Have you noticed that whenever the economy stalls most business leaders inappropriately cry “be innovative” when what they really mean is “be resourceful:”
“Times are tough people. We have to look for ways to do more with less. Let’s innovate!”
It certainly sounds more scholarly than “Buckle down!” but it’s still wrong. Innovation is not a mandated, disjointed course of action for optimizing daily activities. It’s a collaborative, strategic endeavor designed to add value to people's lives, while increasing the value of ones brand over time.
What is innovation?
Ask ten people to define innovation and you’ll get eleven answers. It’s a lot like asking people to define the word “branding.” The origin of the word innovate is simply, “to alter or renew.” But that’s about as useful as defining branding as, “to mark with, or as if with, a hot iron.” It doesn’t help inform decisions in an increasingly complex workplace and highly competitive marketplace. Here’s my view:
Innovation is the successful application of a new idea that results in a more desirable customer experience, and which is believed will make the brand more valuable to everyone over time.
Innovation, in this context, can range from business model and supply chain innovation to designing new products and processes, creative pricing and financing, even to the way people communicate. The new idea can be breakthrough or incremental. It can be a significant game changer, or a simple smile inducer. The one thing that it should not be is haphazard.
Idea generation may be chaotic and messy, but innovation needs to be purposefully designed and carefully orchestrated to inspire and align people, and to increase the value of the brand over time. What ever changes you make--from improvements in the product and productivity to innovations in sales and marketing--must ultimately be made around things that matter to everyone.
That’s right; they have to be things that you and your people, as well as your customers and the community, care deeply about. Because in today’s product saturated and increasingly transparent world, the marketplace will call out phonies and sycophants. More importantly, your people will only become engaged and creative when their activities have significant personal meaning, meaning beyond money. When it comes to something as challenging as innovation, passionate intent and total engagement is paramount.
People do not fear change.
Despite what conventional wisdom continues to whisper in your ear, people are not afraid of change. What they’re afraid of is darkness, uncertainty, the unknown. The most typical employee reaction to, “Let’s innovate!” is fear and confusion, because they don’t know what the hell that means. It’s like a coach yelling, “Let’s win!” without ever going over the strategy and tactics necessary to win (and with a bigger, more skilled opponent staring you in the face).
Why in the world will people change what they are doing without a clear vision of what that change will produce in the future? They won’t, especially not during tough economic times when every activity and dollar spent is routinely scrutinized. It is the duty of today’s leaders to eliminate that fear; to communicate a vivid and inspiring vision of the future, to shake things up, and to coach and encourage people to innovate.
Innovation has nothing to do with the ebb and flow of the economy, and everything to do with an organization's integrity of purpose. Its enemy is the reactionary rhetoric and disjointed activities that infect every organization that has taken its eyes off the ball and has lost the passion and resolve required to uniquely add value to people’s lives.
Don't let that happen to you.
Posted January 23, 2012
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Tom is timely, thought provoking and all about the new brand vision packaged as a Seinfeld stand up. I went to school on his ideas.
Jeff Taylor, Founder, Monster.com and CEO, Eons.
When Tom Asacker writes, I read. Opportunity Screams is the right message for the right time.
Tom Peters
Tom, Excellent post, driving away the fog of misconceptions to a clear view of innovation! Thank you. (Far surpasses my wandering "draft" post on the same subject - good for you - and me!)
Posted by: Randy Bosch | January 24, 2012 at 06:06 PM