At an FWE&E event I attended last night, designed and moderated by my good friend Lisa Solomon, I was reminded of how important innovation is, and how hard it is to integrate innovation into a thriving business.
We all know innovation is important–being creative, making progress, imaging the future and our place in it–but when we are faced with the all-too-real choice between continuing to invest in (highly profitable) business-as-usual or investing in the seeking out and testing of potentially game-changing ideas–we struggle.
Although it doesn't have to be an either or decision, innovation does require commitment and a willingness to invest real resources.
Here are some practical tactics to consider if your organization needs to move toward a more innovative cultures.
1. Everyone talks to customers (not just sales, not just support, not just marketing). Everyone.
2. Design for the edge, test and market at the mean.
3. Figure out how to make time for innovation in your organization. It could be a small team separated from everyone else, focused on a BHAG. It could be Yahoo!'s Hack Days or Google's 20% time for creative problem solving. It could be creating a culture that encourages test and fail. Figure out what works for your team.
4. Ask "why" at least as often as you ask "how"
5. If the first launch doesn't succeed, it doesn't mean you have a failure. According to Jennifer Dulski, panelist, CEO at Center'd and longtime Yahoo! exec, when Yahoo! first launched IM internally, no one could imaging how it would be used. Today, it's a key part of how we communicate.
6. Respect other people's point of view. Listen carefully and remember that most of the time, people are trying to do the right thing with the information they have.
You can't focus exclusively on innovation. Managing the business day-to-day operations is critical too. But most of us get too focused on tactical execution, without spending time thinking about big ideas. With a little more attention on what is possible and on what customers really want, the possibilities are limitless.
