Innovation in business often goes unrecognised. Incrementa’s consultants have spent years helping businesses to grow through exploring new markets or developing new products and services – the backbone of innovation. There is much more to innovation though. Our consultants can support businesses explore innovation as an holistic approach. The following are a quick top ten tips on holistic innovation in business. We hope you find them useful.
- Become a problem solver. Identify problems. Look for needs, niches, conflicts, inefficiencies and gaps that need to be filled. Brainstorm possible solutions. Realize that most problems have multiple solutions.
- Think outside the box. Tunnel vision will get you nowhere. Current market and customer research creates tunnel vision, causing companies to overlook the potential of new ideas.
- Be willing to take risks. If at first an idea doesn’t seem totally absurd, there’s no hope for it – Albert Einstein
- Build your confidence. Be positive. Stick to your principles. Avoid perfectionism. Insecurity in your abilities can suppress creativity, which is why it is important to build confidence.
- Think smart. Move fast. Be proactive. Define goals and objectives. Evaluate ideas based on their impact on a goal. Come up with a plan to get your idea done.
- Propose solutions. Create a proof of concept prototype. Use your laptop or tablet to pitch ideas and showcase presentations.
- Listen and learn. Creativity can be developed and creative thinking can be learned. The creative process is an on going exercise. In chess, each piece has a unique mobility upon a deliberate landscape of opportunities. Once you understand the relationships and harmonies between each piece as they relate to the rules of the game, you can play with new insight.
- Become an expert. By having a rich understanding of the topic, you will be better able to think of novel or innovative solutions to problems.
- Innovate. Adopt new technologies and adapt existing infrastructure to meet business needs.
- Share your vision. To get people to help you in changing things, you need to share your vision with them.
If you would like more assistance developing innovation within your business to drive growth and profitability please contact Stuart at s.hartley@incrementa.co.uk.