To create market-disrupting future experiences, I look for inspiration from everywhere. Most recently — as a Creative Director for Sonos’s in-house innovation team — I was drawn to Roald Dahl’s fantastic fictional world of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” notably extrapolating lessons on effectively innovating from Willy Wonka himself.
Behind Dahl’s tale of candy, mischievous children, and golden tickets lies some brilliant lessons on innovation. Here are five Willy Wonka lessons I uncovered during my time at Sonos.
1. Embrace Unconventional Thinking
If everyone instantly loves your new concept, it’s likely vanilla, i.e., you played it too safe. This may seem obvious for innovation, but Willy Wonka’s genius lies in his ability to think beyond vanilla; he went to extremes to discover something new, hello “Snozzberry flavored Lickable Wallpaper”! Wonka challenged conventional norms to unlock radical ideas. As Innovators, we must not shy away from exploring seemingly silly ideas or, more importantly, provocative ones. Our ideas — at least at inception — should probably make our customers/colleagues feel uncomfortable, even squirm; if it doesn’t, are you pushing hard enough?
We get it; companies survive on what’s working today — after all, why fix what’s not broken? — but as innovators, it’s our job to identify what the company’s future could thrive upon. Wonka understood this: he could’ve kept selling chocolate bars until the cows came home, but his factory was bursting at the seams with “potential” candies that could devour even his market share. This unconventional thinking has enabled the Uber, Airbnb, and Tesla of the world to be disruptive in their categories.
What unconventional thinking would disrupt your industry?
2. Become problem seekers
As Innovators, we must get further upstream, repeatedly asking “Why?” until we identify problems others haven’t. Ideas can come from all kinds of sources. Sometimes it’s a proprietary technology looking for a problem to solve; sometimes, there’s a new customer that you want to reach. The vital part — through context and empathy — is that you seek out the root problem. Too often, we focus on being solution-makers rather than problem-seekers.
Wonka’s “everlasting gobstopper” was born from his desire to reach “children with very little pocket money.” Rather than dismiss a customer group or worry about how the market would respond to an “everlasting product,” he understood the real problem, they needed an affordable yet desirable entry point to the Wonka brand! He knew that a customer with one great experience would likely desire to expand to other touchpoints when their spending ability allowed.
What customer problem have you yet to identify?
3. Nurture Childlike Curiosity
We must encourage questioning, experimentation, and a sense of childlike wonder to foster a culture of innovation. That is why — when Wonka finally reopened the doors to his factory — he invited children in rather than adults. Children see the world through possibility rather than roadblocks, cost of goods, and manufacturing restraints. Unsurprisingly, all five children succumb to the risk/reward curiosity of sampling one of his creations. Even precious Charlie ignores Wonka’s warnings to try the “fizzy lifting drink.” Childlike unabandoned curiosity permits innovators to explore and discover unimaginable treasures.
Wonka invited children to critique and dream alongside him and built his team up through the tribe of Oompa-Loompas, a group of curious, diligent creators that embraced opportunity. Likewise, when building innovation teams, we should seek collaborators diverse in thinking, talents, and origins and, most importantly, have childlike curiosity. It’s why even renowned artist Pharrell Williams stopped by NYU’s student class and discovered Maggie Rogers’s new sound.
Whom do you know with childlike curiosity that would impact your team?
4. Embody Optimistic Perseverance
We have all heard the adage “embracing failure is great for innovation,” but the key behind that is perseverance. Willy Wonka’s unwavering determination and resilience are powerful lessons for innovators. He never let setbacks deter him but viewed them as opportunities and lessons for growth. He wasn’t overly concerned (unlike the parents) when the children exhibited unideal consequences of ingesting his creations. He’s been here before; multiple “failures” were the stepping stones of refinement for his creations.
We, too, must be like Wonka and embrace each failure as a conduit to increased learning. Optimistically persevering through setbacks is the key to pushing boundaries and achieving our vision. Persevering is true of any of our famed innovators, Branson, Jobs, and Musk. They have all had wins and losses along their journeys but have always persevered because they keep learning.
How could you fail more frequently to learn more quickly?
5. Trust Your Gut
Finally, Intuition and gut have taken a beating in this data-driven information age, where AI is the future’s innovator. But the reality is that our “gut” is actually a finely tuned muscle based on years, even decades, of “real life data,” aka experience. Our personal experiences help form our unique personal lens. The places we’ve been, the people we’ve met, and the activities we’ve sampled all impact how we think and create. It’s’ why AI currently trips up because it lacks personal opinion, bias, and reasoning. It produces without critique or context.
Wonka used his journey — a strict upbringing as a dentist’s son, denied candies as a child — to make him the world’s most passionate, curious, and provocative Candy Innovator. Notably, he did it all with whimsy and a smile. Too often — under the pressures of our fast-paced businesses — we forget how a cheerful, playful, and fun attitude impacts our ability to create beautiful futures.
What is your gut telling you to create?
Conclusion
Willy Wonka’s enchanting world teaches us valuable lessons on innovation. We can become better innovators by embracing unconventional thinking, seeking problems, nurturing childlike curiosity, embodying perseverance, and trusting our gut. Just like Willy Wonka, we have the power to revolutionize industries, create extraordinary inventions, and leave a lasting impact on the world through our innovative endeavors.
As Wonka said himself, “We are the music makers. We are the dreamers of dreams.”
So let’s be the Pharrells and Wonkas of our industries. Let’s push, provoke, and ask big questions through wonderful creations that could shape tomorrow for the better!
