Entrepreneur Larry Keeley wrote: “Very little is truly new in innovation. Too often, we fail to appreciate that most innovations are based on previous advances. Innovations don’t have to be new to the world — only to a market or industry.”
The owners of the Twisted Ranch restaurant in St. Louis took Keeley’s advice to heart and created a fun, new dining experience around an old food staple: ranch dressing. They developed 33 different variations of ranch dip and built their menu around “flights” that allow you to sample 5 or 13 of the flavors. Examples include: Asian Zing, Cheesy Bacon, Cilantro Lime, It Takes 2 to Mango, Kemowasabi, Parmesan Peppercorn, Sunny in Fetadelphia, and Truffle Shuffle. It was hard to choose just 13.
Maybe you’re not a restaurant owner or product developer but consider whether there is a staple in your field that you could offer in a new manner — or in 33 new ways. Experimentation, sampling, and consumer choice twisted together make for a great combination.
Source: Ten Types of Innovation: The Discipline of Building Breakthroughs by Larry Keeley, 2007
