Innovate for Fashion … adapt the jobs to the “Fast Fashion”!

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Innovate for Fashion … adapt the jobs to the “Fast Fashion”! I am sharing with you my speech on the occasion of the Paris Fashion Shops event on November 8 th on the theme “innovate for fashion”. Created in 2016 by Jacky Z. Chang, Paris Fashion Shops is the first BtoB platform dedicated to fashion professionals. It now has 100 0000 product references made available to 100,000 retailers, 60% of which are abroad. Winner of « BFM Academie » 2019, its founding president had gathered experts in the field. And I intervened on the innovation dimension of which PFS integrated the various modes successfully. In just a few years, Paris Fashion Shops has managed to become one of the promising start ups and Le Figaro has not hesitated to name it the “Amazon of the BtoB”.

Fashion is the place of innovation par excellence.

Incremental with its trends and collections but also disruption by shaking codes. Disruptive innovation, the preserve of luxury, opens today to ready-to-wear thanks to the new possibilities opened up by Digital and Artificial Intelligence. Time is accelerating and we are witnessing the advent of “Fast Fashion”. For Innovation Blossom, innovation is a question of talents to hatch, intelligence to develop in addition to artificial intelligence. And so fashion is an exciting field of application. Indeed, like all sectors, fashion must adapt to the changing world. But more than any other sector, being in essence at the forefront of trends, it is hit hard by the digital with the strengths and constraints of “unified trade” and the wave “eco-friendly”. The fashion professions must therefore evolve or even mutate. I share with you my vision of the challenges for the 3 professions through the 3 I to develop … and especially new jobs to invent.

INSPIRATION to renew for the creative professions

Artists at heart the creators of Haute Couture and stylists make the trends.

Each designer innovated by marking the time of his brand: Coco Chanel with his sailor world copied to the creatures inspired by mangas Olivier Rousteing to reboot Balmain. Every year, and twice a year, professionals face the challenge of new collections. This is an “incremental” innovation exercise: to improve or change a product that will allow you to claim the novelty, to mark the season. Except the risk of exhaustion of the profession, the recipes of the incremental work well: lengthen or shorten ankle, knee, thigh, switch from jungle prints to plain, favor a flagship accessory … Inexpensive, these innovations are carriers of turnover by renewal of the offer. But it is the “disruption”, in fashion as in other sectors, which is the grail of innovation. It is so far the domain of great creators and luxury. Let us quote Yves Saint-Laurent, king of the disruption by shaking up the established codes, who knew how to impose for example the Tuxedo for the women, the caban in the street, to leave the leopard print of the vulgarity. But today, all the codes having been revisited, it is the digital the new field of inspiration: to create smart clothes, connected to the cloakroom or the agenda, reflection calculated in IA of my digital trace as well in color as style and size, allow them to change color in one click … allow the customer to become his own creator? to change, to change more and more quickly and more and more often. So many new skills for the stylist that adds to the capacities of imagination and drawing. We must expand the field of inspiration of this business of creative fashion par excellence to exploit the creative opportunities including the Digital and opens up to ready-to-wear with the “Fast Fashion”.

TECHNICAL INTELLIGENCE to expand for the production trades

Manufacturing and logistics are as important in innovation as creation. To allow, according to Harvard’s definition of innovation, “the idea of ​​reaching the market”, the production trades are essential: the model makers, the little hands of the stylists, the quality controllers, all the trades techniques… But they too will have to evolve, starting with that of technical engineer or textile R & D to invent new environmentally friendly materials. It will be incremental innovation by improvement and substitution. And a new challenge comes with the acceleration of digital time which imposes even shorter production times while maintaining the level of quality.  The Digital still, with its 3D printers in particular, assumes an additional technological mastery of classical textile skills. And truly disruptive, the opportunity that will be offered to customers, without being technical specialists, to make their own  models. It will also be the possibility, by manufacturer itself, to eliminate the delivery time and therefore succumb to the Fast Fashion! The technical supremacy of manufacturers is to redefine the era of ready-to-wear tailored!

