Fear the Zebra

By Tristan Kromer · Jul 28, 2020

Announcing the “Fear the Z.E.B.R.A.” coffee mug! One year ago, we published In Defense of the Hi.P.P.O. This is where we coined the term Z.E.B.R.A., which stands for Zero Evidence But Really Arrogant. The Zebra is a far more disreputable animal than the hippo. Brian Wood said he wanted a “Fear the Z.E.B.R.A.” coffee mug for meetings. We assume he was speaking for all of you. Well it took a while, but your mug has arrived!

Pick up your own Z.E.B.R.A. Mug

Just a helpful reminder to keep yourself honest and data-driven. Enjoy with your beverage of choice!

Written by

Tristan Kromer

Tristan Kromer is an innovation coach and the founder of Kromatic. He helps enterprise companies build innovation ecosystems and works with startups and intrapreneurs worldwide to create better products for real people. Author, speaker, and passionate advocate for lean startup and innovation accounting methods.

𝕏 @TriKro LinkedIn Website

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AI can improve ideation, validation, and support decision-making in the future. However, current implementations of AI within innovation teams can cause laziness and mediocrity. We are at risk of outsourcing our key differentiators as humans: creativity and empathy. If we let our mental muscles atrophy, our team and our AI models will overlook unconventional strategies that drive disruptive innovation. We will efficiently reinforce the status quo and stifle bold, forward-thinking decisions. Innovators should look to the future and integrate AI into innovation processes as a partner, but not at the expense of building our own skills. We should try out synthetic personas, but only in conjunction with our own validation interviews. We must learn how to spot and compensate for AI biases just as we should our own. We are spending billions of dollars to train the latest AI models. How much are you spending on training your team? For now, innovators still have an edge - but only if they invest in themselves as equal partners.

Jan 14, 2025

Fear the Zebra

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