Freedom Can Limit Innovation by Stephen Shapiro

Innovation, like any meaningful strategy, only works when applied in an effective and results-oriented way.  Many innovation attempts fail because organizations fall back on the misguided belief that the more ideas you assemble, the more successful your innovation attempts will be.  Stephen Shapiro, one of the foremost authorities on innovation culture, shares, “You don’t want more ideas.  You want to focus your energies on finding solutions to pressing problems that enable your company to be more innovative…the key to innovating successfully involves innovating efficiently.”  The five components of innovation are:

• Process.  Most innovation efforts are ineffective and unfocused.  Your innovation efforts must be “challenge-driven,” addressing your most pressing issues and opportunities.
• Strategy.  If you don’t understand your customers’ latent desires, your innovation efforts will be comparable to a wild-goose chase.  Determine their true wants and needs so you can develop a powerful innovation strategy.
• Measures.  Your measurement systems may inadvertently be killing your innovation efforts.  By making some simple changes to your motivation strategy, you can stimulate creativity and foster innovation.
• People.  Innovation is dependent on having the right people — with divergent points of view — in the right roles.  Treat each individual like an owner of the business, pushing decision making to the lowest levels of the organization.
• Technology.  Technology plays a critical role in finding solutions to challenges and enabling collaboration.  The world of technology is changing rapidly.  Stay on top of the most up-to-date information.

More tips and techniques on innovation from Stephen Shapiro.

Stephen Shapiro will engage leaders worlwide, via satellite and the web, on April 18th with tools and strategies to innovate efficiently and gain measurable results that positively impact the bottom line. Stephen’s 60-minute prepared remarks will be followed by a 30-minute interactive Q&A session (your questions accepted via text, email, or Twitter during the live event.) This program is brought to you by Linkage’s Thought Leader Series.