My Innovation Journey

8 steps to improving your facilitation of online Innovation Games®

Recently, I facilitated an online Innovation Game®. The technology just worked and I was really happy with how it turned out. I did a little retrospective and recalled 8 things that I did to make the experience better. Here they are.

1. Write down the question you are trying to answer. You've absolutely, without a doubt, unquestionably got to understand and be clear about the question you're trying to answer. Make this the first thing you do in planning for your game. Reserve one entire page in your planning documents and write it down. I use my favorite 36pt font and make it the first page of my prep documentation. I don't allow myself to get into the fun part before completing this step. Tip:  The Innovation Games(R) site has a set of tools and templates to help you plan.  Here's the link.

2. Start out with a simple, universally understood image or graphic. The next step in the planning process is to start developing your visual collaboration image. My general rule of thumb is the simpler the image is, the better. My last game was about soccer so I started out with a soccer field. Even if you've never played soccer, odds are that you know what a soccer field looks like. You can identify where the goals are and where the out-of-bounds lines are. Paying notice to these simple but important details can become vital metaphors that will guide your participants to provide more insight and make your game results even better. In the next step you will use this image as the base for your visual collaboration "canvas". Tip: If you're good at sketching, you can draw your own graphic or you can find royalty free images on the web for very cheap.

3. Paste your image into PowerPoint and resize it – right away. Right now, the Innovation Games® site works best with images that are exactly a ratio of 94.13% width to height. Don't worry; you don't have to bust out the calculator. Fortunately, there's an easy way to achieve the optimal ratio for your image right in PowerPoint. The Innovation Games® site looks really good with images that are 546 pixels wide by 580 pixels high. After you paste the graphic in, go up to the Picture Tools – Format tab. You'll see a couple fields to enter the image dimensions (in inches). To get the right ratio, I just enter in 5.46" x 5.80" and voila, you have a canvas to work with! Tip: If you're image looks too weird for your liking because of the aspect ratio, you can search out other ones but in my case I didn't worry about this. The point was, it looked like a soccer field and that's what I wanted.  Additional Tip:  Invest $49 in the Snag-It program from Techsmith.  You can use it to easily capture your PowerPoint graphic and save it in png format for uploading to the Innovation Games site.

4. Enhance your canvas using simple shapes. You want to guide your participants to give you the insight you're looking for without skewing their contributions. To do this, I try to use very simple arrows. Here's the graphic I ended up with. I added a simple arrow on the left hand side that represents a "rise in popularity level". I also added some logos (Tip: check on copyright usage first) and added a callout to give the participants a tip on the kinds of things that would be in that zone. I'm not sure if this really helped but it's something I did.

5. Treat your graphic regions like metaphors. I used the metaphor of "Attacking" equal to "Rising in Popularity". I named my layer that way to avoid confusion during game play. Here's a snippet of the game play interface. Players saw this during the game. I wasn't able to take a screen capture of the game setup that shows the outline of the regions but just by reading the names of the regions and layers, you can probably guess where the regions are located on the soccer field. I named them in such a way that gave the players vital in-game understanding. I think this helped avoid confusion about what the regions mean to the players.

6. Be creative but pick powerful symbols for your item images.  I used soccer balls as well as yellow and red penalty cards for my item images.  The concepts of scoring goals (with soccer balls) and being penalized (with yellow or red cards) has a strong base for understanding and are also quite inspiring for the game players.  I can tell you that in the Innovation Games(R) software, these images are best when sized 27 pixels by 27 pixels square.

7. Develop a script. I've facilitated a few online games now and I have a pretty good template that I use. The soccer game that I facilitated really seemed to go well. Click here to get the script I used.

8. Go agile on your facilitation and hold a retrospective. Here's a copy of the result of the game I facilitated. One of the things that I thought would happen but didn't is that players would put penalty card items in the attacking zone. There was one but I think the strength of the penalty metaphor was too much of a stretch to understand that you cannot make progress by having a penalty when you're attacking. The game turned out fine but I think the next time I'll probably make my item graphics even simpler.

Hope you enjoyed this and found it useful!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Are you innovative? Does this fit your persona?

