In today’s digital world it is often challenging to get customers to fully understand what is possible with your organization’s meaningfully unique technologies, wisdom and work systems.

 Product Discovery experiences are an effective method for both developing and deepening relationships with customers.  They do this by creating an engaging and educational customer experience grounded in what makes your product or service great. 

Eureka! Ranch success over the past 40+ years has primarily been a result of crafting and delivering meaningfully unique innovation & employee engagement experiences.  The Eureka! Ranch team  and I have helped create or improve Discovery Experiences for companies ranging from an electric utility to food service providers to commercial equipment manufacturers to custom bourbon experiences.   The demand for help with creating effective Discovery Experiences is growing.  In fact, we are currently in discussions with three separate companies to help them create or improve their Discovery Experiences.  

Discovery Centers Take Many Forms

Discovery Centers usually include both a digital and an in-person delivery option.  Sometimes it’s a sequential system of Digital Experiences leading to an in person experience at a company facility.   

Discovery Centers include: a Narrative, an Experience Operating System and a set of dramatic efficacy demonstrations, customization and or prototyping systems.   They are usually offered as both experiences for one person or for a team of customers.  

Discovery Centers are often quickly prototyped with existing facility space and resources.  With success i.e. acceleration of the sales process – they are scaled up in custom spaces with more elaborate and effective customer experience options. 

Discovery Centers are a “safe space” for helping customers think through their problems and possibilities for resolving them – usually with the host suppliers assets.  It’s common for customers to use the Eureka! Ranch’s Innovation Engineering work systems and tools for facilitating engaging thinking sessions meaningful experiences.  For example – IE Create Session SOP, Rapid Research results in minutes or an hour or two, Monte Carlo modeling and forecasting the impact of new ideas versus the previous approach. 

The Three Keys To Success with a Discovery Center 

1. Be SPECIFIC ABOUT YOUR BENEFIT PROMISE to Prospective Customers This is important because In today’s world customers time is their most precious asset.  They also often need to explain in very simple terms to their boss the value of them attending your Discovery Experience.  Examples of strong promises include:  a)  Develops A Customized Solution for your Unique Situation, b) Saves you Money (varies wildly depending on industry) c) Saves you Time (I’ve seen demonstrated savings of 2 to 9 months)
   
2. Create a Theatrical Experience: An Engagement that DELIVERS on YOUR PROMISE: The most common structure is “A Drama in 2, 3 or 4 Acts”.   It’s best designed to speak to the customers left brain (logical) and right bran (emotions and hopes).  It often includes Eureka! Discovery moments, Mind Shining Educational experiences, Confront Reality Drama and Energizing Celebration with final solutions.
   
3. Leverage Systems for Making your Customer Experience Center Reliable & Reproducible:  To make your Discovery Experience effective and cost effective it’s important to build it with the same discipline and documentation as a franchising company provides to franchisees.   This means having documented SOP and well thought out training for your staff.   We often include Eureka! Ranch systems such as Spark Decks, Micro-Training Experiences from the 48 Innovation Engineering Skills that open customers minds and proven and validated tools for engaging customers. 

Personally, I really love creating Discovery Experiences.  The process involves deep thinking on the true essence of what makes a company’s great and how to bring that greatness to life for prospects.  Most of all I love the excitement these centers generate across sales, marketing and operations as they feel from the first time that they have a way to really open their customers minds to what makes the company’s offerings meaningfully unique. 

If you’d like to just talk about what’s possible send me a message below.

And of course if you’d like to participate in a Discovery Experience of our Eureka! Ranch Services or Dexter Bourbon Company WoodCraft Spirits Technology – give me a call or send me a message below 🙂

Cheers,

Doug Hall 

Founder – Eureka! Ranch
Co-Founder – Dexter Bourbon Company from the Brain Brew Distillery
Co-Founder – Eureka! Ranch Distilled Spirits Group

Click to learn more about:  DOUG’S Bio     DOUG’S Services     DOUG’S Books

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Research finds that companies that proactively innovate during challenging economic times realize 7X to 21X greater growth in profit margin and sales.

