Innovation Everywhere

The notion here is when we think about innovation, we think about products that have impacted our lives.

Inspire a Culture of Innovation: Adventurous, Creative, Agile, Adaptive & Open-Minded

In almost all companies or brands that lead their business segment, the concept of innovation is much more than just about innovation of their products. These companies have created a Culture of Innovation. This Culture of Innovation is commonly backed up by a management commitment that not only inspires new innovative products but also supports a process that empowers employees to advance new fresh ideas on processes, procedures, management systems, marketing and improved methods to an organization.

A true Culture of Innovation takes place when every single employee feels encouraged to look at how things get done and believes that they are empowered to innovate new ways to get things done. I

Inspire a Culture of Innovation

This Culture of Innovation mindset must begin at the top of the organization and permeate every level. It and must be backed up by decisive action and ought to become tradition. And most importantly, it includes the intangibles of culture: the beliefs, expectations, and sense of purpose of those in the organization. Creative thinking and collaboration must be encouraged and rewarded in formal and subtle ways.

Innovation Isn’t Just About The Design Of Products, It Is About How Your Whole Brand Works and Approaches Your Market and Your Consumer

Truly innovative companies don’t just stop at the products or services they offer to the market but they seek to be Innovative Everywhere within the company. There must be an authentic and total brand wide commitment to innovation.

Create Iconic and Visionary Products

In the Fast Moving world of today, much of brand success depends on bringing to market innovative and leading products. Of course, marketing connects the Brand to the product and connects the product to the consumer…operations and retailers place the products in the consumer’s hands etc. But success in these disciplines cannot sell products that are uninteresting and/or obsolete.

• Design It
• Name It
• Label It
• Market It
• In Store
• Extend It
• Expand It

Always Differentiate on Product Design

Product Innovation Strategies are about providing products that are different in ways that have importance, relevance, provide value and will engage customers. In Tech, it is about new functions, design, intuitiveness, ease of use and new applications. Take Apple for example, their products are beautifully simple in their design and in their intuitive user experience. In fashion it is about fit, color, silhouettes, fabrics, and other product details.

Democratized Design Ecosystem

Open it up so that everyone can make product, marketing and process improvement suggestions.  Whenever you only have a single, central point of control, you inevitably get a linear top-down result.

Always Have a “Creative Dissatisfaction with The Status Quo”

Innovative companies have a “Creative Dissatisfaction with The Status Quo”. These organizations engage in active continuous improvement in everything they do. If the process is formal or informal there is always a drive towards improving the ways things get done. In fact, innovative companies show an active dissatisfaction with current performance and have an active openness to new ideas.

Get Rid of Obsolete Products and Designs Before They Exceed Their Useful Life

Innovative and visionary products and/or services provide the foundation on brand’s success. Occasionally, with a little bit of luck and great planning, these visionary products and services may become iconic. It is natural for brand managers to hold on tightly to these very successful Iconic products and keep the success progressing forward. The usual management intuition to not rock-the-boat: Why Mess Around with Success – It If Ain’t Broke – Why Fix It.

The correct instinct is to keep improving the product or service and to even obsolete the product by introducing new and even better products. This is the underpinning of a Culture of Innovation.

No such thing as a “Dumb Idea” or a “Dumb Question”

Another belief evident of a Culture of Innovation is the notion that there is No such thing as a “Dumb Idea” or a “Dumb Question.”  We all know that there actually are Dumb Ideas and Dumb Questions. This belief suggests that the quest for knowledge includes failure, and that just because one person may know less than others they should not be afraid to ask rather than pretend they already know.

Always Support Risk Taking – “Freedom to Fail”

The idea of Freedom to Fail sets the organizational outlook toward innovation and experimentation, but does not always lead to success. This idea allows the organization to have an ongoing drive towards innovative thinking, failure must be an acceptable option. Understanding that the lessons that come from failure leads to success is the key to any learning organization.