Member Article

How can your business spark innovation?

Every organisation needs to innovate or it will not survive.

Innovation can be in different ways and formats but it is an essential and every business leader needs to know how it is happening or sparking in his or her company.

There are 3 things that spark innovation. These are:

1. Necessity
2. Aspiration
3. Discovery

Which one(s) are applicable to you? In a dynamic forward-looking organisation, there could easily be a combination of two or even three. Its knowing where the spark is coming from that is important.

Where to look for the spark?

These are the “3P” approaches to consider when sparking opportunities:

1. Improve your existing processes
2. Improve your existing product or service
3. Paradigm Shift (sometimes called a quantum leap)

What should you be doing?

Your action needs to be both internal and external.

Internal action includes:

• Nurturing innovation by training your managers to lead innovation and not be afraid to fail.
• Harness the knowledge and ideas of your people by encouraging them and rewarding them to come up with ideas and to generate improvements.
• Look for cross-usage of ideas that may be working in other parts of your business.
• See which processes can be improved that benefit customers.

External action includes:

• Talking to existing and potential customers to seek their input along with knowing why you lose customers.
• Be alert to your business environment which can often mean seeing where change is happening.
• Avidly follow your top 5 competitors, what they offer and do.
• Connect with your suppliers and ask them to collaborate to innovate.
• Connect with experts and influencers in your field or sector and seek their input.

What should you be actioning?

Remove obstacles to innovation by:

• Ensuring everyone knows innovation is a priority and you will be asking questions!
• Set aside time, money and resources so it doesn’t get lost in the daily grind.
• Firmly deal with any internal resistance to change.
• Involve people at all levels so as to remove cynicism.

Please share your thoughts and top tips on innovation.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Malcolm Gallagher .