Inspire Innovative Thinking In Your Company

Business owners believe if they could only get their people to be more innovative, they could reach success. Whilst this is somewhat true, trying to force innovation can be a frustrating process. We often associate innovative organisations with high tech startups or large technology corporations (think Apple, Amazon, Google…). 

Innovation is more than just a corporate buzzword. An innovative business, no matter the industry, turnover or size, refers to something different that has an impact. In a 2021 study, more than 1200 senior business leaders ranked innovation as the number one cultural priority over the next few years (ranking higher than shareholder value.)

As a business owner, rather than thinking “my people need to be more innovative” we need to turn it around to ourselves and think “how can I become more innovative”. Innovation starts at the top. Learn how to do what you want your people to do and you will soon become an innovative leader – and lead an innovative team.

“Innovation is the skill developed within your business and your people of constantly asking, ‘What is the best way to do this?’ Knowing, even as the question is asked, that we will never discover the best way, but by asking we will assuredly discover a way that’s better than the one we know now. – Michael Gerber

How to Jump Start Innovation

To put it simply, in order to be innovative you need to question everything. If you are frustrated by something in your business, question why. Why do we do it that way? Is it because that’s how its always been done? How can we do it differently? Even if you don’t come up with the right answer right away, it will likely be better than maintaining the status quo. 

Watch now: Turning Frustration Into Innovation | Mark Shaw | TEDxKC

Creating a culture of innovation is powered by diversity, collaboration and openness. Follow the 4 steps below to inspire innovative thinking in your organisation.

Step 1: Identify the frustration

 This should be easy to identify. What is it, specifically, that is frustrating you? 

Are your conversion rates too low? Are there not enough sales calls being made from the team? Are you struggling to hire the right talent? Is your cash flow poor?

Once you have identified the reason for the frustration, you can move onto step 2.

Step 2: Gain commitment

You’re never going to get everyone on board…

Begin a conversation with one, two or three of your team about the frustration and see if they are interested. If they aren’t, move onto others who will be. Gaining some of your team’s commitment gives you a shared goal to inspire each other. 

Leading us to the next step.

#3: Agree on the Outcome. 

You need to agree on a concrete outcome that you can touch, feel, see or recognise. Innovation takes energy… and lots of it! Energy drives passion, and passion moves your initiative through to the result. Without passion, whatever you want to happen, simply won’t happen.

How do we create environments that inspire passion? Collaborate, set goals, give genuine praise and fuel your people’s positive self-beliefs. Which leads to step number 4 – celebrating.

#4: Decide on a Celebration.

People LOVE to celebrate. So make sure you decide on a celebration. A rollout party to commemorate your commitment to the outcome. And make it something that people will become really excited about. 

As a leader, understand that innovation starts with you. I hope these simple steps help you and your teams start turning frustrations into innovation.

TED BONEL – STRATEGY & EXECUTION ADVISORS

Need assistance to help your team achieve your objectives to grow your business? Contact me at tedb@strategyandexecution.com.au to schedule a free 30-minute discovery meeting.

ABOUT STRATEGY & EXECUTION

We have been providing organisations and their leaders with facilitation support and executive education focused on strategy development and strategy execution for more than 20 years. Using business models such as Scaling Up, Exponential Organizations, E-Myth Mastery, Outthinker etc, we support organisations seeking to create or refine excellent strategies and execute them quickly and effectively.

Our expertise is based on a mixture of wide business experience, effective tools as well as a great deal of consulting and executive education. Our approach to working with clients is as unique as our specialist focus. We always seek to challenge our clients’ thinking – but equally are unafraid to roll up our sleeves and help execute the ideas we help generate. Learn more about us here or view our upcoming workshops and events.

If you are preparing for strategy development and/or a strategy implementation challenge and are committed to creating value for your organisation, we look forward to hearing from you. Contact us now