Innovation incubator: Build it and keep it running

If your company is like the one I work for, your people are talking about the need for innovation. Mine has just announced a new program "that will bring a standardized approach to gathering and evaluating your ideas for generating new revenue and improving our business." An Innovation Team has just formed, with a new electronic mailbox and a contest offering cash prizes for the year's best ideas.

Why do we need innovation?

Three answers seem obvious. First, you need innovation because our rapidly changing technology demands it. You cannot afford to do "business as usual," because what was best in its class yesterday is today's routine and tomorrow's technological dinosaur. You have to innovate just to stay up.

Second, you need innovation because your customers expect it. They are looking to you to provide the fastest, most accurate, and most accessible products and services available in the world today. If you don't deliver, they will go to someone who will.

Third, you need innovation because it sells. In every highly competitive industry (and what industry isn't?)companies tend to look over each other's shoulders and try at least to match what the competition is offering. The result is what Peter Skarzynski and Peter Williamson have labeled "strategic convergence," a phenomenon in which each competitor within an industry moves its practices and procedures close and closer to those of its rivals. This leads to a vicious, downward spiral, aptly summarized by David Crosswhite:

Benchmarking the strategies of the "industry leaders" and then copying them, by definition, leads to convergent strategies. Convergent strategies lead to industry parity, which leads to commoditization of product and service offerings, and indeed, commoditization of value proposition. Commoditization leads to price competition. Price competition leads to declining margins, and a lack of (or a perceived lack of) an ability to invest, which leads to a belief that you don't have the "space" to innovate. If you don't resist the temptation of this thinking right from the start, you plunge into a strategy convergence death spiral.

Innovation has the potential to propel your company ahead of the pack and demonstrate that you are clearly the company your customers should choose and be loyal to.

Two kinds of innovation

Not all innovations are the same. Generally, they fall into two categories: incremental and quantum leap. Incremental innovations are relatively easy and quite common, like the slight improvements you notice in each new version of your favorite software. Quantum-leap innovations, however, move quickly from nothing to something dramatic and substantial, like the introduction of personal computers or WYSIWYG word processing. Your company should be pursuing both kinds of innovation.

What helps innovation happen?

Experts agree that certain kinds of thinking make innovation more likely to occur. Here are a few examples.

1. Breaking set ? To develop innovative thinking, we must learn to examine our assumptions and imagine possibilities outside of them. This is what "thinking outside of the box" means. Brainstorming usually facilitates this process.

2. Multiple options ? Part of the assumptions we must jettison is that we have only one or two options. Assuming that a whole range of possibilities exists helps to move us beyond the off-the-cuff, obvious ideas. The more choices we can generate, the more likely will be the possibility that one of them is an outstanding idea. Once more, brainstorming is an excellent tool to use. Also, aim at generating six or seven alternatives, not just one or two.

3. Lateral thinking ? You have to train yourself to discover commonalities between two or more seemingly unrelated concepts, forcing linkages between them. One useful exercise is to examine an industry very different from yours and try to determine what they are doing successfully that you can imitate. For instance, UPS documented the time and circumstances of residential deliveries to explore ways to trim delivery times nationwide. Do you have processes that can be timed, analyzed, and then streamlined? External research helps to identify and validate the linkages you make.

4. Mental helicopter trips ? Can you rise above the mundane tasks of your daily grind to gain an overview of the entire chain of events that make up the process you are trying to improve? The broader perspective will give needed context to each component task. Flowcharting helps you to start "hovering."

Three approaches to innovation

1. Start from the end ? One approach to developing innovation is to start with the goal you have in mind. What would the ideal product look like, and how is that ideal different from what is already available? Then you work backwards, asking what changes would be necessary for that to happen, and how can we make those changes?

2. Find new uses for existing products or processes ? Perhaps a product already exists and is only waiting for someone to repurpose it to meet a long-standing need. The adhesive in 3M's Post-It notepads had been around for decades, but it took researcher Art Fry to find a use for it that now generates over $300 million in annual sales for the company.

3. Problem-solving ? Innovation often comes as a way of solving a critical problem. "Necessity is the mother of invention," and her babies sometimes come due at the most unexpected times. Every challenge carries an opportunity. Fry created Post-It notes because of his frustration that bookmarks kept falling out of his hymnal during church services. He recognized the lemons and made the lemonade!

Teaming for innovation

Most people find that innovation naturally occurs in a team environment. This is because of at least three factors.

1. Teams are efficient ? All of your employees are busy most of the time. Teams permit making progress on an idea by time-sharing.

2. Teams are synergistic ? Each of the members of the team brings his or her own expertise, experience, and frame of reference to bear on an issue, with the result that the team effort accomplishes more than the combined efforts of all of its members, working independently. Furthermore, they can bounce ideas off one another, sparking new, tangential concepts and inspiring alternate approaches.