INTELLIGENCE CUSTOMERS to increase for the sales trades

In a global competitive environment, the sales trades demand a sharp sense of fashion. Young business school graduates are being sought for “product marketing manager” positions to develop luxury brands or ready-to-wear brands. Digital is an integral part of the strategy of communication or marketing with e-commerce. The demands of unified commerce are multiplying the skills of the different channels to mix. Hybrid, fashion, marketing and digital profiles are ideal for these functions. Retail side, the profile is also evolving. In order to cope with e-commerce, Amazon’s delivery performance or specialized textile platform, retailers need to rethink their role and their spaces. The digital has already jostled the job of buyer with the comparative in a few clicks. Marketing Product Managers and Retailers need to integrate these new opportunities to improve profitability and stay competitive. For both, the speed of creation and delivery is a reality of the Fast Fashion to take into account. But the element of differentiation will lie in the ability to establish the relationship. For the retailer, it’s about making the customer want to come and come back: in addition to the availability of selected items, to create a warm shop and a personalized welcome that will have to do better than the algorithm of sales platforms . For the marketing product manager, it is necessary to use the new modes of innovation, especially co-innovation, by associating the customer with his thoughts. In terms of customer innovation, all sectors have already adopted the Design Thinking of creating empathy with the customer to identify their deep needs and co-create with them the product of their dreams. When will the ‘consumer’ factor ‘for fashion?INTELLIGENCE OF COORDINATION to become creator, producer, broadcaster, platform partner

With the arrival of platforms, such as Paris Fashion Shops, new jobs are emerging, multidisciplinary functions combining creation / marketing / purchase / sale / digital / organization. These missions can only be held by hybrid profiles that have the sense of business but also the technical culture to manage the associated digital services. These profiles, by integrating the different components of the business, can save time on production and logistics creation cycles and fulfill customer expectations attracted by Fast Fashion.  Moreover to succeed this mission must be able to operate in full transversality internally with the different trades and externally with partners and subcontractors. Of all the platforms, those of the fashion sector can make a difference with the appeal of the products and the necessary creativity to surprise. The increased professionalism to deal with today’s markets also touches on this sector which comes out of the sometimes superficial image of ephemeral creations to enter the daily uses made possible by the digital.Place of innovation par excellence the fashion has not finished to surprise us for our greatest pleasure!

LATEST CONFERENCES

L’empathie pour innover

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My Innovation column published in the October 2019 issue of the RH & M Magazine

Empathy to innovate

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Among the soft skills recognized as indispensable for innovation is empathy. Like Jeremy Rifkin who erects it in “cure for a world in crisis” with its “civilization of empathy”, this soft skill is advocated as the central method of “design thinking”. From its etymology “em-pathos”, one identifies that it is a question of putting oneself in the place of the other, to share one’s feelings and thus to innovate, to identify one’s needs, expressed or hidden, and to create a solution that brings progress. It’s about running your left and right brain, your head and your heart at the same time! But empathy is not always n atural … when it is or to develop it, I propose these 4 rules:

 

1 Listening
Listening is the first of the attitudes to empathize with the others; to be able to feel what he feels. It requires quality listening, “active listening” as described by Carl Rogers, which gives the other this impression of interest in what he says and this intention to want to know more. The basis of innovation is already knowing the needs expressed, to find the right product or improvement that will make incremental innovation.

François Dalle, L’Oréal’s first boss, spent a lot of time in hairdressing salons in contact with hairdressers and customers to detect new hair products and guide research towards scientific leads for innovations that meet customer needs. He is described as a forerunner in innovation with remarkable empathic listening.


2 Expressing and urging to express
This active listening translates into the expression of shared emotions. Beyond the analysis of the left brain in the listening phase, it is to mobilize his right brain to listen with intuition and heart and to discover hidden needs and new uses. By expressing, reformulating the empathic listening process helps to overcome the conscious needs.


Innovations sometimes reveal hidden needs; we can cite the post it, a system that comes off originally refused by 3M whose core business is to create robust adhesives. It took perseverance from his innovator to impose it on 3M, who could have saved time and money if they had empathized with the innovator and the market.

3 Questioning
To know how to question is an art. The empathic question begins with the intention: curiosity for the displayed subject and interest for the person. Whether in face-to-face, interview or group form to generate collective intelligence, the management of the open question is key.

