Innovation is 90% perspiration - and 10% sleep deprivation

So, coming to the end of the week at the BBC Innovation Labs, our Memetic Difference Engine system has been pummelled. pushed, tweaked and had all sorts of indignities heaped on it (just so long as it doesn't get pinched), and has come out stronger as a result, for 3 main reasons:

- Firstly, many more brains have gone into the concept, it has added richness and depth, and allowed us to clear out the outlying ideas.

- Secondly, it has become clear that the smart stuff we have focussed on also needs a lot of smart stuff around the graphical output - different people see complex data in very different ways, and different situations need different representation modes.

- Thirdly, we have learned to communicate the idea to a wide variety of different people. To our shock , not everyone "groks" memetics, so you need to shift your semantics - fast - to communicate.

Now, one can get the above three in a variety of other ways - in company peer review, market testing, focus groups, user testing. What is interesting about the BBC Innovation Lab is that the testing and iteration is done in intensive sessions with a range of facilitators with different skills, various BBC people, and of course a wide range of digerati peers - sort of like a 5 day mashup.

But unlike a mashup, there are some tight deadlines, requiring constant blood, sweat and tears - and sleep deprivation from real work rather than networking round the bar

And also unlike a mashup, there is a real chance of the BBC choosing to commission further development - real rewards for effort changes the game theory just a tad !!!

And speaking of changing the game theory, we also get to keep our IP so there is a real payoff in sharing to improve. Increasingly we think users will look for some recognition of their input, so clarity of IP ownership is necessary - and in our view ceding IP ownership to the "UGC Aggregator" will become increasingly unacceptable - just look at the hoo-ha over the Economist team's User Generated Innovation project.

Its also an interesting approach to matching innovation to front line business needs.

We have worked with clients, trying to connect innovation (sometimes their own R&D) to their front line service areas, and there is often a complete misunderstanding. As a process this one used by the BBC has a lot of benefits - it hones the innovation and its story into a form the front line "gets" easily, and it also starts to allow busy front line people to "imagineer" themselves out of their comfort zones into thinking about how new services can work in their environments.

Postscript - after a live (scary) demo (that actually worked...) we have been asked by the BBC to work with them on further developing the system.....good news on a wet Friday