I manage a great team at Hastings Mutual Insurance and I am looking for someone that has a true passion for web development. Does this fit your persona? If so, contact me ASAP at rpeel@hastingsmutual.com

I need someone who likes to attend .NET user group meetings and enjoys reading about and staying up to date on the latest development methods. I need someone who can look at a web page that another company has developed and be able to figure how it was developed and have a drive to want to make something better than that. I also need someone that will listen to users and code to specifications but also isn’t afraid to suggest something that is new. I need someone who is creative and innovative and likes to be first in the marketplace. I need someone who is versatile and can give me examples of how they developed the code for both an application (back end) AND a user interface (front end) for the same project. I need someone who knows what a user story is and why they are important to web development. I need someone who has attended a conference like Code Mash because they wanted to and not because they were told to go. I need someone who is likes to have fun at work and browses book stores just to see what new technology they can read about. I need someone who is enthusiastic about listening to users but can also “bring” technology to them through quick yet well thought out verbal communication. I need someone who is very eager and wants to learn how to code in the latest technologies such as Silverlight and HTML5. I need someone who wants to work in an environment where challenges abound and your opinions are heard.

 

Five lessons I learned facilitating Innovation Games at the PDMA 2010 conference.

1. It is OK for participants to struggle with the game. This is a GOOD thing. It shows they are thinking. Engaging thought is not easy.

2. You are not facilitating problem SOLVING, you are facilitating problem UNDERSTANDING. This is important and as a perfectionist, I forget this. A LOT.

3. When you practice anything, you build muscle memory. Innovation Games facilitation is no exception. Muscle memory gives you confidence that you'll be able to perform when you venture into unknown situations.

4. Playing Speed Games is totally worth it and still generates a ton of meaningful stuff.

5. Facilitating w/ complete strangers w/ no knowledge of what an Innovation Game is helps you get better at elevator pitches.

I became a certified facilitator 6 months ago and honestly, I don't think I could have learned these lessons w/o having practiced. I don't think you can learn these things by reading a LinkedIn post. Soooo, get out there, play, and build up that muscle memory!

Innovation Games® Visual Collaboration Script for Facilitators

I recently facilitated an Innovation Game® to gain some fresh insight into a question that my company is always seeking an answer to.  How do people value (or not value) working with direct writers vs. independent agents when they buy insurance.  For being the first time that I ever facilitated a visual collaboration game, I thought it went really well. 

If there is one bit of advice I would share with other Innovation Games® enthusiasts when they're preparing for a visual collaboration game, it's that they should definitely prepare a script for themselves that they can copy/paste into the chat window when they're facilitating the game.  I had a script prepared ahead of time and it really came in handy.  I allowed me to keep the flow of the conversation going as if I were up in front of the group at an in-person event with all the participants eyes on me. 

Here's the script I used for my game.  I am writing this blog entry with a somewhat fuzzy memory (the game was several weeks ago) so if I scabbed one or two lines from a game that I participated with another facilitator, please forgive me (I was grabbing lines that I thought made points clear).  At any rate, feel free to use this and tweak it for your needs.  If you have any thoughts on how to improve scripts in general, give a shout out in the Innovation Games® forum.

Download the text file of the script I used

SCRIPT

Direct Writers vs. Independent Agents
====================================
Thanks for coming everybody.  I appreciate your time today and I hope you enjoy the experience. 

Well, let's get started.

I work for an property and casualty insurance company (not life or health) and I want to better understand some things going on when you buy insurance.  I need your help.

When the game starts, you'll see an image identifying three separate zones.

1.  When you are thinking about buying insurance (for whatever reason, e.g. prices went up, unhappy w/ claim result, etc.)

2.  When you are shopping for insurance

3.  When you already have insurance and plan to stay with your current insurance agent/company.

For the purposes of this game, you can consider buying personal lines insurance (i.e. Homeowners, Boat, Motorcycle, Auto, etc.) or commercial lines insurance (i.e. Liability, Fire, Businessowners, Workers Comp, etc.).

I'm going to assume everyone can relate to personal lines insurance.  If you can't relate to commercial lines don't feel like you've got to comment on it.

What I want you to think about is when you buy insurance, what things about the experience adds/subtracts from the VALUE that a direct writer (like Progressive or Geico) versus an independent agents brings to the table.

When you see the image, take a minute or two to examine it.  If there's something you don't understand, ask the question in the chat window. 

There will be smiley faces and frown faces in the upper-left corner.  For things that ADD to the value, use a smiley.  For things that SUBTRACT, use a frown. 

