ul*mately
want
or
need
from
the
system/business
model?
PRESENT
PERFORMANCE
(“RED
OCEAN”):
What
is
the
present
performance,
conven*on,
or
paradigm,
given
the
func*on
(job-­‐to-­‐get-­‐done)
of
the
system/business
model?
STRATEGY,
BUSINESS
MODEL,
AND
EXECUTION
CYCLE:
How
must
the
present
performance,
conven*on,
paradigm,
or
“Red
Ocean”
of
the
system/business
model
be
disrupted
while
geSng
to
the
future
performance,
conven*on,
paradigm,
or
“Blue
Ocean”?
FUTURE
PERFORMANCE
(“BLUE
OCEAN”):
What
is
the
desired
future
performance,
conven*on,
or
paradigm,
given
the
func*on
(job-­‐to-­‐get-­‐done)
of
the
system/business
model?
4
1
3
2
#4ROD.
Dr.
Rod
King.
rodkuhnhking@gmail.com
&
hQp://businessmodels.ning.com
&
hQp://twiQer.com/RodKuhnKing

2. VISION:
INSANELY
GREAT
CUSTOMER
EXPERIENCE:
Seamless
Music
Experience
(Everywhere);
“A
Thousand
Songs
in
Your
Pocket”
-­‐
Luxury
SpoUers
PRESENT
PERFORMANCE:
Listen
to
Music
(System/Product:
Portable
Music
Player)
Pain
of
Tradi*onal
Portable
Music
Players
u Limited
Song
Storage
u “Ugly”
Design
u Limited
BaUery
Life
u Bulky/Thick
(Not
Pocketable);
Skipped
Songs
Delight
of
Tradi*onal
Music
Players
u Portable
Music
STRATEGY,
BUSINESS
MODEL,
AND
EXECUTION
CYCLE:
u Red
Ocean
Disrup*on
(R.O.D.)
Strategy
including
E.R.I.C.
(Eliminate;
Reduce;
Increase;
Create)
Tac*cs
u Business
Model
Disrup*on/Paern/Resources:
Luxury
Spot;
Asset
Sale
u Lean
Startup
Project
Execu*on
(LSPE):
DB-­‐MAIL
(Define;
Build;
Measure;
Analyze;
Improve;
Learn)
Cycle
&
Business
Model
Storyboard
FUTURE
PERFORMANCE:
Listen
to
Music
(System/Product:
Digital
Portable
Music
Player)
Delight
of
Classic
iPod
u “A
Thousand
Songs
in
Your
Pocket”
u AUrac*ve
“Cool”
Design/Long
BaUery
Life/As
Thin
As
a
Deck
of
Playing
Cards
u Seamless
Music
Catalog
Organiza*on
and
Experience
4
1
3
2
Red
Ocean
Disrup/on
(R.O.D.)
Scorecard
for
Apple’s
iPod
(2001)
How
Steve
Jobs/Apple
Answered
the
4
ROD
Ques*ons
and
Rapidly
Disrupted
the
Music
Industry
#4ROD.
Dr.
Rod
King.
rodkuhnhking@gmail.com
&
hQp://businessmodels.ning.com
&
hQp://twiQer.com/RodKuhnKing

3.
Zoom-­‐in
View
of
Red
Ocean
Disrup/on
(R.O.D.)
Scorecard
for
Apple’s
iPod
How
Steve
Jobs/Apple
Answered
the
4
ROD
Ques*ons
and
Rapidly
Disrupted
the
Music
Industry
VISION:
Seamless
Music
Experience
(Everywhere);
“A
Thousand
Songs
in
Your
Pocket”
E:
Eliminate
• Control
BuUons
• Gray/Black
Color
• On-­‐off
Switch
R:
Reduce
• Size/Weight
• Thickness
• Complexity
of
Use
I:
Increase
• Price
• Song
Storage
• BaUery
Life
C:
Create
• LCD
Screen
• Scroll
Wheel
• Packaging
• Fast
Download
• Unique
Ads
• Disrup*ve
Business
Model
E.R.I.C.
Tac/cs
Limited
Song
Storage
Limited
BaQery
Life
“Ugly”
Design
Skipped
Songs
Bulky/Thick
Portable
Music
Pain
Pain
Delight
Delight
Red
Ocean
Specifica/ons
(Features/Metrics)
Blue
Ocean
Specifica/ons
(Features/Metrics)
PRESENT
PERFORMANCE
(Customer
Experience:
Pain/Delight)
FUTURE
PERFORMANCE
(Customer
Experience:
Pain/Delight)
Job
To
Get
Done:
Listen
to
Music
(with
Zero
Pain)
Job
To
Get
Done:
Listen
to
Music
(with
Zero
Pain)
4
1
3
2
#4ROD.
Dr.
Rod
King.
rodkuhnhking@gmail.com
&
hQp://businessmodels.ning.com
&
hQp://twiQer.com/RodKuhnKing

