Several of our speakers today have emphasized the importance of gaining understanding of customer needs and how people interact. An example given was a designer for IDEO who was creating new furniture and storage for children. The designer spent a lot of time with children, on the floor and in their space, getting an understanding of their perspective. Rather than create a new bookcase, he created a product that hangs under shelves or tables and allows children to store their toys and stuff in a completely different way than was expected - but made sense for the consumer - the children.

So often, new ideas and products and services are there for us to see and implement, if we'll identify the experiences, patterns and themes in our lives. Another example given was the credit card that sets up a savings account. Firms noticed that many consumers would round up when they paid their bills. Why not create a method to help people save money while using their credit card while they do something they would do anyway?

Increasingly, innovators are spending time living, working and experiencing life as customers do, rather than use dry research and marketing reports to attempt to determine the next innovation. Who in your organization is living with the customer and learning about the trends, patterns and experiences they have?

There's clearly an opening in many firms for people who understand how to interact with customers, who can act as an anthropologist or an ethnographer to understand why people do what they do, and the new solutions they are creating on their own.

It's early yet, but after four "conversations" from innovators, there's a clear trend emerging. Two of the innovators, Ivy Ross and Tim Westergren, talked about their focus on customers and team members and moved the conversation from the people to the idea. The other two speakers talked about very interesting inventions and discoveries. Their presentations were OK, but I felt they were too focused on the technology and not about innovation per se.

Clearly, the two gentlemen who spoke on technologies were talking about new, interesting stuff that will be rapidly adapted in the market. One spoke about neurotechnology and demonstrated the capability for paralyzed people to manipulate a computer screen or objects. Clearly, these are innovations that will solve problems and help people.

But the stories didn't resonate the way the stories did from Tim and Ivy. Ivy talked about how to build and motivate her team, rather than the ideas they generated. Tim talked about his desire to help musicians reach a broader audience. Both of these guys focused on the people, then the idea - and I think that's what ultimately builds the community and attracts like-minded individuals. In my firm we define innovation as people putting ideas into valuable action. Note that each of these factors - people, ideas, value and action are very important, but ultimately the people - the internal teams and the eventual prospects and customers - are the most important.

What I liked about Tim's presentation is that he talked about what problem he was trying to solve, rather than what technology he had created. Tim's goal was to expose new musicians to people who would not get to hear them. He worked with the musicians and the consumers and then created the technology. Clearly the technology is important, but the community is what mattered, as he now has over 3 millions subscribers with virtually no marketing. The focus on the people made it different.