Ok, I'm going to start the game.  Your screen will automatically switch to a new look.  See you inside.


Other Helpful Script Items
====================================

Since everyone shares the same set of apples, you will need to collaborate with your fellow players.

You’ll find that the tree has some initial apples to help get you started. You can move these around to where you like them.

You can even delete them by moving them off the game board.
       
To give you feedback on where the apples are placed, we have created some layers and regions.

These are initially hidden, but you can see the layers and regions by clicking on the layers and regions tab in the upper right during the game. 

My job is to answer your questions during the game and help move things along.

We’ll start as soon as more participants arrive.
       
If you have questions on how to play the game please review the information at https://innovationgames.com/content/docs/HowToPlayPTPT.

Direct Writers vs. Independent Agents

Scenario

As a carrier that does business with over 900 independent agents in six Midwestern states, my company is very interested in anything that adds value to the independent agent model.

To understand what people see as the advantage (as well as what they see are disadvantages) to working with independent agents, I planned a visual collaboration event using the Innovation Games® platform.  I wanted to explore their thoughts and gain fresh insight into the value of the independent agent versus the direct writer.  The game was played by four people and facilitated entirely online.

Creating this visual collaboration event involved the following steps:

1. Defining the specific question/problem that needed to be understood. 
2. Constructing a custom image that supported understanding of the questions and that would form the backdrop for the visual collaboration
3. Uploading the custom image and setting up the game details at www.InnovationGames.com
4. Facilitating the game
5. Processing the results of the game (i.e. what will I do with the results?)

What Question/Problem Needed to Be Understood?

At various stages in the relationship between a policyholder and their agent or carrier, I want to better understand what the value of independent agents are (that represent multiple carriers) versus direct writers (e.g. Progressive, Geico, etc.)  I came up with three different stages that a policyholder might be in during their relationship with their respective agent or carrier.

1. Thinking of Shopping for Insurance
2. Actively Shopping
3. Staying with Current Insurance Agent or Carrier

Constructing an Image

I have a tablet PC and it comes loaded with Microsoft Windows Journal software.  I could have created the image using that but I chose to use PowerPoint because of the ease of creating and resizing shapes.  I can also easily paste in images from the web into PowerPoint to enhance the look of the graphic.  There’s also a fantastic program called Snag-It that I used frequently to capture parts of my screen to enhance visual communication.

Here’s the image I created.  This is my visual collaboration “blank slate” and it would be the foundation for the visual collaboration event that players would eventually interact with by placing informational "items" on top of it.  The blue rounded rectangles represent the three different stages.  The left column is for direct writers and the right column is for independent agents. The arrows at the bottom represent the degree of value of the items to be placed by the players.

 

Uploading the Image and Setting up the Game

On June 18, 2010, I facilitated the game.  I was the Innovation Games® Featured Facilitator on that day so a few days ahead of that date I logged in to www.InnovationGames.com and set up my game.

The system walked me through configuring my game and uploading the custom image. 

 

Facilitation of the Game

On the day of the game, I clicked on the link to go to the game “lobby”.  I was the first one to log in so all I had to do was wait for the players to show up.  Days earlier, the game was advertised on LinkedIn, Twitter, and other social networking sites so all the players I was expecting to come were already signed up and had received notification along with the URL to go to on game day.  As time got closer to the official start of the game, I saw those individuals start to show up in the lobby.  The Innovation Games site is programmed so that you don’t have to refresh your screen.  Their names would appear and they would often say hello in the chat window.  The experience of using the interface is kind of like waiting for someone in a hotel lobby and then when you see them; you walk up to say hello and greet them with a handshake.  The only difference here is that you greet them with a “Hello” in the chat box instead.  (I am excited to see how collaboration technology improves and to see how the programming staff at InnovationGames.com will deliver more functionality.)

Players showed up a few minutes before the game was scheduled to start but before I clicked the button to start the game, there was idle chatting going on amongst the players in the lobby like, “Where are you from?” or “Did you hear that on the news?”  When the time was right, I interrupted their chatting and prepped the players with some information contained in some short snippets of text that I prepared ahead of time that I could just paste into the chat window.  To me, it was kind of like when you have a group of people in a hotel lobby and you have something interesting to say.  If you have a captive audience, the people will all get quiet and listen to what you have to say.  In this case, the players were very polite and stopped their personal chat conversations in the lobby and "listened".  They just read the information that I (as the facilitator) submitted into the chat window every few seconds.  I thought through what I wanted to say ahead of time.  I planned for this as if I were going to speak to a small group of people in a hotel lobby.  It worked pretty well and I’d recommend it to any game facilitator.