4. Present
Performance:
Products
That
“Suck”
-­‐
Red
Ocean
Specifica*ons
Future
Performance:
Insanely
Great
Product/
Service/Business
Model
-­‐
Blue
Ocean
Specifica*ons
1
Strategy,
Business
Model,
and
Execu/on
Cycle
(ERIC
Tac*cs;
DB-­‐MAIL
Cycle):
Red
Ocean
Disrup7on-­‐Lean
Startup
Project
Execu7on
To
Do
Zoom-­‐out
View
of
Red
Ocean
Disrup/on
Scorecard
for
Apple’s
iPod
(2001)
How
Steve
Jobs/Apple
Answered
the
4
ROD
Ques*ons
and
Rapidly
Disrupted
the
Music
Industry
Vision
(Ideal
Final
Result):
UNCONTESTED
MARKET
SPACE
IN
THE
MUSIC
INDUSTRY-­‐
Ideal
Bus.
Model
Specifica*ons
*
“Seamless
Music
Experience
(Everywhere)”
*
“A
Thousand
Songs
in
Your
Pocket”
Short/Medium/Long-­‐term
Doing
Done
Past
Performance
(Analog/An*log)
-­‐
Black
Ocean
Specifica*ons
Key
MVP
is
an
acronym
for
“Minimum
Viable
Product”
ERIC
is
an
acronym
for
“Eliminate;
Reduce;
Increase;
Create”
DB-­‐MAIL
is
an
acronym
for
“Define;
Build;
Measure;
Analyze;
Improve;
Learn”
Business
Model
(Baseline/Prototype:
MVP)
0
3
42
1
3
#4ROD.
Dr.
Rod
King.
rodkuhnhking@gmail.com
&
hQp://businessmodels.ning.com
&
hQp://twiQer.com/RodKuhnKing

5.
Benefits
of
Using
a
Red
Ocean
Disrup/on
(R.O.D.)
Scorecard
Cost-­‐effec*vely
Improve
and
Innovate
on
Products,
Services,
and
Business
Models
q The
Red
Ocean
Disrup*on
(R.O.D.)
Scorecard
is
a
portable,
holis*c,
dynamic,
and
extremely
versa*le
tool/roadmap:
use
it
to
describe/develop/rate
stories
for
planning,
improvement,
marke*ng,
and
innova*on
projects
q Simpler
to
understand
and
use
especially
in
an
environment
of
great
uncertainty
q Common
visual
language
and
shared
understanding
for
planners,
strategists,
improvers,
marketers,
and
innovators
in
various
disciplines
q Accelerated
learning
in
improvement,
marke*ng,
and
innova*on
projects
q Rapid
formula*on
and
implementa*on
of
ideas
as
well
as
plans
and
strategies
q Seamless
knowledge
transfer
within
and
between
domains
q Can
be
customized
or
adapted
for
specific
domains
q Solu*on
of
apparently
impossible
problems
and
trade-­‐offs
#4ROD.
Dr.
Rod
King.
rodkuhnhking@gmail.com
&
hQp://businessmodels.ning.com
&
hQp://twiQer.com/RodKuhnKing

6. Templates
For
Rapidly
and
Itera*vely
Answering
The
4
Red
Ocean
Disrup/on
(ROD)
Ques/ons

7.
Red
Ocean
Disrup/on
(R.O.D.)
Scorecard:
4
ROD
Topics
(General)
Cost-­‐effec*vely
Improve
and
Innovate
on
Products,
Services,
and
Business
Models
VISION
(“LEAP
OF
FAITH”):
PRESENT
PERFORMANCE
(“RED
OCEAN”):
STRATEGY,
BUSINESS
MODEL,
AND
EXECUTION
CYCLE:
FUTURE
PERFORMANCE
(“BLUE
OCEAN”):
#4ROD.
Dr.
Rod
King.
rodkuhnhking@gmail.com
&
hQp://businessmodels.ning.com
&
hQp://twiQer.com/RodKuhnKing
Date:
………………………………..
4
1
3
2

