At the I Open Lab, we believe there are no bad ideas. And we mean it…it’s not just the polite thing to say…but actually the worst idea in the world could end up inspiring you to have a great idea. Without that terrible, utterly despicable idea, you never would have had the breakthrough. So all ideas have value.

However, sometimes when companies implement innovations it leaves us scratching our heads. This week there are two prime candidates for the title of Innovation of the Weak. First is Apple, who’s new iPod shuffle handcuffs users to possibly the worst part of all Apple products, the earbuds. Second is Facebook, who despite having a history of listening to users and backtracking, have moved forward with a redesign that’s been universally panned (at least by us and our friends).

The iPod revolutionized the portable music industry, and perhaps the music industry as a whole. Its iconic styling, colors, track wheels, and just darn cool marketing made it a must have for not just die-hard Mac enthusiasts, but for mainstream casual music fans. With all the brand cues and innovations at its disposal, with the new iPod shuffle, Apple chose to focus on its most frustrating weakness, the headphones. The new shuffle works only with the included headphones because the controls are now on the earbud cord. While some are wowed by the voice over feature that comes with the new iPod, a voice telling you which track you’re listening to, as many have already quipped, the new shuffle is tough to use if you’re doing anything but sitting down. If you’re working out, snowboarding, running, or perhaps just blessed with large ears, the headphones will not stay in place and the joy of listening to music is replaced with the frustration of chasing after earbuds as they jump out of your ear and dangle towards the ground.

Apple is a smart company, so why would they do this? The white earbuds are iconic, and featured prominently in the marketing. Are they forcing users to live up to this brand image, whether users want to or not? For Apple, does image trump experience? Or is it hubris and the company simply didn’t realize just how bad their earbuds are?

This youtube video explains how to replace the earbuds, but perhaps there are other ways to overcome this innovation of the weak. What are your ideas?

This week’s Advertising Age includes an article about gender bending your brands. Essentially it means taking a product traditionally geared for one gender and tweaking it to appeal to the other. While the practice has been around for a long time, today there are so many gendered products that it got us thinking about approaches to innovation. Targeting a new audience is powerful…we’ve seen guys turn down Luna bars on hikes even though they knew they were hungry and that Luna bars have pretty much the same ingredients as the more macho Cliff bar.

Targeting a new niche is a smart way to think about innovation, regardless of your category or challenge. Maybe you traditionally target teens, so what would your products look like if they targeted boomers. Or maybe you’re trying to solve a challenge that doesn’t have to do with a target audience. Imagine someone else was trying to solve the challenge…how would they solve it? What if Oprah was solving your challenge? What if Superman was solving your challenge? Try it for yourself, and you might be surprised with what you think of when you get outside of yourself.