Once the game “prep” was over and everyone was ready to start, I clicked the button to start the game.  The screen switched from the game lobby to the screen that showed the image I created.  The players expected this because I told them it was going to happen.  In the beginning, people asked a couple of questions about the image I uploaded.  I was able to answer them pretty easily using chat.  The thought and planning I put into the image ahead of time definitely paid off though because there weren’t many questions.  The image was definitely designed around the problem and not the other way around.  This is a key part of the success of any game. The game lasted for about 45 minutes and there was lively discussion on my topic. 

To summarize the experience, I think I was able to effectively facilitate within the Innovation Games® online framework.  For the most part, I didn’t feel constrained by the system and I think the experience everyone had was pretty good.  I got some experience facilitating and I definitely had a mental breakthrough with visual collaboration.  The best part is that I can totally see how the more I do this, the more great insights I may stumble onto for understanding my specific problems.  I can’t wait to facilitate my next game!

Processing the Results

Here are the results of the game I played.  The image (with all the smiles and frowns) was the “visual” result of the game. In the minds of the players, the smiles and frowns represent the advantages and disadvantages of working with direct writers and independent agents.  As you go further out from the center, a greater degree of advantage or disadvantage is identified.

Even though the game is over, I can go back and view this image for further analysis.  By holding my mouse over the smile or frown I can see the complete text of what the player typed in describing the item they placed.

I haven’t finished my analysis of the results yet but here are some of the key points entered during game play.

• Agents generally insist on face to face meetings (players do not like).
• Agents give you a choice of companies (they like this) while direct writers don’t (they don't like this).
  
• It’s very labor intensive to make changes to their policies with independent agents (don’t like).  With direct writers, it is generally a lot easier and people are able to make changes to their policy online (like).
• People don’t know anyone at the direct writer company (don’t like) and they value the relationship they have with an independent agent (like).

The other part of the result that I got with the game is this Excel spreadsheet that I exported from the InnovationGames.com site.  It contains a complete history of the game play including an entire chat log.  The spreadsheet makes it very easy to sort and filter.

Experience and Follow Up

As a corporate innovator, I gained experience in facilitating the games.  I plan to show these results to my marketing manager to get his input on how we can continue to use this in our organization.  Facilitating a game is not difficult but does require some planning and thought.  You get out of it what you put into it.  I am convinced that if I facilitate enough of these games and get the right people in the room to analyze the results, it will yield a “golden nugget” of information that will give us a deeper understanding of an issue or that we can choose to use to differentiate ourselves in the marketplace.

I recommend Innovation Games® to anyone looking for a way to bring a differentiating factor to their organization.

Facilitating Innovation is a Lot Like Playing Shortstop

Spring has sprung here in Michigan (finally!) and my attention is turning to baseball.  I grew up in Michigan so I am a huge fan of the Detroit Tigers.  I can't tell you how many hours I spent throwing a tennis ball (they bounced much more wildly than a regular baseball and they didn't dent the garage wall - which my dad preferred) against the outside wall of our garage, practicing my fielding skills while listening to Ernie Harwell call the Tiger games.  I kept at it and before I knew it, I was good enough to play shortstop for my high school team and eventually at the college level.  There were a lot of people better than me but I was solid and could hold my own.  I'm not playing baseball any more but that tennis ball throwing/fielding has taught me a important lesson in facilitating innovation at my company.

Facilitating innovation takes practice.

The shortstop is arguably the most important player on the field.  He/she is the one that can call off anyone else on the infield for fly balls.  They have to be athletic, have a strong arm, and possess the ability to see the entire field and be in the right position at the right time (if you watch a game and pay close enough attention, you'll see just how much the shortstop backs up throws - on EVERY throw from the catcher back to the pitcher with men on base).  Never tiring, doing the job that needs to be done.

The athletic ability that goes into making the backhand snag in the hole to then turn and throw the speedy runner out at first base takes strength training and practice.  Recently, I got the opportunity to go to NYC to take Luke Hohmann's Innovation Games® class.  I started as a corporate innovator but left a certified Innovation Games® facilitator (which I think of as a license to learn). 