8. Red
Ocean
Disrup/on
(R.O.D.)
Scorecard:
4
ROD
Topics
(Annotated)
Cost-­‐effec*vely
Improve
and
Innovate
on
Products,
Services,
and
Business
Models
VISION
(“LEAP
OF
FAITH”):
q Vision
Statement
(Ul*mate
Want
or
Need)
q
Customer
Segment
(“Tribe”)
PRESENT
PERFORMANCE
(“RED
OCEAN”):
q Job-­‐To-­‐Get-­‐Done
&
Product/Service/Tool/System
q Pain
q Delight
STRATEGY,
BUSINESS
MODEL,
AND
EXECUTION
CYCLE:
u Red
Ocean
Disrup*on
(R.O.D.)
Strategy
including
E.R.I.C.
(Eliminate;
Reduce;
Increase;
Create)
Tac*cs
u Business
Model
Disrup*on/Paern/Resources:
u Lean
Startup
Project
Execu*on
(LSPE):
DB-­‐MAIL
(Define;
Build;
Measure;
Analyze;
Improve;
Learn)
Cycle
&
Business
Model
Storyboard
FUTURE
PERFORMANCE
(“BLUE
OCEAN”):
q
Job-­‐To-­‐Get-­‐Done
&
Product/Service/Tool/System
q Pain
q Delight
#4ROD.
Dr.
Rod
King.
rodkuhnhking@gmail.com
&
hQp://businessmodels.ning.com
&
hQp://twiQer.com/RodKuhnKing
Date:
………………………………..
4
1
3
2

9.
Red
Ocean
Disrup/on
(R.O.D.)
Scorecard:
4
ROD
Ques*ons
Cost-­‐effec*vely
Improve
and
Innovate
on
Products,
Services,
and
Business
Models
Date:
………………………………..
VISION
(“LEAP
OF
FAITH”):
What
do
customers
&
non-­‐customers
(stakeholders/“tribes”)
ul*mately
want
or
need
from
the
system/business
model?
PRESENT
PERFORMANCE
(“RED
OCEAN”):
What
is
the
present
performance,
conven*on,
or
paradigm,
given
the
func*on
(job-­‐to-­‐get-­‐done)
of
the
system/business
model?
STRATEGY,
BUSINESS
MODEL,
AND
EXECUTION
CYCLE:
How
must
the
present
performance,
conven*on,
paradigm,
or
“Red
Ocean”
of
the
system/business
model
be
disrupted
while
geSng
to
the
future
performance,
conven*on,
paradigm,
or
“Blue
Ocean”?
FUTURE
PERFORMANCE
(“BLUE
OCEAN”):
What
is
the
desired
future
performance,
conven*on,
or
paradigm,
given
the
func*on
(job-­‐to-­‐get-­‐done)
of
the
system/business
model?
4
1
3
2
#4ROD.
Dr.
Rod
King.
rodkuhnhking@gmail.com
&
hQp://businessmodels.ning.com
&
hQp://twiQer.com/RodKuhnKing

10.
Red
Ocean
Disrup/on
(R.O.D.)
Scorecard:
4
ROD
Descrip*ons
Cost-­‐effec*vely
Improve
and
Innovate
on
Products,
Services,
and
Business
Models
VISION
(“LEAP
OF
FAITH”):
Brief
statement
or
tagline
that
describes
a
dream
benefit,
trade-­‐off,
ul*mate
want/need,
apparently
impossible
goal,
or
ideal
final
result
of
a
system
(project/business
model/
product/service)
for
a
targeted
customer
segment
(“tribe”)
PRESENT
PERFORMANCE
(“RED
OCEAN”):
Current
level
of
outcomes,
results,
trade-­‐offs,
specifica*ons
of
a
business
model
(system/product/service)
from
business
(internal)
and
customer
(external)
perspec*ves
for
a
product/service/business
model/tool/system
STRATEGY,
BUSINESS
MODEL,
AND
EXECUTION
CYCLE:
Set
of
itera*ve
processes
and
ac*vi*es
as
well
as
business
model
disrup*on
for
winning
customers
in
a
compe**ve
environment
as
well
as
detailed
tac*cs
and
experimental
ac*ons
for
the
business
model
(system/product/service)
to
achieve
future
performance
specifica*ons
FUTURE
PERFORMANCE
(“BLUE
OCEAN”):
Desired,
proposed,
or
hypothe*cal
level
of
outcomes
(results,
trade-­‐offs,
or
specifica*ons)
in
the
short/medium/long-­‐term
from
business
(internal)
and
customer
perspec*ves
for
a
product/service/business
model/tool/system
4
1
3
2
#4ROD.
Dr.
Rod
King.
rodkuhnhking@gmail.com
&
hQp://businessmodels.ning.com
&
hQp://twiQer.com/RodKuhnKing
Date:
………………………………..

