Thursday, October 8, 2020
Six Steps For Newbies
Learn As You Go, Get Formal Training Later
It’s easy tounderstand why many small and mid-sized businesses are intimidated byinnovation. Scroll through LinkedIn and you’ll see posts on Agile, Lean, DesignThinking, TRIZ, or Osborn-Parnes CPS. It’s not a bad thing, these are usefulmethods — but if you don’t know those methods one could believe you arehopelessly behind in innovation.
You mightindeed be hopelessly behind in innovation.
Or, you may simply be disorganized, and, actually doing innovation, albeit organically.
Start With Your Big Problems and Concerns
Consider the case of a recent client I served in financial services. Not a large firm, less than 10 people. But a smart group. The CEO looked to the future and started worrying they weren’t doing enough to prepare for a turbulent future. She had a sense of urgency about innovation; she thought about it more in terms of survival and growth.
Survival and Growth RequireInnovation
I assistedthem with a simple process and didn’t stop to teach them a method first. Theypicked a focus, jammed 350 ideas, refined a few, and got busy. All in onemonth. They now have innovation projects in the works with a few lined upbehind those. They don’t know Agile, Lean, et al, but, they’re doinginnovation. They’re looking at training as a way to do it all better, good onthem.
The “Good Enough”Simple Six Step Innovation Process
If you feellike that CEO, the baby steps into innovation are to simply organize yourthinking, and then, get into projects. How?
- Start with a list of your concerns and wishes for the future.
- Pick one you want to focus on.
- Ask yourself how you might address the wish or challenge.
- Jam lots of ideas on how you might. Do some research as you go.
- Pick a good idea from your long list and make it more specific;refine it, test it if you can.
- Make a project out of implementing the idea. See if it work. If itdoes great, if it doesn’t try again. Rinse and repeat.
Does that seemcomplicated? That’s innovation.
Sure, thereare plenty of ways to be more sophisticated. Wow that’s putting it mildly. Butat its essence, innovation is problem solving. Find a problem and solve it.Make it a project. If you want to learn more about
Innovation Methods, get GFi training —you’ll get better at problem solving if you do.
So, get afterit already.