There is more and more talk about entrepreneurship and innovation, but is it really possible to combine both?
We all love the idea of creating or belonging to an innovative company. And let's not say the possibility of creating and developing a project that has innovation as its flag. But is it possible to innovate in a market like the current one? How can we develop an innovative business project?
Innovation phrase, Steve Jobs.
Although answering these questions is not an easy task, most experts, including Franc Ponti, agree on several of the following points:
1. Clear ideas
Where do we want to go? "No wind is favorable for those who do not know where they are going," said Seneca.
Having a clear vision guides us and gives us references to move forward. It does not matter to adjust our objectives later if necessary, it is part of the process, the important thing is that all our movements are carried out in coherence with our goals, this will allow us to design intelligent action plans that facilitate us to achieve them.
2. Global application
Do you want your company to be innovative? Very well, consider how you understand innovation.
Why do you want an innovative company? The reasons can be varied, some for obtaining greater profitability, others for the pleasure of doing things better, to be more competitive in the market or leaders in the sector…
Creativity and innovation are applicable in each and every one of the areas and systems of the company. How are you going to do it?
If you are a leader committed to innovation, your behavior as a manager should not be anchored in the past. For example, it would be unacceptable to have a very innovative company in terms of the service it offers and a human resources management based on the “culture of the whip”.
3. Have your team
Once the goals have been defined, it is time to create the instrument that drives the actions necessary to achieve them. A solid team with a shared vision.
If the vision is not common, achieving the objectives will be much more difficult because innovating is a collective task.
How to align the objectives of the company with those of the people? How to create a company culture that favors innovation? There are different Management and Human Resources tools specifically designed for this that we will develop in future articles.
4. It's about changing
We want to do things in a way that has not been done before, initiate (or reinvent) something intelligently, look for new ways to get closer to customers, design a different management mode, refocus the business, etc.
We often talk about people's resistance to change. The same thing happens to organizations. We have been designed to hold on to what we think we do well (or simply give us acceptable results) and not change it.
The human mind is highly protectionist and tries to avoid suffering at all times. The problem arises when inaction can cause us much more inconvenience than action. Being aware of the need to move forward is essential.
5. Anticipate the future
It is about creating mechanisms to receive, analyze and draw conclusions in a systematic way from information from outside the company.
Methodical observation tells us where the shots will go in the future. Seek inspiration as one more activity.
When we analyze that information, those clues, we will arrive at trends. How can we obtain value from market trends by applying them to a specific area?
6. Encourage collective thinking and create processes that facilitate the conversion of ideas into reality
Many of the inventions we commonly enjoy have been conceived as a result of creative teamwork. Furthermore, there are different techniques specifically designed to facilitate the collective development of ideas (brainstorming, the best known).
The neurologist Antonio Damasio affirms that if a group of people reaches certain degrees of rapport and quality in joint work, their brain waves synchronize, creating their own language.
Other authors affirm that in a collective work you can experience the feeling of fluidity, the fusion of the ego with the team and the change of temporal references (the sensation of the rapid passage of time) Has this ever happened to you?
In short, undertaking with an orientation towards innovation is not only possible, but also desirable, requires a clear approach and a vision shared by all members of the company. In my executive and entrepreneurial coaching sessions we often work with tools to encourage creativity.
And you, what are you going to do to be more creative?
Remember that you are the owner of your life, convert your freedom into value.
Bibliography - To know more:
- The Ten Faces of Innovation: Strategies for Excellent Creativity (Tom Kelley's Company (Paidos), The Innovator's DNA: Keys to Mastering the Five Skills Needed by Deton Innovators by Clayton M. Christensen, Innovation! - Seven Moves to Building a Franc Ponti company. Descartes' error: emotion, reason and the human brain. Antonio Damasio. Critical Editorial.