Sadly, many organizations don’t have the capability or confidence to be PROACTIVE Innovators.

The good news is there are some remarkable innovations in innovation work systems that can help any organization transform themselves.  Best of all they are very FAST – leaders see tangible impact in just 100 days – transformational impact in just 12 months – and a sustaining change momentum across the entire organization in 24 to 36 months.

The new systems were created and validated by the Eureka! Ranch’s R&D group the Innovation Engineering Institute.   It’s a collaboration of industry, academics and government dedicated to finding faster, smarter systems for transforming PROACTIVE Innovation from a random gamble to a reliable science.

We focus on systems because as the legendary Dr. W. Edwards Deming said “94% of failures are due to the work system, 6% are due to the workers.”

Examples of 3 of the dozens of new systems and tools include:

1. A System for Creating INVESTIBLE Business Opportunities instead of Product/Service ideas.   This is a major shift.  Previously innovation was focused simply on ideas that address customer or consumer insights.  Today, this is shifting to a more wholistic focus on Business Opportunity.  This means the focus is on solving for the three risks: 1) Market Risk (will the customer buy it), 2) Technology Risk (can we make and deliver the idea) and 3) Organizational Risk (profitability, ROI, regulatory, staffing and investment needs).
   
   
2. A System for Forecasting Innovation Sales AT THE START when there is high uncertainty.  Today’s leading innovators believe that “no math no project.”  The uncertainty is embraced and modeled using a Risk Adjusted Forecasting technique known as Monte-Carlo Simulation.  In brief, it involves Fermi estimating of best case (1 in 5 chance), worst case (1 in 5 chance) and best guess. The inputs are converted into a probability curve and the computer system “virtually introduces” the innovation to the marketplace 10,000 times developing a probability distortion of results.  This approach also provides sensitivity analysis identifying the highest risk areas providing focus to your development efforts. Don’t take my word for it – reply to this email and the Ranch Team will lead you through a demonstration so you can see it for yourself.
   
   
3. A System That  Quantitatively Forecasts Future Trends and Opportunities.  Proactive innovation anticipates the future.  Digital Delphi is an iterative forecasting system that mines the factual knowledge and instinctive wisdom of industry experienced managers.   Again,  don’t take my word for it – send me an email and the Eureka! Ranch team will lead you through a demonstration so you can see it for yourself. 

And that’s just the start…here’s a half dozen other new technologies: 

1. Advanced Rapid Market Research systems that cuts cost and timing by 90%!
   
2. An Advanced AI tool that transforms millions of Public Domain patents into hundreds of ideas to help you think faster, smarter and more creatively about your innovation challenge.
   
3. A Spark Deck System that transforms your customer insights, tech mining, future trends and marketplace dynamics into Into 5X More Big Ideas.
   
4. A System for Moving your culture from REACTIVE Fire Fighting to PROACTIVE Problem Solving.
   
5. A System for Driving Out Cultural Fear through the Application of Psychology.
   
6. A System for doubling engagement and success with your Strategic Plan.

Cheers,

Doug Hall 

Founder – Eureka! Ranch
Co-Founder – Dexter Bourbon Company from the Brain Brew Distillery
Co-Founder – Eureka! Ranch Distilled Spirits Group

Click to learn more about:  DOUG’S Bio     DOUG’S Services     DOUG’S Books

Click to SEND DOUG A MESSAGE

You’ve read about it, now watch and learn how it works.  This Wednesday I’m leading a free webinar on PROACTIVE Problem Solving – a next generation continuous improvement system that fixes flawed work systems.

PROBLEM:  Research finds that the average manager wastes 3.5 hour a day dealing with flawed work systems, needless bureaucracy, ineffective communications/meetings, and broken IT systems. 

SOLUTION: Drive out 70% of work system waste through Total Employee Engagement in PROACTIVE Problem Solving of flawed work systems.