The questioning allows both to feed the convergent phase of the innovation process, to clarify the problem or to find solutions but also the divergent phase to animate a brainstorming session or visual design, methods at the heart of design thinking.

4 Practicing silence
This may seem surprising, especially at the time of the constant chatter of social networks, but the share of silence granted to innovation can be productive. During the break the spirits continue to mature, the listening becomes more intense allowing the weak signals to emerge.

This practice of silence implies accepting not to be knowing, not to criticize an idea that one would not have, to borrow a leadership of openness and benevolence.

Design Thinking, to innovate and transform too!

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Design Thinking, this well-known method of the world of innovation is perfectly applicable to the problems of organization and operation. Transposed from innovation for products and services to cases of internal transformation, Design Thinking is a formidable efficiency: by putting the user at the heart of the reflection, the proposals are oriented “uses” and correspond to the expectations of the future users, guarantee of success and agility in the implementation. Inspired by IDEO this method whose founder sound Tim Brown says that it “can transform the way of developing products, services, processes and even strategy” is articulated in 5 steps.

1.     “Empathize”

The characteristic of Design Thinking is to be user oriented. It is about understanding the needs of the user, to put himself in his place to identify his “irritants”. Applied to the transformation empathy will allow to enter the fears but also the hopes of the employees and to identify the solutions that will emerge of themselves.

“The day a very young company, called Apple Computer, asked us for help to create a computer” for everyone “, we learned the value of empathy.” Tim Brown (IDEO founder)

2.     “Define”

The next step is to clarify the needs through appropriate questioning, leave the traditional “how to do it” and move on to “why do it”. It is a question of re-questioning the initial problem and of reformulating it in a relevant way in relation to the sometimes unconscious needs of the target.

“A well-posed problem is half solved.” Albert Einstein

3.     “Ideate”

To explore and create new possibilities, we must use what we call “divergent thinking”. Divergent thinking consists of multiplying options to create choices, that is, generating as many ideas as possible to increase the possibility of finding the right solution. There are many methods of creativity including brainstorming. Each brainstorming can have its own rules, but there is one rule that should be universal: to build from the ideas of others, not to judge others, to encourage the craziest ideas to feed a real creative speech of great richness.

“To get a good idea, you have to have many ideas first.” Linus Pauling, (Nobel Prize)

4.     “Prototype”

Prototyping is a key step in the Design Thinking process; it is the demonstration by the proof. Realizing prototypes, sketching, modeling, modeling or building accelerates the progress of the project and allows to explore several ideas in parallel. By materializing an idea with an object, it can be easily evaluated, perfected and focused on the most appropriate solution. In the case of the service we imagine concrete implementations that result in action programs for immediate implementation.

“Prototyping is thinking with your hands. David Kelley (Ideo co-founder)

5.     “Test”

Finally, the last “step” of the process is to test. Launching the project or prototype is the opportunity to learn by soliciting feedback from users and iterating about the product, service or experience designed. The error recovery principle is very powerful in terms of rapid design of relevant solutions. Feedback and feedback from users or consumers provides information that can open up new unsuspected markets that are far more promising and profitable. The same is true of internal transformation, rapid implementation in small steps promotes agility and commitment.   “Fail early to succeed faster.” Tim Brown   In conclusion, using Design Thinking to transform the company promotes in addition to concrete and immediate changes in strategy and process, the entry into a new culture of “permanent transformation“, mobilization of “collective intelligence” and ” agility “while ensuring a commitment from employees as actors of the solutions. 

Download PDF : RH&M_REVUE_N74_42design thinking

2014-2019: 5 years of Innovation Chronicle in the DRH & M Review, advocacy for the dimension of relationship and human resources of innovation

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Innovation is also about relationships and human resources!

5 years of “Innovation” column RH & M

At the time when a 2nd Boeing crashed in less than 6 months and for the same (incredible!) announced reason “cancellation of training of pilots to new types of order for cost reasons” (Reuters 03-10-19), I was publishing a review of my 5 years of columns on the human dimension of innovation, a plea on the need to involve HR in innovation!

