Tag Archives: innovative culture

The Innovation Imperative: Why Companies Must Innovate or Perish

Posted on by
Reply

1150049_pottet_plantSome time ago, Steve Jobs was quoted as saying, “Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower;” and that statement has never been more meaningful than it is today. At a time when the even the most fundamental elements of business success are being reevaluated and redefined, one thing becomes increasingly clear: innovation is no longer a “nice to have;” it’s a “must have.” If innovation distinguished between leaders and followers in the recent past, today it increasingly distinguishes between survivors and the barely breathing. Innovation is the new Darwinism in business; the choice facing companies today is simple: innovate, or perish.
The companies that will survive today’s economic environment and succeed in tomorrow’s are those willing to continually reinvent themselves, their products, their brands, their processes—in short, the way they do business. Many organizations are even looking for innovative ways to innovate, replacing traditional brainstorming techniques with new, more inventive processes like SmartStorming, 3-D Ideation, Six Thinking Hats, Mind Mapping and others. Introduce the world to the new new thing, the bleeding edge technology, the better mousetrap, the reinvented paradigm and there’s a good bet you’ll remain ahead of the curve and be around to reap the rewards in the future.

The Innovators

The topic of innovation certainly isn’t new; it’s been the business buzz word for several years now. We’ve all read about it in business magazines and heard the reports on financial news stations. Harvard Business School professors lecture on it at conferences and scores of books address it. And the same companies are consistently held up as the elite innovators—Apple, Google, Nintendo, JetBlue, Toyota, Target (and today again, WalMart). And there are hundreds and even thousands more you’ve never heard of, visionary companies that are seizing the opportunities (yes, opportunities) presented by the current economic phase, breaking the rules, establishing new standards, delivering incredible value, and then starting that process all over again…and again, and again. These companies come in all shapes and sizes, and exist in every industry—technology, biotech, pharma, automotive, consumer packaged goods, retail, you name it, they’re out there, outthinking and outdoing everyone else in their fields. Whatever they’re playing field, they all have one thing in common: they innovate.

Three Not-So-Easy Choices

Today, businesses face three choices. In many cases, none may be easy to make.

1. Actively innovate. Stay at the forefront of their industry and their competitive set, doing whatever it takes to meet constantly evolving market conditions and consumer demand.

2. React. Wait for others to set the standard and play catch-up, forever scrambling to match the latest development introduced by market leaders.

3. Do nothing. Stay right where they are, do their best to survive, and almost certainly stagnate, eventually drifting into irrelevance, and finally, extinction. Innovate or perish.

Innovation of the Individual

By the way, the innovation imperative doesn’t only apply to businesses; it’s a challenge facing individuals, as well, again, even more so today. Each and every one of us who collects (or hopes to collect) a paycheck has at least one consumer, the person responsible for our professional future. Individual employees must also continually reassess their approach and establish their value, or face the same dismal fate as their corporate counterparts. In fact, while we are currently facing increasing jobless numbers, still more than 90% of the workforce remains employed. While in many cases circumstances beyond the control of the individual are responsible, what might that 10% do, innovatively, that could help them make it back into the 90%?

Work Your Innovation Chops

The time to develop an innovation orientation is not tomorrow or next week or in the third quarter. It’s now.

Begin actively searching for new, better, more productive ways of doing things. Utilize proven innovation tools—advanced ideation techniques, new technologies, breakthrough processes. Adopt an “innovation mindset,” asking yourself every day, “How could I do this better?” Turn yourself and your organization into an Innovation Machine. You will not only survive this evolutionary upheaval, you will thrive.

Mitchell Rigie and Keith Harmeyer have a combined 40+ years experience working in the strategic marketing communications field. SmartStorming: Advanced Training in Innovative Thinking is the result of their personal experience and expertise, as well as extensive research and practical application. To learn more about SmartStorming, visit http://www.SmartStorming.com .

Adopting Innovation in Business

Posted on by
Reply

1171662_colourful_vasesConsider this… What if instead of the compact and featherweight mobile phone that you use today, you had to carry around one of those huge phones prevalent in the early 1990′s? You can heave a sigh of relief that it was just a thought; courtesy of the innovators who spent many years of their lives, designing this ‘mini-world’ for all of us, just the way it is now.
However, this did not come easily. Innovation has to be incorporated into an organizational culture if such revolutionary and landmark achievements are what we are aiming to achieve.

Ideally, a culture is thought of as a set of opinions, attitudes, norms, beliefs, and values, while innovation is the implicit and explicit result of the creativity and knowledge of the individuals working within this organization. However, just coming up with something that is ‘out-of-the box’ doesn’t mean that it will always work – often due to organisational circumstance, because even though a fruitful innovation can be turned into a reality, there are still many factors which derail incredible ideas from reaching their destination. With the passing of time, innovation has gone far beyond the concept of simply generating creative ideas; it’s something which can now be seen as the culture of a business. This ‘innovative culture’ can often be the difference between a ‘successful’ and a ‘not-so-successful’ organization. Such a culture strives toward developing an attitude of continuous learning and improvement in the employees.

Every organization has its own unique culture which differentiates it from all of the others, and the success or failure of any of these businesses depends largely on how well this culture is managed. An organization with a well managed innovative culture almost always expands more rapidly than an organization without this understanding. In the case of an organization with a poorly managed culture, integrating and linking with the innovation of an existing culture is not an easy task, as this requires careful consideration, consistent motivation and an unwavering pursuit toward change.

Here are a few factors organizations should utilize for the integration of innovation into their culture:

1. Intellectual Property – This is the most important ingredient of an innovative culture. Regularly bringing up ideas in discussions or debates creates a continuous process of refinement, and these brain storming sessions infuse the members with enthusiasm, thereby stimulating the participants to come up with even more ‘never thought of before’ solutions.

2. Technology – Ownership of ‘tech’ and the process of upgrading these technological advancements are both other aspects which need consideration. This structure acts as an interface between knowledge and products, and is therefore responsible for the materialization of concepts from paper into tangible and intangible services.

3. Effective Leadership – Effective leaders are those who, in the organization, continuously integrate and motivate the creative thinking of their peers and subordinates.

4. Proper Communication – Proper communication is essential for making correct information available, at the right place and at the right time. Miscommunication at the smallest level in an organization can play havoc with even the most brilliant innovative idea.

To be competitive in our changing business world, businesses require their individuals to develop innovative ideas consistently. These innovative ideas can help any organization traverse difficult phases of business smoothly, as companies can sell such innovative ideas in a slump period of a business cycle, or reap maximum profits during a time of strong market share.

Alan Gillies is the Managing Director of the L2L Group, specialising in providing Executive Coaching, Training and Consultancy Services to Businesses across the Globe. Want to learn more about these business success strategies? Get Alan’s popular FREE ebook today!