Anyway, the class was kind of like attending a baseball clinic.  Luke Hohmann (creator of Innovation Games®) was the coach.  He explained and demonstrated how to play the games and he ran the drills.  Metaphorically speaking, he'd pick up the bat and hit ground balls to the infielders (class) and we'd work on our fielding skills.  He'd offer encouragement and advice along the way, making us all better, preparing us to succeed. When we made mistakes, he'd encourage us and help us understand what we needed to improve upon.  He was agile in that he tailored the clinic to the needs to of the participants (all shortstops in the making).

Now that I've taken the "clinic" I am feeling more prepared and I think I have some good Innovation Games® athleticism built up but the rest is really up to me.  It means spending time throwing the tennis ball against the garage wall or, in this case, facilitating as many Innovation Games® as I can so that I can someday have the opportunity to call myself the shortstop of innovation at my company.

 
Derek Jeter, shortstop for the New York Yankees.  Arguably, the best shortstop of all time.  (He's also from Kalamazoo, Michigan)

Grand Rapids buys "Lack of Red Tape" and other features in fight for Google Fiber

On 3/23, the entire Google Fiber for Grand Rapids Facebook fan base was invited to play in an online Innovation Game® called "Buy a Feature".  At least two games were played.  Here are some of the thoughts people had after the game was over.

• "...an interesting way to negotiate."
• "...it is quite an enjoyable game."
• "...we all collaborated in an innovative fashion and it was fun!"
• "...this was kinda fun."

I facilitated both games and while the results have not yet been fully analyzed, here are the "features/traits" that Grand Rapidians purchased.

• We are a city committed to eliminating red tape and bureaucracy.
• We are a city ready for a transformation to a new economy.  We need this speed to facilitate the transition.
• The medical research/care facilities of Grand Rapids are world-class.
• The city is loaded with industries that will find ways to use the ridiculously fast Internet to do amazing things.

In this case, what the players "purchased" in the Buy a Feature game outlined for Google what the community thought were the top characteristics of Grand Rapids that Google should consider. Hopefully these characteristics match Google's goals.

The online game is going to continue through Thursday, March 25th.  To play, you only have to click on the game link and then wait for 4 other people to show up in the lobby.  If you have friends, send them a link to the game so you can see what all the buzz is about.

Example Game Results:

Innovation + Collaboration (30k Facebook Fans) = Differentiation

I want to give a shout out to an organization that is doing one heck of a job putting the problem-solving power of innovation to some pretty good use.

In my own grassroots effort, I recently partnered with GamesforDemocracy.org (G4D for short) to help Grand Rapids differentiate themselves from the other cities that are vying for the 1 gigabit Google prize. G4D is a not-for-profit organization that "... promotes democratic discourse through the use of serious games..."  They are powered by the technology of The Innovation Games ® Company. And G4D has put the technology to some good use, like prioritizing features for National Health Care Reform by running a "Buy a Feature" game that "unlike voting or polling ... is collaborative and the results are a measure of our collective intelligence and wisdom."  A copy of the results of the game can be found here.   

Much the same way that G4D did with National Health Care, I am trying to differentiate Grand Rapids from all the other cities vying for the Google prize.  With G4D's help, I crafted a series of questions that were designed to engage the 30,000+ fans of the Google for Grand Rapids Facebook page in an attempt to get them to "Remember the Future".  The questions were written as if Grand Rapids had already been selected by Google and the citizens and businesses were celebrating the amazing things that had been done with the new technology ... an innovative way to extract memories from the future and to show Google how forward-thinking we are.

Here's what I've tried to do so far.

1. The Facebook fans were invited to my blog to "Remember the Future" to tell us how the network will have been used.
2. During the week of 3/15, the fans have been submitting their ideas and I've been reviewing/compiling them.

Here's what's left to do.

1. Continue promoting the blog and get people to submit their ideas.
2. Analyze the results and group the responses into a top ten list of features that Grand Rapids will have implemented "in the future".
3. Invite all the fans to play the online version of the "Buy a Feature" game just like G4D did with the features identified in the National Health Care Reform.
4. Compile and analyze the results.
5. Share the results of the "Buy a Feature" game with the Google as well as all the Facebook fans to show them how we, as a community, were able to pull together and use our collective intelligence and wisdom to have some idea as to what the network would be used for.

