When you study the how and why of these innovations, you rarely find at their origins a creative consumer who has articulated an innovative, lifestyle-changing solution. What consumers say they want, what they really do and what they need can differ wildly.

Consumers love to tell you what they don't like, but you need to observe them in order to identify the real problem. They tend to be "rear-view mirrors." Simply taking what the consumer is asking for and marching it through the product development process is no guarantee that you will end up with products that consumers need or, better yet, feel they must have.

I am not proposing to abandon consumer research, because understanding consumer behavior is essential to minimizing risk, gaining speed to market and having the right product at the right time. Rather, you might try, as we did, to look to creative individuals for breakthrough ideas„people who can empathize with consumers, define the right problem and synthesize this with a multitude of other input to create compelling solutions. This was the SnakeLight team. Now the consumer can add value, giving product development guidance. The team creates the breakthrough and brings it to market with directional input from the consumer.

The SnakeLight concept came out of the need to give our niche lighting business a shot in the arm. While we had had success bringing rechargeable technology to a 40 million-unit lighting category, our participation was marginal. The industry had segmented itself with most of the players in the commodity end (under $5) and a handful in the high-end (over $15). With no brand differentiation and only minimal consumer benefits, the handheld personal lighting market was flat. Black & Decker cannot be a follower, so we needed a very compelling proposition for continued presence in lighting.

At the same time, I was restoring a Victorian-era home. I often found myself in the dark faced with an electrical task and needing both hands for the job. It occurred to me that this might not be a unique problem and I explored how to get my hands free and have light where I needed it. The solution that emerged formed the basis for the SnakeLight flexible flashlight: "What if we made it long and bendable?"

After several failed starts, the breakthrough for the SnakeLight flexible flashlight came with the hiring of a new and enthusiastic senior staff. The president, in addi-tion to the general manager for the lighting business group, immediately adopted the concept and the word went through the organi-zation: "This will be big."

For a concept as innovative as the SnakeLight to make it to market, executive level sponsorship was essential. Senior management provided the necessary air cover for the product development team, allowing it to keep its focus.

A multidisciplinary development team drew up plans to bring the product to production. Advanced Concept Development designed a working prototype that laid the groundwork for the fundamental product architecture and user interface.

The team defined the rules of the game early.

• Think high quality (5,000 ppm or better),
• Think high volume,
• Think automation,
• Resist the temptation to design and market a "one trick pony" and
• Let the design support a derivative strategy.

The team took on a lot of challenges. Things had to be done swiftly and, if need be, differently. The team took over ownership of the mission: to provide consumers with true hands-free task lighting.

Confidence can some-times be shaken during the early stages of development, but the team maintained control of the project by balancing the voice of the consumer with the omni-present voice of the business. The program manager, James Raskin, provided a crucial value-added service by keeping the development team on schedule, focused and within cost and quality goals.

As we walked the first rough model around the building, we watched people bend it and re-bend it until it broke. They liked it. The play value of the flexible core was an essential (and subjective) part of the product's appeal, and we never lost sight of it.

To get the financial support to go ahead, the team had to support its optimism about the potential size of the market. This is always a defining moment in a program: you need to win over the people with the money, yet you don't have all the facts. Positive results from a quantitative research tool, BASESTM, provided the ammunition we needed to defend the proposed capacity and price points.

Although the consumers in our initial focus groups did not immediately identify with the design proposal, the team stayed on track with the guidance of researcher Barbara Huzil. She diagnosed the problem: consumers need to be educated about all the benefits. Succeeding focus groups had much better reactions as consumers started to identify with all the applications of hands-free lighting.

Our next challenge lay in making the flexible core truly flexible. The Advanced Concept prototypes were already failing in the hands of our home use testers. Engineer John Rousso had the major challenge of designing a core that would meet rigorous use, life-cycle and quality standards. Rousso and team, along with Rich Carbone, IDSA, ran brain-storming sessions and engineering design reviews to find a viable direction.

Rich spotted a ball-and-socket type device used in the engineering model shop to deliver cutting lubricant to machine tools and suggested it as a means for solving the problem. The engineering team came up with a design proposal and, with the help of the supplier, Lockwood Products Inc., Black & Decker Engineering and the development team designed a spine that had the right amount of flexibility and the proper amount of tension to meet the need.

Meanwhile, Rich was exploring a form for the basic architecture that would enhance this new type of flashlight. He wanted an aesthetic that would clearly establish in consumers' minds that this product was different and originated with Black & Decker. We knew that the product would be primarily used wrapped around something or bent to achieve a balanced, free-standing position, but Rich felt strongly that the long, flexible format would not allow a user the option of using the SnakeLight as a general handheld light.

To open up the handheld option, he explored ways of integrating the core and tail with the head to create an arrangement that would allow the user to fold the flashlight and create a more familiar and comfortable length and grip. This proposal had the reflector offset from the centerline of the core to create the undercut that would accept the tail when snapped into a retaining detail. This design visually resolved the form and legitimized it as a handheld light.

The total blending of the form as it transitions from the head to the core and then to the tail was deliberately organic in nature, which gives a charmingly animated character to the product. David Stone, our president at the time, saw this early industrial design proposal and suggested that we use SnakeLight as our trademark.

Introduced in August 1994 at the National Hardware Show in Chicago, the SnakeLight flexible flashlight stole the show. The press loved it and internal volume estimates became more optimistic. The SnakeLight flexible flashlight made its public debut in September and, after "The Wanderer" TV commercial aired in November, consumers inhaled every SnakeLight flexible flashlight at retail.

The demand curve went nearly vertical. The plant staff took their turn as heroes and met the production challenge as demand doubled and then tripled. As we entered December, the use of Demand Flow Technology with two vertical assembly lines fed by an ingenious automated core-making machine was delivering packaged SnakeLight products at a weekly rate equal to the annual production of some manufacturers in the lighting industry. We had it all: speed and high quality at less than a tenth of our target defect rate.

Retail demand reached fever pitch. We knew we had it nailed when our Senior Staff was calling it a "runaway success!" Final 1994 SnakeLight volume was three times the original estimate and total 1995 volume will be the largest first full-year production volume in Black & Decker history. The SnakeLight has transformed Black & Decker from a fringe handheld lighting player into a dollar share leader.

Great business growth starts with a compelling idea and lots of uncertainty. You never get all the answers to reduce the odds of market acceptance to a safe bet. Our formula for success was actually quite simple: we took good product devel-opment theory and applied it. Senior Staff created an environment that recognized creativity and fostered risk taking. We responded by believing in an idea that had the power to excite our customers. We adopted a management philosophy that allowed champions to run very fast.

What worked for the SnakeLight product was to have vision, enthusiasm and support, backed up with good business savvy, a flexible problem-solving team and courage.