3. Finally, teams are persuasive. Because the team's voice is louder and its conclusions likely to be more credible than an individual's, the team has a better chance of overcoming all of the barriers to change that exist within any organization.

If you identify a challenge that needs to be resolved, or have an idea that gets your blood moving, share it with a co-worker or two. Talk about it to your supervisor. A team can resolve the challenge or develop and implement the idea much better than you can as an individual worker.

Innovation must be client-centered

In the end, it all gets back to the external client. Remember that your mission is to meet or exceed the needs and expectations of your customer the first time and every time. To be effective as innovation, every idea must pass this acid test: does it improve the service or product you deliver to your customers? Satisfying them consistently, and often pleasantly surprising them, is what working at your company is all about. It is the goal, and the pay-off, of successful innovation.

Sources

Crosswhite, David. "Keep Innovation in Play." Electric Perspectives. (March/April 2003). Available online at: http://www.strategos.com/articles/k eepinnov/keepinnov.htm

Levering, Robert, and Milton Moskowitz. The 100 Best Companies to Work for in America. New York: Doubleday, 1993. The chapter on 3M is 296-301.

Skarzynski, Peter, and Peter Williamson, "Innovation as Revolution," Economic Bulletin (April 2000).

"Training Staff to Innovate." International Trade Forum. Issue 2 (2000): 28-29.

Uniker, William. "Applied Creativity." SAM Advanced Management Journal. (Summer 1988): 9-12

* * *

Copyright © 2005 Steve Singleton, All rights reserved

Steve Singleton is a communications coordinator and quality trainer for an international information management corporation. A former reporter and newspaper editor, his stories and editorials have covered a broad range of subjects, including business, politics, ethics, and community affairs.

Steve has also written and edited several books and numerous articles on subjects of interest to Bible students. He has taught Greek, Bible, and religious studies courses Bible college, university, and adult education programs. He has taught seminars and workshops in 11 states and the Caribbean.

Go to his http://DeeperStudy.org for Bible study resources, no matter what your level of expertise. Explore "The Shallows," plumb "The Depths," or use the well-organized "Study Links" for original sources in English translation. Sign up for Steve's free "DeeperStudy Newsletter."

---

Google News Updated : Sat, 11 Oct 2008 11:50:43 GMT Stevens's Reputation 'Sterling,' Powell Says - Washington Post Washington Post Stevens's Reputation 'Sterling,' Powell Says Washington Post - 8 hours ago By Del Quentin Wilber Former secretary of state Colin L. Powell told jurors in the corruption trial of Sen. Ted Stevens yesterday that the powerful Alaska Republican had a "sterling" reputation among the nation's military and political leaders. Reporter's Notebook: Powell Takes the Stand for Stevens FOXNews Powell says Sen. Stevens' integrity "sterling" Reuters CNN - Kansas City infoZine - The Miami Herald - ABC News all 2,865 news articles Publ.Date : Sat, 11 Oct 2008 03:13:53 GMT Palin violated ethics law, inquiry concludes - International Herald Tribune Washington Post Palin violated ethics law, inquiry concludes International Herald Tribune - 1 hour ago By Serge F. Kovaleski NEW YORK: Sarah Palin, the Republican vice-presidential candidate, abused her powers as governor of Alaska by pressuring subordinates to try to get her former brother-in-law, a state trooper, fired, according to an investigation ... Palin ethics lapse cited Los Angeles Times Alaska probe finds Palin 'abused her power' Indian Express Baltimore Sun - Boston Globe - New York Times - Reuters all 4,043 news articles Publ.Date : Sat, 11 Oct 2008 09:58:28 GMT McCain calms supporters, urges respect for Obama - Los Angeles Times The Associated Press McCain calms supporters, urges respect for Obama Los Angeles Times - 2 hours ago 'NO MA'AM': Sen. John McCain takes a question from a supporter who called Democratic rival Barack Obama an Arab at a town hall meeting in Lakeville, Minn. McCain-Palin's hot rhetoric risks GOP backlash San Francisco Chronicle McCain Lauds and Attacks Obama in Same Day New York Times Boston Globe - Washington Post - Minneapolis Star Tribune - Reuters all 460 news articles Publ.Date : Sat, 11 Oct 2008 09:04:20 GMT Paulson Indicates Need to Purchase Bank Equity `Soon as We Can' - Bloomberg Ottawa Citizen Paulson Indicates Need to Purchase Bank Equity `Soon as We Can' Bloomberg - 7 hours ago By John Brinsley and Rebecca Christie Oct. 11 (Bloomberg) -- US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson indicated that pumping government funds into banks is a priority and said financial markets will remain volatile. US to buy shares in struggling banks Los Angeles Times Obama welcomes Paulson plan to buy equity in firms Reuters MarketWatch - International Herald Tribune - Bizjournals.com - Washington Post all 2,114 news articles Publ.Date : Sat, 11 Oct 2008 04:21:05 GMT Mugabe Hands Ministries to His Party - New York Times Voice of America Mugabe Hands Ministries to His Party New York Times - 52 minutes ago By CELIA DUGGER JOHANNESBURG - In a step likely to lead to the collapse of a painstakingly negotiated power-sharing deal, Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe, in office for 28 years, has unilaterally declared that his party will retain the most powerful ... Mugabe 'gives Zanu-PF key posts' BBC News Zimbabwe's Mugabe hands key ministries to his party Reuters United Press International - AFP - Aljazeera.net - The Associated Press all 1,687 news articles Publ.Date : Sat, 11 Oct 2008 10:57:49 GMT Morgan Stanley, Goldman May Gain Investment From US Treasury - Bloomberg Wall Street Journal Blogs Morgan Stanley, Goldman May Gain Investment From US Treasury Bloomberg - 7 hours ago By Christine Harper Oct. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs Group Inc., the biggest independent US investment banks, may reap cash infusions as part of Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's plan to buy stakes in financial institutions, ... As Stock Falls, Morgan Looks to Japanese Bank New York Times Morgan Stanley hangs on Mitsubishi's $9bn pledge guardian.co.uk Forbes - New York Post - New York Times Blogs - Barron's all 895 news articles Publ.Date : Sat, 11 Oct 2008 04:30:39 GMT Thai protest leaders released on bail, vow new rallies - AFP GulfNews Thai protest leaders released on bail, vow new rallies AFP - 20 hours ago BANGKOK (AFP) - Leaders of Thai anti-government protests were granted bail Friday after surrendering to police and immediately vowed new rallies, raising fears of mounting turmoil days after deadly street clashes. Video: Raw Video: Tear Gas Fired at Thai Protestors AssociatedPress PAD leaders surrender to Thailand police United Press International The Associated Press - Washington Post - New York Times - International Herald Tribune all 2,495 news articles Publ.Date : Fri, 10 Oct 2008 15:31:03 GMT Rss Feed Reader Increased Website Traffic

