Innovation got you feeling lonely?

It’s no secret that Senior Leaders are searching for ways to build capacity for innovation in their organizations.  BUT…the path to developing greater innovation capacity and output can seem ambiguous. Often, both those trying to build a more innovative organization, and those trying to innovate themselves tell us they are feeling very vulnerable and lonely.

The majority of employees support, heck even cheer about, the concept of innovation…they just don’t know how to lead and support the effort.

 To state the obvious, the reason senior leaders want bigger capacity for innovation is so that they foster:

• Profitable products & services
• Better / more efficient ways of operating
• Collaborative agile thinkers capable of making innovative decisions, fast

So, how to NOT be alone while leading innovation capacity building efforts is the challenge. Here are a few tips…

Focus in 3 directions:

• PEOPLE   What skills do people need to think creatively and innovate?
• SYSTEMS  What systems will help support and champion innovation / not kill it?
• CULTURE / ENVIRONMENT  How can we develop a culture and environment which helps to stimulate creativity and collaboration?

Don’t wait for the perfect time, robust budget and the stars to perfectly align.  Take a deep breath and decide on a step you can take today (even if it’s only a small step) and you’ll be making progress.  Here are 3 things you can do right now:

1.  Find “real work” situations that allow for embedding innovation skills development
2. Engage in a process to identify innovation blockers
3. Look at the list of 10 key enterprise questions and find opportunities to improve
   (email: njenkins@newandimproved.com if you need the list of questions)

 Also, keep reading the Innovative Brain, dig into our archive of educational newsletters, and view our videos for quick inspiration – Building Capacity for Innovation video.

Frank Talk from the Gator:  I know innovation sure is talked about a lot these days.  You may be feeling a bit numbed by all the mumbo jumbo on the airwaves.  If you are leading innovation efforts at your organizations you are likely communicating to a workforce that doesn’t think you are talking to them.  They may want the free ‘innovate or die’ t-shirt but they don’t really want to do anything different themselves.  After all, they are way over-worked – remember all those layoffs after the 2008 economic crisis -- well most of those jobs have disappeared and those left have picked-up the pieces – and you, What?, want them to add innovation on top of it!  It ain’t gonna be easy but it can be done.  And YOU can do it.

Comments

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And in order for that to accomplish you must be motivated.

[Jerina Tuazon]

I agree with Find “real work” because the real passion will make yourself motivated. The path to developing greater innovation is difficult and need time to accomplish. And in order for that to accomplish you must be motivated.