Partner Article

A lot can happen in six months

Over the last six months we have sadly seen the decline of businesses across the sector, most notably high street brands such as; Blockbusters, Jessop, Comet and of course HMV.

The need to be proactive in an ever changing environment makes perfect business sense, the expression time stands still for no man rings true. The region has seen a number of initiatives which support and promote innovative behaviour and understanding.

For theInnovation Programmewhich began early last year, continuing for the next two, and of course things develop and progress but the underlying aim of the programme has not changed it still endeavours to increase the understanding of the innovation process and enable businesses to turn their ideas from inclination into real business benefits.

The programme has always been an innovation itself and I am pleased to say this process continued during my absence.

Managing innovation is managing change.

Change requires adapting and learning but first of all requires important questions to be raised. What are the likely consequences of a failure to change? How will it be measured? And the most frequent question; how much investment is required and what is the return on investment?

Whenever change is introduced you can, naturally, expect some form of resistance this is why it is worth asking the above questions as well as testing out new ideas with staff and colleagues who are prepared to act as devils advocates. This will help you prepare for opposition in the future.

Once the barriers have been acknowledged comes the solutions to overcoming them.

Remember to unlock business innovation is not just about changing things for the sake for change…it is about having a real scope of your project, understanding why the change is required, how it may be implemented and having the tenacity to follow it through.

Change requires flexibility and it makes you smarter, if things never evolved you would never learn anything new.

But above all else change emphasises that standing still is not an option. Seeing the ebb and flow of businesses reminds you that nothing stays the same forever…

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Elizabeth Shaw .