As captains of our businesses how do we make sure we are making the right things happen? Whether we are a startup or have been in business for decades, whether thriving or barely surviving, whether a smooth running machine or a business on life support, it's vital to take stock of where we stand in our marketplace. Way too often we have all seen sound growing businesses, or at least that's how they appeared on the surface, suddenly seize up, go into crisis and die unexpectedly - - as a victim of some forced merger or acquisition by a national chain. Why does this happen so often?
Although we have our suspicions, none of us really know whether what we are doing is the “best” for our company; but, what we do know is that businesses that have good survival rates are ones that innovate. Today more than ever, Innovation is an imperative- - it is the key ingredient in building superior value for all stakeholders. If we are not innovating, we are more or less daring other businesses in our industry to come and take away our loyal customers. We hate to say it, but being casual about innovation really means we are not willing to go to the wall for our clients,. Innovation often involves overcoming fear of failure and getting past our natural human tendency to resist change. In our Internet-connected global village, we have to thrive in chaotic changes to survive.
The good news is that innovation can be learned. For innovation is nothing other than simple, commonsense processes that need to be put into place and made into a discipline. The even better news is that innovation can be systematized made part of the core fabric of our corporate DNA. Innovation and creativity are about the mechanics of collaboration, processes that we study and improve upon continuously.
In business, identity (who we are) and core competencies (what we are great at) go hand-in-hand. We have heard a lot about core competency, the special skills and unique knowledge that we (alone usually) have within our industry. Non-core activities can and often should be outsourced. Innovation must be founded upon our core skills - - or it turns out to be a great waste of time. Innovation is not about invention, it is about creating new value.
Through our special knowledge and skills, we enhance the human condition, and somehow add greater meaning and identity to our client’s lives, in ways that only we (and no one else) can create. If we are clear about our distinctiveness, then we understand why our customers buy from us. Our clients' future can be changed by our imagination applied to their needs, frustrations and especially their yearnings for a better way. Often, like art, they don't know what they want until they see it. If we want to bring a better idea to our customers, we must know why we are in business- - why is the energy that pushes us the extra mile to create breakthrough value. So innovation is driven by why we pursue our dreams in a spirit of curiosity and tenacity. If the why is clear, everything else follows much more naturally.
What We Can Do To get Started
First of all, we have to overcome our own inertia to continue doing things the way they have always been done and replace it with a conviction and a personal vision for finding a better way with more fitting ideas. It means building new dreams and abandoning the old ones. It means being dissatisfied with the good because you want to create the great.
Second, with the extra energy from a clear why, we lead by example, demonstrate our conviction by articulating our new vision, mission, and intent in running our company. Our soapbox is not so much what we say but rather how we act as we personify our convictions and dreams. By action we attract individuals - - collaborators - - in the form of coworkers, colleagues and our assortment of bosses. Our craziness may threaten many incumbents in our organization who have a personal stake in the status quo. So we will need courage to stay the course and sustain the drive to find a better way.
Both customers and employees feel the need to belong; they seek to "hang" with a group of people that have the same "whys" as they do. The attraction factor comes from "companies" (groups) that know why they're in business, what their founding purposes and values are. They are the ones who know why their customers buy from them. They don't have to discount, persuade or manipulate - - their clients identify with them in deep-seated emotional loyalty and trust. The inspiration of "why" gives people a way to tell the outside world who they are and what they believe. The "how" and the "what" is a result of seeking to realize such beliefs, principles and dreams.
Thirdly, we focus everyone in the company on our core competencies as we look for ways to meet the so very rapidly changing demands of our market place; fluctuating economic realities, and quickly evolving social contexts will do nothing but keep surprising us. This means we must constantly be helping our colleagues become more aware of their critical skills and how we can lead in using them.
This means everyone in the organization needs to constantly ask "Why do our customers buy from us? Why do they really need us? What do they yearn for?" Then we ask, "What can we do about that?"
In other words, everyone needs to be able to access (and assess) our distinct inventory of skills and know-how. In applying them, we learn to innovate not by asking what do we make but rather by asking what do we do – what do we really accomplish for our customers. Core competencies refer to deeply rooted capacities for understanding and adding value; these skills always outlive products and services. It is this know-how that help us weather our ever-changing world and marketplace. It is our attitudes that drive dreams into realities. Our job is to mobilize those competencies to solve problems that have never been solved before. Innovation is mobilizing collaboration and collective thinking. It is about stirring up the critical thinking and idea generation needed to create a new tomorrow. It is this energy and focus at the top that ensures innovative effort flows throughout the organization.
Distraction and the lack of focus is the most common cause of mediocrity and ultimately failure. Remember that above all else. Purpose is everything. Know our WHY.
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