6 Keys to an Innovative Organization
There are three ways to lose money: gambling, divorce and innovation!
– An anonymous CEO
In a recent survey conducted by IBM, CEO’s ranked creativity as the most crucial factor for business success. However, as illustrated in the above quote that appeared in a Fast Company article by Dean Crutchfield, not all CEO’s are in agreement.
Creativity is often wasted in organizations that lack a business model that supports innovation and business transformation. So how do you guide the organization to the right model? According to Crutchfield, there are six keys:
- Know Thyself – Understand your business and whether it is one of the 3 business types that Booz & Co says are poised for innovation.
- What Was, Was – Look at the business as if from the outside.
- Aim Past the Target – Use Phillip Kotler’s 6 Ps to examine critical areas of your business.
- Lead, Follow or Get Out of the Way – Business innovation is not about isolation and competition. Rather it’s about cooperation and collaboration
- Big Results Require Big Ambitions – Jim Collins would call this a BHAG – Big, Hairy, Audacious Goal.
- Don’t Say, Do – Get something implemented “bugs and all”. Some would call this the 50% Solution. My father might call it half-assed. The point is that it is easier to steer something that is in motion than to overcome inertia.
Read this thought-provoking Fast Company article and consider where your organization has been successful and where you need to guide it for the future.