WHAT’S IN IT FOR YOU?:  The classic PROACTIVE Problem Solving implementation delivers both MORE Ideas for working smarter AND a transformation in innovations and renovations of your products or services:  To be more specific it delivers: 

• 10+ Ideas for working smarter created and taken action on per employee per year. This is based on the number of improvements created and taken action on as Pilot Operating Procedures (POP).  The proposed improvement is tested, adapted and validated through disciplined Plan, Do, Study, Act Cycles of learning for inclusion in your official or unofficial Standard Operating Procedures.

• 5 year road map of innovations and renovations of your products/services that have up to a 500% greater odds of commercial success.  This is based on risk adjusted forecasting of the value of your cost savings, productivity improvements and sales and profits from new or improved products/services.

NON-DISRUPTIVE TO YOUR EXISTING METHODS:  Importantly, the program is designed to build on and not replace your organization’s momentum with popular continuous improvement systems such as Lean, 6-Sigma, Kaizen, etc.  Integration is easy because PROACTIVE Problem Solving and all of these methods are grounded in the work Dr. W. Edwards Deming did first in Japan with Toyota and the Western World in the early 1980s.

Free Webinar: Working Smarter Without Burning Down What’s Working

WHEN: Wednesday, July 30 at 1:00 PM EST
WHO:  I will be leading the webinar personally
REGISTER NOW [it’s free!]:  https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/l1JxJRHMTCi0TtZZRJo95g

Cheers,

Doug Hall 

Founder – Eureka! Ranch
Co-Founder – Dexter Bourbon Company from the Brain Brew Distillery
Co-Founder – Eureka! Ranch Distilled Spirits Group

Click to learn more about:  DOUG’S Bio     DOUG’S Services     DOUG’S Books

Click to SEND DOUG A MESSAGE

In over fifty years of speaking and teaching adults, I’ve never felt a connection as strong as I feel today between the needs of audiences and my message.

Thinking about this, I believe there are three reasons for this greater connection.

Key #1.  Confronting Reality – The first key is to be brutally honest with audiences about an overwhelming problem that they feel right now.  Today’s audiences don’t have patience with being lectured about something “they should be worrying about.”  They want solutions for one or more of the stresses they are feeling right now.

In my case, when I speak about “Stopping the Stupid” – the flawed work systems and bureaucracy that gets in the way of doing their jobs – it resonates with a unique energy both in North America and in Europe. 

Key #2.  Providing Genuine Solutions – The second key is to offer genuine solutions to their pain.  It can’t be theory. It can’t be “big picture.” It MUST BE practical step-by-step methods for helping them reduce their pain and suffering from the Stupid Stuff that prevents them from doing their jobs. 

In my case, adapting our world-famous Eureka! Inventing methods into a simple and easy-to-implement PROACTIVE Problem Solving system gets audience’s attention.  We estimate that about 30% see results within a week after my talk. About 50% within three to four weeks.  And yes – roughly 20% don’t engage just like Everett Rogers reports in his classic book Diffusion of Innovations. 

Key #3. Being Authentic – Quite simply audiences have no patience with speakers who theorize about how Apple, Tesla, Starbucks, Google, etc. do things.  Rather they want to hear how the speaker as “lived their pain” and found relief.

In my case, the story of how Brain Brew Distillery, our small craft bourbon distillery, is battling multinationals and winning creates a unique connection with audiences.

Cheers,

Doug Hall 

Founder – Eureka! Ranch
Co-Founder – Dexter Bourbon Company from the Brain Brew Distillery
Co-Founder – Eureka! Ranch Distilled Spirits Group

Click to learn more about:  DOUG’S Bio     DOUG’S Services     DOUG’S Books

Click to SEND DOUG A MESSAGE

I am getting more and more questions from leaders of corporations, non-profits, universities, and government groups about their desire to REVITALIZE their existing work systems, rather than REPLACE them! This desire to get more from what they already have – their systems, people, and work processes is driven by three things:

1. AN URGENCY FOR QUICK IMPACT:  Leaders are feeling extreme stress. They urgently need to generate quick impact in – sales growth, cost reduction, quality, efficiency, and employee engagement. In response, we have adapted our PROACTIVE Problem Solving program for team members and managers to deliver tangible impact within 4 weeks.
   
