3 Articles to Boost Your Innovation Endeavors
Is there an innovation drought in your company? Are you desperately in search of the next big thing, but don’t know where to turn? Are your innovation endeavors too conservative? Do they lack the risks inherent in trying to do something new and break new ground?
Three articles caught our attention this week that convey powerful messages to those who seek to innovate. The boldest among them being a warning to innovate or die.
Innovate or die: The stark message for big business – this BBC article warns that in the era of “digital disruption” organizations that don’t innovate risk going the way of the dinosaurs. It also examines why so many big companies are bad at innovating, and with examples, looks at ways that firms can avoid being “innovation laggards”.
When It Comes to Innovation, Small Ideas Can Mean Big Wins – this article in Wired magazine points out some of the pain points of the slow moving innovation processes of corporate America, and suggests that “thinking big” may not be the way to go. The article author believes in making a virtue of doing just the opposite, thinking small.
Although this may not create the innovations that are going to rock the world, small impact ideas get the ball rolling. “The leaders involved in these smaller initiatives establish a track record of being supportive to new ideas. In turn, this motivates others to start contributing ideas.” It’s evolution not revolution.
Innovation must address the big social challenges – according to renowned thinker Charles Leadbeater, the most successful innovations in the future will come from reuse and recycling, not the latest technology. This article from The Irish Times highlights his recent book, The Frugal Innovator: Creating Change on a Shoestring Budget. In it, Leadbeater advocates a different approach to innovation, one that addresses big social challenges rather than creating new versions of products that already exist.
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