The ILTA09 meeting in D.C. : first impressions

At the ILTA09 meeting held at the Gaylord Hotel in Prince George’s County outside of Washington, D.C., there is a relaxed atmosphere. Kicking off the conference with the keynote address on Monday morning was Tom Koulopoulos, founder of the Delphi Group, who implored the participants to “stand up” and “give a big hug” to a neighbor to break the ice. He was sharply dressed in a dark suit, white oxford cloth shirt, and red necktie, and one could look around in vain to find another necktie in the room.

Koulopoulos, in the center of a wide stage with a backdrop of ilta09 and framed by a wide arch reminiscent of the arches of the Wilson Bridge (which can be clearly seen spanning the Potomac River from the hotel), spoke energetically with his hands in motion as he paced to and fro on the stage making his points in an entertaining and humorous manner.

One principal point was that technology is sold by promoting values and behaviors. Another was that standing in the way of every innovation is the idea that everything that can be invented has already been invented, as stated in 1899 by Charles Duell, the then U.S. Commissioner of Patents. Another point was that we cannot predict what future products will be: “we do not shape innovation as much as we are shaped by it”. To think otherwise is arrogant, and we are arrogant.

When people are asked what they need, they do not know and only tell what they have and what already exists. But innovation is not about invention; the focus has to be on behavior. Any trajectories that we make of future products do not factor in behavior, which cannot be predicted or imagined. Koulopoulos used many examples to demonstrate this, foremost of which was the cellphone. No one predicted how popular or ubiquitous the cellphone would become, with 3.3 billion already sold, and Koulopoulos cautioned us not to be too sure of our ability to predict the future.

Koulopoulos also said that we do not like uncertainty. We like things to stand still; when things move, there is uncertainty. Success, he said, has the effect of stalling innovation by conferring the illusion of having achieved a status that can easily be put at risk by sudden movements. However, when we are in a recessionary economy, as now, many successful innovations are born. He gave examples of scores of successful companies whose innovations took off when the market was down. This happened because people want the pattern to change under such conditions; this is not the case when the economy is strong. Moreover, uncertainty creates more opportunities, not fewer.

We can be the visionaries and builders in our organizations. We just need to remember that when we run into reality, not to react in the standard or predictable manner, but to take the detour. To find out more about this and the other facets of technology and innovation that Koulopoulos spoke of, go to www.TKspeaks.com

Speaking of reality, on leaving the keynote address and looking through the massive grid of glass, one could see swimmers and sunbathers below in the foreground and the Virginia shore in the distance. ILTA09 is not just set in a new and majestic hotel, but in a resort perched at the edge of our national capital. It is an outstanding venue with an impressive lineup of speakers and exhibitors over four days (August 24-27, 2009).