These Boeings were new and, apparently, given the recent controls, technically functional! Engineers, project managers and financial decision makers have just neglected that innovation is as human and that performance includes training of pilots as well as ultra-sophisticated embedded technologies!

Innovation managers and HR managers also conquer this leadership to win the war of soft skills in innovation!

  1. The human dimension of innovation: culture and management of innovation

Since my first post in January 2014 “DRH dare innovation! I am constantly encouraging HRDs to develop their innovation culture so that they can become the “credible” interlocutors of DGs, innovation managers and other innovation professionals. “Creativity“, “multiple intelligences”, “psychological types“, “conflict management” … so many soft skills tickets for the role of innovation facilitator of HRD innovation!

  1. The technological impact: innovation and digital transformation

The Digital and the VUCA world that it accelerates perfectly illustrates the human revolution that the HRD will have to lead; from my second post “What talents for innovation in the digital enterprise? Then “what organization for the digital? »Address crucial topics that the HRD needs to know how to answer. I also launch alerts on some trades targeted by destructive innovation “AI and chatbots will they kill trainers? “. At the same time I also like to bring these moments of blue ocean when the Digital will facilitate the HR mission: «Big data? Long live smart data for HRD “” how AI and Chatbots will revolutionize the world of recruitment “.

  1. The new HRD leadership: “creating smart connections”

Just as innovators must know how to integrate communication to sell their project, HRDs must be inspired by the innovation culture to value their actions and especially by the buzz of communities and networks and connections. “Innovation and communication a business of connections”. This connection applies to the men and the cultural representations of the company “Culture innovation between legacy and Digital the HR manager of the past and the future“. In a nutshell, “HR” could evolve from “Resources” to “Human Relations” as described in “Cooperation forces the HRD to become Director of Human Relations”

  1. Towards the creation of an HR Innovation function

Finally, to guarantee this new leadership as a “crazy guard” to the driftiness of HR managers who, like innovation, suffer from “the 5 most enduring ideas about innovation“, my conviction is that at first, as was the case case with international management in the transition to a global world where the international is integrated, innovation should be a function in itself  “5 good reasons to create an HR Innovation function“

Soft Skills for Innovation

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Why developing “soft skills” is essential to drive innovation and transformation?

Innovation is often considered as essentially technical and the recognized skills to innovate would therefore be rather “hard” Now, even if disruption is technological, it brings about profound changes in uses and behaviors that require a soft, soft, human approach to skills. Clayton Christensen in his “Innovator Gene ” has determined from the observation of the innovators of Silicon Valley the 4 key competences that are … “soft skills” essential for any leader of innovation and transformation .

1. The questioning
This first skill includes abilities in each of its stages: daring to question, daring to appear to be “not knowing” so to show a certain humility, to be able to listen to the answer and finally to accept a response that does not correspond to that we are waiting! Behind this behavior of the innovator lies the capacity of “opening” to others, the different, the unthinkable. It is also practicing doubt, not judging and exercising it by sometimes disturbing but always non-aggressive questions. It is also a listening capacity, active and benevolent to get the most ideas, which shows an openness essential to find what does not yet exist and accept it when the idea comes others !

2. Observation
To observe is a special way of looking for an optimal observation it is to use its 5 senses to capture the maximum of information: to listen and to interpret the non verbal to test the conviction of the innovator, to concentrate on the demonstrations to better understand and give free rein to his intuition.
It is an opportunity to use both the critical sense and intuition to make connections between ideas, conclusions and solutions. Observing forces you to remain silent, to accept that knowledge is outside of yourself and that others have been able to find what you could not find yourself.
To observe is therefore to exert his leadership in a way that may seem “passive”, the low posture of the coach, essential to let emerge innovation or transformation solutions and put in the situation to detect it

3. Networking
For Christensen ” innovation is making smart connections”, that of ideas through observation and questioning but also that of men.
Emotional intelligence therefore plays its role in the ability to create its network by going to others even those we do not know and to maintain this network to have competent resources at the right time!
The cross-fertilization of ideas is optimized by that of meetings and exchanges. Knowing how to manage the transversality, encourage cooperation through exchanges and désilage is an essential soft skill for the leader of today.