PARLOT::Ebooks, Scripts, Websites, and more...

Adsense websites

Solo Mojo for Solo Entrepreneurs --- Where?s Your Juice?

I recently read a magazine article about Andrew, a 42-year... Read More

Franchises-Exit Strategy

At an International Franchising Symposium in London, Peter Holt made... Read More

Go Slow to Go Fast - Why Over 80% Of High Tech Startups Fail And What To Do About It

With billions of dollars of venture capital residing down the... Read More

Top Ten Ways to Increase Your Profitability

1) Go back to basics. Take a couple of steps... Read More

Great Tips Of Choosing An Office

You have decided to strike it out on your own... Read More

Independent Auto Detail Shop VS Biz Op or Franchise

Owning a detail shop can be an exciting and rewarding... Read More

Raising Entrepreneurs: What to Do When Your Kid is Born to Think Differently

Adolescence brings with it many challenges ? for both parents... Read More

Methods of Generating New Ideas for Entrepreneurs

Summary: Even with a wide variety of sources available, coming... Read More

The Magic of Thinking Small

Hey!Many of you might disagree and I'm prepared for that.Many... Read More

Electronic Tools for Entrepreneurial Success

"Half of any job is having the right tool" was... Read More

Beware the Opposition!

Any time you make changes in your life you are... Read More

Chairman Greenspan and the FED, learn more you will be glad you did

So many people work their whole life to make money,... Read More

Six Degrees of Separation

Through just five or six intermediaries, you could be linked... Read More

Compensating for Your Entrepreneurial Style-or Lack of Style

I recently took an entrepreneurial quiz which evaluated my answers... Read More

Oil Change Guys History; Part I

How do franchise companies come to be? How do they... Read More

Entrepreneurial Traits that Drive Sales

Frequently overlooked and hidden deep within our marketing tool box... Read More

Are You An Entrepreneur?

With all the buzz about everybody being an entrepreneur these... Read More

Be Where the Pucks Going To Be

The "Great One" said it bestHockey legend Wayne Gretzky, when... Read More

Executive Suites - A Way To Save Cash

Cash is one of the most important resources to a... Read More

Do You Have What it Takes to be a Successful Entrepreneur?

Print off this page, take the quiz and find out... Read More

About Ending Competition

1. Why should I not compete with others?The very concept... Read More

Success Secrets - What I, Mike Litman Learned From This Old Book

Yesterday was a beautiful, sunny day in New York and... Read More

Preparing to Outsource

It's important to understand when to add individuals to your... Read More

Lessons Learned from Successful Entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurs are a special breed of high achievers. They create... Read More

Success Secret - How To Find Million Dollar Opportunities

They're really are powerful million dollar opportunites everywhere.Ok, let me... Read More