   
2. A DESIRE TO MAKE IT EASY BY BUILDING ON RATHER THAN REPLACING:  Building on what exists creates far less chaos and confusion than replacing existing systems. In response, we customize the curriculum of our PROACTIVE Problem Solving courses for team members and managers with the language used by their culture and with examples from their organizations. We also build seamless bridges between the old and the new.
   
   
3. A ROADMAP FROM QUICK AND EASY TO BIGGER AND BOLDER IMPACTS: Leaders need quick and easy impact during these times of trouble in the global marketplace. In addition, they are also seeking programs that set them up for bigger success with bigger and bolder innovation. To that end we have developed roadmaps for process improvement that grow from quick impact to a new cultural norm of 10 Working Smarter system improvements per employee per year. The training and systems that we provide lay the foundation for a 500% increase in big ideas and faster speed to market with innovations and renovations to existing offerings.

Happy to connect to understand your needs and to educate you on fast and easy ways to get more impact from your existing systems, managers and team members.

Cheers,

Doug Hall 

Founder – Eureka! Ranch
Co-Founder – Dexter Bourbon Company from the Brain Brew Distillery
Co-Founder – Eureka! Ranch Distilled Spirits Group

Click to learn more about:  DOUG’S Bio     DOUG’S Services     DOUG’S Books

Click to SEND DOUG A MESSAGE

As I reflect on my recent tour across the UK, speaking about my new book PROACTIVE Problem Solving, I am struck by the reaction I got to one simple slide that showed OLD WHISKEY vs. NEW WHISKEY as practiced by our Dexter Bourbon Company at the Brain Brew Distillery.

The discussion of transforming from OLD world legacy ways to NEW world mindset and methods was a clear theme of conversations following my event. 

In EDINBURGH, there was discussion about the OLD ways of “controlling” workers in manufacturing organizations versus the NEW ways of enabling and igniting employees. 

In WALES, discussion was about OLD work systems that are slow, expensive and rigid versus the NEW ways of working in a multi-billion-dollar global corporation. 

In LONDON, the panel at the international Space Network event spoke about OLD space versus NEW space.  OLD space being the legacy systems that are slow and expensive versus NEW space that is nimble, efficient and fast. 

Also in LONDON, discussion with attendees at the Institute of Physics focused on how many of the companies there were striving to drop the OLD and pivot towards NEW ways of working. From health care and hospitality to manufacturing and service industries there was a greater momentum to change mindsets than I’ve observed in forty years of working in the United Kingdom. 

The causes of the shift likely include: a resetting of mindset post covid, the global chaos of tariff uncertainty, and a new generation of leaders and managers who are setting the organizational agenda as Baby Boomers become less and less dominant. 

Frankly, the OLD versus NEW discussions give me great hope.   

I hope that by working together across organizations, industries, and countries, we can increase joy and decrease stress in our work lives. 

It is also my hope that team members and their leaders will ignite change from the bottom up.  And that leadership at the top will set clear strategies that anticipate the future. Finally, I hope that with explicit strategies and engaged teams, middle management will be able to coach and facilitate working smarter, faster, and more creatively on ideas that make a meaningful difference. 

So what are you waiting for?  What can you do to help your team, department or organization move from OLD world to NEW world thinking?.

Cheers,

Doug Hall 

Founder – Eureka! Ranch
Co-Founder – Dexter Bourbon Company from the Brain Brew Distillery
Co-Founder – Eureka! Ranch Distilled Spirits Group

Click to learn more about:  DOUG’S Bio     DOUG’S Services     DOUG’S Books

Click to SEND DOUG A MESSAGE