4. Experimentation
“Quick and dirty” is the mantra to take action quickly. Trial-errors, “pilots” to test hypotheses of solutions or new concepts (POC = “proof concept”) are more effective in the accelerated world than the projects licked which will have taken too much time just for the development .
The new leader of innovation must therefore be able to accept the immediate “non-perfection”, run the risk of seeing his solution not retained. At the same time he should be able to take advantage of these experiments to find new solutions for what needs to be corrected and to strengthen his vision with what works and therefore motivate the project team … soft skill paramount projects innovation and transformation.

One of the 5 most stubborn ideas on innovation.

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“Innovation and innovators are dangerous for the company! “. One of the 5 most stubborn ideas on innovation.

This is one of the misconceptions that I still hear when I host acculturation training for innovation or that I carry out studies of perception of innovation in companies. is not the only misconception about innovation! At a time when innovation becomes a must embedded in all business strategies, as recalled by Marc Giget (http://www.sylviebremond.com/en/2018/04/04/innovation-has-become-a-strategic-issue-for-everyone-marc-giget/ ) the HRD are obliged to review some of their judgments and especially to put … for them and their teams too! Review of the 5 most persistent ideas on innovation.

1) “Innovation and innovators are dangerous for the company”

Everything that is different is considered dangerous. And it is true that companies in this time of crisis rather recruited analytical profiles for the management of the performance by the reduction of the costs. Innovation involves the opposite: investing / spending money, taking risks / losing money, investing in the medium and long term / immediately visible results …

As a result, innovators are also considered dangerous: spendthrift minds, risk everything, carefree of the results to be presented … unlike the marks of commitment expected in cultural references in these times of crisis.

The parade ? to re-read Christensen’s “Innovator Dilemma” which explains the need to manage paradoxes, short and medium / long term innovation at the same time, and to translate “expenditure” of innovation rather as “investment” on the future, not necessarily far away with the acceleration due to the Digital.

2) “Innovation is technical”

How often is innovation reduced to technical invention … and “big innovations”. Certainly digital amplifies perception with its quest for “disruption” and the “Iphone” has become the absolute reference of “great innovation”.

But innovation is also “small innovations” that are called “incremental” because they are improvements in quality or use. And from this point of view, the wave of sustainable development and CSR should favor a new type of innovation, behavioral as well as technical: selective sorting, return to the glass while waiting for the release of bio-sourced and recyclable plastics (PLA), resort to the imitation of nature to create …

Finally, faced with the challenges of service platforms pushed by the Digital, service innovation is developing and the profiles of innovators go beyond the framework of the solitary researcher in his garage or his laboratory!

3) “Innovation is the matter of researchers”

Correlation of the previous one, the innovation would be only a matter of specialists. Admittedly, there are “innovation professionals” in the company, which from an HR point of view corresponds to the purpose of the mission / salary corresponding to the innovation function.

But today we know that it is everywhere in the company: participative, collaborative … innovation is everyone’s business! Ideas can come from the “top” or the “bottom” but they are executed in a process that involves all employees.

Innovation becomes, in addition to a profession for some professionals, a skill to recognize for all! “Innovation is what makes the difference between a leader and a follower” Steve Jobs

4) “Innovation is only for creative people”

Creativity is the place of many doubts … “I’m really not creative … how can I improve? ”

First good news: thanks to specific coaching, the miracle of cerebral plasticity works: you can develop your right brain with regular training!

Second good news: we can participate in an innovation project without being purely creative! Innovation needs all the talents: clarifiers, ideators, developers and directors … every step of his talent! (linkhttp://www.sylviebremond.com/en/2018/01/08/creativity-in-quite-a-state-3-steps-for-a-360-vision-on-the-subject/

5) “Innovation is mostly done by young people”

Digital forces, the trend is to entrust innovation and transformation programs to “young people”.

But many studies and the most recent carried out by the NBR (link http://www.nber.org/papers/w24489) finds that “successful entrepreneurs are middle-aged and not young. The founder’s average age for the fastest growing start-ups is 45.0 years. These results strongly reject the common assumptions that make youth an essential trait of successful entrepreneurs. ”

In conclusion, thanks to these received ideas, HRDs have a real area of ​​HR innovation: reconsider the grid of skills, leadership, collaboration and ages in the light of innovation projects!