11.
Zoom-­‐in
View
of
Red
Ocean
Disrup/on
(R.O.D.)
Scorecard
Cost-­‐effec*vely
Improve
and
Innovate
on
Products,
Services,
and
Business
Models
VISION:
……………………………………………………………………….…….……….
E.R.I.C.
Tac/cs
R:
Reduce
I:
Increase
C:
Create
E:
Eliminate
Pain
Pain
Delight
Delight
Red
Ocean
Specifica/ons
(Features/Metrics)
Blue
Ocean
Specifica/ons
(Features/Metrics)
PRESENT
PERFORMANCE
(Customer
Experience:
Pain/Delight)
FUTURE
PERFORMANCE
(Customer
Experience:
Pain/Delight)
q PRODUCT
q SERVICE
q BUSINESS
MODEL
q TOOL/SYSTEM
q PRODUCT
q SERVICE
q BUSINESS
MODEL
q TOOL/SYSTEM
4
1
3
2
Job
To
Get
Done:
…………………………………….
Job
To
Get
Done:
…………………………………….
#4ROD.
Dr.
Rod
King.
rodkuhnhking@gmail.com
&
hQp://businessmodels.ning.com
&
hQp://twiQer.com/RodKuhnKing
Date:
………………………………..

12. Present
Performance:
Products
That
“Suck”
-­‐
Red
Ocean
Specifica*ons
Future
Performance:
Insanely
Great
Product/
Service/Business
Model
-­‐
Blue
Ocean
Specifica*ons
To
Do
Vision
(Ideal
Final
Result):
UNCONTESTED
MARKET
SPACE
IN
……………
INDUSTRY
-­‐
Ideal
Bus.
Model
Specifica*ons
Short/Medium/Long-­‐term
Doing
Done
Past
Performance
(Analog/An*log)
-­‐
Black
Ocean
Specifica*ons
Key
MVP
is
an
acronym
for
“Minimum
Viable
Product”
ERIC
is
an
acronym
for
“Eliminate;
Reduce;
Increase;
Create”
DB-­‐MAIL
is
an
acronym
for
“Define;
Build;
Measure;
Analyze;
Improve;
Learn”
0 42
1
Business
Model
(Baseline/Prototype:
MVP)
3
Zoom-­‐out
View
of
Red
Ocean
Disrup/on
(R.O.D.)
Scorecard
Cost-­‐effec*vely
Improve
and
Innovate
on
Products,
Services,
and
Business
Models
Strategy,
Business
Model,
and
Execu/on
cycle
(ERIC
Tac*cs;
DB-­‐MAIL
Cycle):
Red
Ocean
Disrup7on-­‐Lean
Startup
Project
Execu7on
3
#4ROD.
Dr.
Rod
King.
rodkuhnhking@gmail.com
&
hQp://businessmodels.ning.com
&
hQp://twiQer.com/RodKuhnKing
Date:
………………………………..

13.
#4ROD.
Dr.
Rod
King.
rodkuhnhking@gmail.com
&
hQp://businessmodels.ning.com
&
hQp://twiQer.com/RodKuhnKing
PRESENT
PERFORMANCE
(“RED
OCEAN”)
STRATEGY,
BUSINESS
MODEL,
AND
EXECUTION
CYCLE
FUTURE
PERFORMANCE
(“BLUE
OCEAN”)
Red
Ocean
Disrup/on
(ROD)
Storyboard
Cost-­‐effec*vely
Improve
and
Innovate
on
Products,
Services,
and
Business
Models
VISION
(“LEAP
OF
FAITH”)
(Customer
Segment/“Tribe”):
4
1
32

14.
#4ROD.
Dr.
Rod
King.
rodkuhnhking@gmail.com
&
hQp://businessmodels.ning.com
&
hQp://twiQer.com/RodKuhnKing
PRESENT
PERFORMANCE
(“RED
OCEAN”)
STRATEGY,
BUSINESS
MODEL,
AND
EXECUTION
CYCLE
FUTURE
PERFORMANCE
(“BLUE
OCEAN”)
STRATEGY
BUSINESS
MODEL/RESOURCES
EXECUTION
CYCLE
PRODUCT/SERVICE/TOOL
PAIN
(-­‐)
DELIGHT
(+)
PRODUCT/SERVICE/TOOL
PAIN
(-­‐)
DELIGHT
(+)
Red
Ocean
Disrup/on
(ROD)
Storyboard
-­‐
Annotated
Cost-­‐effec*vely
Improve
and
Innovate
on
Products,
Services,
and
Business
Models
4
1
32
VISION
(“LEAP
OF
FAITH”)
(Customer
Segment/“Tribe”):