The Google Fiber for Grand Rapids committee has done a superb job coordinating lots of activities and events, and in short order.  I can only imagine the behind-the-scenes roadblocks they've had to overcome to pull off the event in downtown GR on Friday afternoon. 

Introducing Innovation Games ® to the Facebook group and inviting them to participate is my personal contribution to reaching the goal of bringing Google Fiber to Grand Rapids.  I think I will have been successful differentiating Grand Rapids if the Facebook fans can get involved in the process and participate in the online game.  The results of the game will be shared with Google and I think it will have demonstrated to them how we as a community can do things on multiple fronts, all working toward the same goal.

Calling all forward-thinkers. Post a comment to this blog to help a good cause.

When I get involved in discussions that are more forward-thinking, my brain just "turns on".  I know I'm not alone in this.  I just had one of those conversations today with Stani Meredith over at GamesForDemocracy.org.  We were collaborating on how we can use Innovation Games® to help the Google Fiber for Grand Rapids cause. 

I felt an endless supply of fuel during the conversation because I am so invigorated by what the future can hold.  I love collaborating on technology and how it can be used.  I am looking for people that share this same kind of energy to contribute to the cause. 

If you are from Grand Rapids or you care about a community that is poised to make Google's project successful, then please post a comment to this blog.  Google has got an eye on our town and Grand Rapids could use all the visibility into YOUR great ideas that it can get.

Need inspiration for innovation? Then take a trip to the hardware store.

I've discovered a great way to learn more about innovation and I thought I'd share it.  It doesn't matter what line of work you're in, if you Google search for software related to your field, you'll undoubtedly find an ample supply of products to choose from.

I've been thinking a lot lately about ways to create the "surface" for innovation at my company.  I've been brainstorming in my own head about the various roadblocks and challenges to implementing an innovation program.  I thought up a few roadblocks and how I might handle them but I still had a gut feeling that there were some pretty big unknowns that would lie ahead.

So, I decided to go shopping at the hardware store.  Well, sort of.

I made some calls into a couple of the leading software solution providers in the area of idea process management.  I made my intentions pretty clear to them when I called.  I told them I was just doing research and wasn't ready to buy but I did want to know, "What problems has your software solved?"  The people I spoke to at these companies were very helpful.  I took good notes as they explained their products and what problems they were solving for companies.  After a few follow up calls and online demonstrations, I had a great picture of several problems I knew I'd encounter in my own journey to implement a bonafide program at my company.  I compiled my notes and started formulating solutions to the problems I thought I might encounter at my own organization.

I liken this experience to walking through a hardware store ... especially the paint supply aisle - because I despise painting.  I'll bet if you think about the last time you walked through a hardware store, you'll remember a time when you saw a product and said to yourself, "Man, I wish I had known about this product 3 months ago when I did that one project!  It would've made my life a lot easier!"

That's kind of what I wanted to do when I called these software solution providers.  I thought it worked pretty well.

How well do your users understand their own problems?

It didn't start out that way, but I had a great conversation w/ some co-workers the other day regarding a project we're working on in 2010.  When the group started talking about features for the project I think I found myself continuing to circle back to the question of whether or not we were contemplating building the right things for them.  I kept challenging the meeting attendees hone their metacognitive skills by thinking about the way our users may be perceiving the problems (or pain points) that they have using our applications and reports.

Eventually, I think I made my point but what I think it boils down to is that while our users are the best at experiencing the problems that we (either purposely or inadvertently) create, they aren't always the best at understanding their own problems.

So, how well do your users understand their own problems with the software you develop?  I'm in the camp that believes there are some savvy users out there that are actively aware of how they are completing a task and can also articulate the potential pain of doing that task.  I think those users are few and far between though.

Here are a couple things one could try to really understand their user's problem(s).

• Find the right Innovation Game ® that meets your needs and facilitate an event.
• Read Steve Krug's book Rocket Surgery Made Easy : The Do-It-Yourself Guide to Finding and Fixing Usability Problems and then conduct usability tests.  Try it on your own site first.  Then, maybe try it on your competitor's sites.

My favorite definition of innovation is "...understanding a problem well enough to solve it in a new and novel way." (Credit goes to Luke Hohmann).  This definition encapsulated what I was trying to convey to the meeting attendees.  The challenge going forward and the next steps was figuring out, what can we do to get to the root of the problem so that we at least have a chance to innovate and differentiate?  Some of the ideas above can get you there.