The TOTAL INNO.BUS is back!

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Bolstered by its popular 2017 tour, the INNO.BUS is back again this year, ready to set off on an 8,000-kilometer journey to visit 15 Total Refining & Chemicals industrial facilities, from September 29 to October 19.

The aim is to promote innovation across Refining & Chemicals sites, from Southern Europe to Northern Europe and the United States. Teams can learn about existing innovations that could be deployed at their workplaces and charge their innovative spirit. 

Innovation is integral to Total and a key competitive driver.

“The pioneer spirit is in our genes. It’s in our ability to innovate in every area,
from technology and marketing to people management, strategy and geopolitics.”
Patrick Pouyanné, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Total

INNO.BUS is part of INNO.DAYS, a Total-wide celebration of innovation. More generally, it is in line with Total’s overarching effort to encourage innovation and speed up the emergence of new businesses, products and ways of working (booster, challenge Argos, plant 4.0, etc.).

Each stopover will be an opportunity for the site’s employees to delve into the various types of innovation at Total, especially those related to manufacturing and production activities, which are evolving toward augmented operators and Refinery 4.0.

impact intelligence artificielle innovation

What is the impact of artificial intelligence for innovation?

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The AI. name given to “the intelligence of machines and software” (wikipedia) was at the heart of the Thematic Meeting of the Paris Club of Directors of Innovation of 20 September 2018.

“If big companies are today more and more involved in the use of data (big data, smart data, proprietary data), artificial intelligence (AI), necessary to value and give some intelligence to the data is still quite limited in the design of innovation projects. This is due to the recent character of AI, which should neither be overestimated nor underestimated current operability and potential. As expressed by Marc Giget, president of the Club of Directors of Innovation, to introduce this meeting.

A leader in innovation, BNP Paribas opened the session, which continued with interventions by companies involved in the application of AI such as Microsoft, Bouygues Construction with its Tunnel Lab, Axa …

For BNP Paribas, it is Julien Cuminet, the group’s Chief Risk Officer, who opened the interventions by explaining why innovation and IA are inseparable. “In the bank we need to manage our risks well; the industry is very advanced: sectors such as aeronautics know how to anticipate weak signals or the railway industry. We need to go further and that’s what we do through co-creation to join forces and find original solutions. “

It was then Rim Tehraoui, Head of Risk Anticipation BNP Paribas, who presented the development levers interesting for BNP Paribas and which are at the heart of the innovation strategy. When we look at all of our businesses we have the conviction very strong that AI is a key factor; moreover, we have identified more than 100 projects impacted by the IA, at different levels of maturity, from the ideation to the POC.

impact intelligence artificielle innovation

For example a robot that facilitates the risk assessment of credit and fraud with an algorithm to create a predictivity analysis incorporating the issues of “early warnings”.

How to integrate AI into processes? BNP Paribas has identified these essential enablers:

“All these enablers are challenges” says Rim Tehraoui

The 1st challenge is technological, that of the data. It is not yet treated at the level of the expected potential; it is a matter of defining how to interpret them and how to articulate them between the various trades; it is a question of creating the articulation by désiloïsant these data and making exploitable these datas.

This challenge involves risk management of the use of AI in the banking system which is highly monitored, highly regulated; there is also the technological risk of integrating new technologies into obsolete systems, which risks precipitating obsolescence. In addition, the numerous partnerships, particularly with the Fintechs, create areas of vulnerability.

The 2nd challenge is the human dimension. There is anxiety around the impact of iA on jobs. The machine increases the human but we can not underestimate the risk of employee disengagement. We are in a period of transition and many are afraid of the end of their job.

 Finally the failure is not in our culture. « For 1 success story many are the failures ». It is not necessary to retire too early or penalize the carriers of projects which did not reach the first time!

To conclude, we need a pragmatic approach that reconciles both simple projects with quickwins and, at the same time, a longer vision. in any case to move forward, we must touch the organizations.

This is the priority challenge to go further in AI, beyond technology, rethink the human dimension and culture and organization