Identifying creative ideas is a great way to grow your business. Using innovation contests and other activities, your organization can and develop a culture of creativity that generates plenty of creative ideas. These creative ideas can be developed into innovations that provide considerable value to the business.
However, creating a list of innovative ideas is not enough. You must take action!
Here are several ways to start taking action:
1. Evaluate the ideas on your list. Get a group of people from different parts of your business (different job functions) and review the ideas submitted. Perform a cost-benefit analysis on the most promising ideas. Initially, look for ideas that can be implemented quickly and are likely to produce a significant result to the bottom line. Read the rest of this entry »
Many businesses limit innovative activities to particular individuals or particular departments in the organization. However, this approach may miss many valuable innovations that could strengthen the business.
A better approach is to involve people throughout the organization and start building a culture of innovation. Think of your business as an “innovation team”. People from different parts of the company and with different job functions can work together as a team for purposes of generating innovations. Everyone has creative ideas, so everyone should be involved in the process of generating innovations. By involving people in different parts of the company, you benefit from the different perspectives and experiences each individual brings to the creative process. Read the rest of this entry »
An innovation strategy for your business should support your business objectives – including both short-term and long-term goals. Does your Innovation Strategy have a long-term outlook to identify and develop a steady flow of creative ideas?
Unfortunately, many companies actively identify and develop innovations for a limited period of time. The flow of creative ideas is often strong when a company is getting started and looking to establish itself with a unique product or service. However, once that first innovation is identified and developed, too many companies stop the innovation process that created the business success in the first place. Read the rest of this entry »