Successful Innovation

I’m reading Hidden In Plain Sight by Erich Joachimsthaler right now and in the beginning he outlines three things that a company must do to continuously innovate and succeed. The three points he makes are very good and are applicable to the macro and micro level of a company’s strategy.
“First, it must understand the people it is trying to serve as the individuals they are – apart from any connection or interaction with the company.”
“Second, it must know how to go beyond its own perimeters of products, markets, and competencies; let go of and challenge the assumptions, common practices, and golden rules of doing business still held today; and go beyond what it has learned from consumers.”
“Third, it must see itself ‘from the outside in’ and formulate strategies around people’s behaviors, not just seek to satisfy consumer needs and wants or customer requirements. It must execute activation plans that engage consumers and seamlessly fit all kinds of innovations into peoples’ and consumers’ behaviors – or a customer company’s work process – so that the people absorb and assimilate them.”

I feel like SalesForce.com is a good example of doing all of these things. SalesForce is not narrow mindedly looking at them self as just a CRM. They understand their users and have gone to great lengths to create communities and events around their products so that people “absorb and assimilate” with them. I would also say SalesForce is almost infinitely customizable in the way that each customer gets what he or she requires out of the product.

Now go buy the book, it's a good one.