Management
Make
innovation part of your DNA
Andrew Horton
Blurb: There is a never-ending ebb and flow
of change going on all around us. Don’t get left behind, as a business owner
you need to adapt and innovate…
Change is inevitable and the rate of change
is accelerating daily. You have two choices; bury your head in the sand and
hope change won’t affect you, or open your eyes and discover ways to use change
to your advantage by innovating and discovering new ways of doing things.
Innovation can take many forms. It may mean
developing something brand-spanking new. Or it may mean focussing on new routes
to market, speeding up your processes, or tapping into the modern need for
convenience.
For example, take FNB’s hi-tech dotFNB
stores, which I spotted in a local mall recently. It’s a radical shift in
old-school banking thinking – a high-tech, service geared, cashless
environment.
In the past companies that were not
creative or innovative could chug along and still make a good living. Of
course, businesses like horse carriage manufacturers that did not adapt,
innovate and create new products, have over the years disappeared. But the
business cycle used to be so long that companies that did not see change coming
took a really long time to close their doors.
Today’s business cycle is estimated to be
around 11 months and is getting ever shorter. So if you haven’t innovated and
found new more creative ways of servicing your markets over the last 11 months,
it’s possible and indeed highly probable that you will soon be left behind.
Are
you changing?
Are you aware of any changes in the markets
you service, or in your customers’ expectations and needs? The secret to survival
today is to constantly survey the marketplace around you. Ignorance is most
certainly not bliss. Ignorance is failure, regret and could even cause your
business to suffer huge losses.
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ACTION
IDEA
Schedule a time every week to survey your
world. Try to pinpoint as many changes as you can that are happening around you
and in your business environment. I schedule time every Friday afternoon at 5pm
to survey my world. I do this by going through a Change Checklist (see
alongside). I use these questions to ensure that I explore the changes going on
around me. Answer all the questions on my list every time you do this exercise.
The more thorough you are, the better equipped you will be to see and respond
to changes.
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MY
CHANGE CHECKLIST
·
What has changed in my industry?
·
What has changed in the markets I service?
·
Are there any new opportunities which have opened up for my products or
services?
·
What has changed from a legislative perspective?
·
What changes are there in my community?
·
What changes are there in my country?
·
What changes are there around the world?
·
What new challenges have presented themselves?
·
What new personalities are influencing the world?
· What new tools, techniques and technologies
have come to light?
·
How can I use any or all of these changes to my advantage?
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With your eyes open you will be able to
spot change and adapt to it. By observing the subtle changes going on around
you, you will be well-placed to anticipate and utilise change, rather than just
react to it.
Innovation
is not done in a day
For innovation to work, you need to create
a culture of innovation within your enterprise. It’s not something you do only when
developing a new product, it’s something you should be doing all the time. And
all stakeholders within the business should be encouraged to observe and identify
change or opportunity. More than one eye on the world makes it more likely that
opportunities and threats will be identified.
Unlocking
creativity in your people
Research has shown that creative thinking
decreases as children get older. The school system and the pressure to conform
to the norms of society change us. What happens to all those who started out
highly creative? They still have it, but they have turned down the volume on
their creative side.
Unlocking your creativity requires you to
re-develop the neural pathways which closed off or got lost as a child. It took
many years to lose your creative neural pathways, so don’t expect them to
reappear overnight. Have patience and follow the few recommendations I have
made below:
Shake
things up: While driving use the seek button on
your radio to tune into a new channel. Whatever comes up, listen to it for the
rest of the day. It’s a simple way to pull yourself out of your comfort zone.
The unfamiliar music will encourage your brain to form new neural pathways to
help you interpret the new music. These new neural pathways will help you
awaken those slumbering creative neural pathways, which have been asleep since
your early childhood.
Do
new things: Try to engage in as many new activities
as possible. The more things you can change the greater will be your ability to
re-awaken that slumbering creative person hidden within you.
Do
different things: When last did you do something
for the first time? My wife and I actively try new things all the time, from ballroom
dancing to bungee jumping, to traveling to new and interesting places all the
time. Again this will help you to re-awaken and utilise your creative self.
Innovation must become a way of life,
something you are, not something you do. Once you learn to live this way, you
will be astounded at how creative and innovative you become. Dreaming up new
ideas and better ways of doing things will become the norm...
<author contacts>
Andrew Horton is a motivational speaker,
time management expert and author of The
Leadership
Toolkit. He also hosts the Empower
Half Hour on DSTV.
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