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Amidst the pandemic, how does your organization keep up with the current competition? Does your organization have the right strategies, tools and resources? Does your organization have what it takes to keep your competitive edge alive in the ever-changing market conditions?
On today’s podcast episode, we interview Elvin Turner who is the author of Be Less Zombie: How Great Organizations Create Dynamic Innovation, Fearless Leadership and Passionate People. Today we discuss strategic and realistic methodologies on innovation. This is an important and essential characteristic of many successful organizations who are making a mark in this fast-paced world.
Significance of Innovation
Innovation is one of the many characteristics that a successful organization must possess. In order to implement sound innovation, a leader must first choose innovation as a top priority. Then the organization must align strategies towards key business drivers. Lastly, innovative leaders lean into uncomfortable questions regarding the future that must be answered today.
Your Team is the Product
Encouraging your team to think of themselves as a product is one of the key and crucial paths towards innovation. Products continually upgrade in order to stay relevant as market conditions change. If team members think of the team as a product, they can self-calibrate as the operation changes, shifts, and moves. This focus ensures work completion leads to the highest possible performance.
Brainstorming is not Innovation
Organizations that believe innovation is simply about brainstorming are missing out on potential. Coming up with ideas is just one piece of the puzzle. In order to incorporate innovation, two concerns need addressed during brainstorming.
1) Which issues should the organization solve?
This involves the formulation of questions and current issues for which the organization needs immediate resolution or improvement. Formulating this shortlist sets the team up for deeper thinking.
2) Asking better questions than their competition.
From the problems shortlisted above, an organization should train team members to ask better questions than the prevailing competition. The best ideas come from a better-framed question. Taking people through this process will eventually result in questions the prevailing competition has not even considered.
Strategic and Realistic Innovation
Below is a “strategic and realistic” guide towards creating a culture of innovation.
1) Strategic View – How much and what kind of innovation does your team or organization need? What kinds of innovation? How can future needs be aligned with existing jobs? Do you need new or redesigned jobs? What are your areas of focus? What workloads need to be reduced or outsourced?
2) Resources – This is the realistic side of innovation. How much money, talent and time is needed for each innovation project? An understanding of an organization’s resources as being finite is the best way to manage the resources used for innovation.
Who is Elvin Turner?
Elvin Turner is a best-selling author, innovation advisor and associate professor at several business schools. He is also an award-winning leadership development programme designer.
He is a regular speaker at conferences and corporate events and a guest on podcasts covering the topics of innovation, strategy, change and leadership.
Elvin has coached and facilitated hundreds of strategy, innovation and leadership programmes around the world for companies including Universal, IBM, Telefonica, Cisco, Santander, Pernod Ricard and Accenture.
- Linkedin — www.linkedin.com/in/elvint/
- Website — www.elvinturner.com
To learn more about Strategic and Realistic Innovation download this episode now.
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