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How can you and your team create a sustainable innovation process, when there are so few good role models and guides? This fascinating question comes to us from Jeffrey Phillips in his Innovate on Purpose blog. Fortunately for us, he also provides some answers, utilizing the old Star Trek TV series as a metaphor. Please see his blog post for the details, but here is a high-level overview:
- Decide what you want to accomplish
- Ensure what you're doing is aligned with the corporate direction (amazing how many times people ignore this one, often at their peril!)
- Go boldly - try things and learn quickly.
- Assemble a team with a range of experiences
- Adapt on the fly
- Work on something that will deliver short-term benefits and long-term value.
- Leave some breadcrumbs or a roadmap for others to follow in your footsteps.
Great advice, Jeffrey! I particularly like numbers 3 and 5. If you're heading into unexplored territory, you have little choice but to try some things, monitor feedback, learn quickly and make course corrections as needed. Create an innovation model that's good enough to get you headed generally in the right direction, and then hone it and improve it until it precisely meets your needs. I also like Jeffrey's admonition to "go boldly" - pioneering work is not for the timid. You have to be willing to take some calculated risks. |
