Dilbert and disruptive incrementalism

In the March 2004 issue of Technology Review (MIT's magazine of innovation), researcher and consultant Michael Schrage looks at how small innovative changes may have profound effects on businesses. He calls it "disruptive incremental innovation".

To make his point, Schrage uses a nice and telling example, that of Scott Adams, Dilbert's dad. Dilbert is a comic strip that began in 1989 and can be read daily in more than 2000 papers in 65 countries. In a nutshell, Dilbert is the cartoon hero of the office cubicle and a humorisitic reflection of workplace misery.

One day, Adams decided to convince his (cartoon) syndicate to allow him to post his personal e-mail (scottadams@aol.com) on each of his daily comic strips. Strange request at first glance. But smart one indeed! The rationale was according to Adams to see what kind of direct feedback he could get from from his readers. The response was overwhelming. Adams says that he gets some of his best Dilbert material straight from reader e-mail - and for free!!! In a Friday July 26th, Washington Post on line discussion, Adams was asked whether he did receive a regular flow of ideas through his e-mail. Here is a transcript of his conversation with an Arlington based fan:

"Arlington, Va.: Mr. Adams, thank you for representing us in the office space so well. I have various panels from your cartoons all over my office, and some of them are so appropriate to my (and, I'm sure, others) situation that it's almost as if you've worked with me. Do people still email you ideas?
Scott Adams: Yes, they send me ideas. But the lazy %#$*s refuse to draw the comic too, so I have to do that part. "

So, next time you read a Dilbert strip think of Adams' smart disruptive incremental move! He recognized that you could be part of his value constellation!

To put it in Schrage's words "disruptive incremental innovation is about surprisingly cheap, surprisingly easy-to-implement ideas that transform how value is created or perceived"

Any idea for us?