Innovation
Innovation And Opportunity Development Takes Practice
I work with brilliant people at all my client companies – and sometimes, they need to give themselves permission to “not know all the answers.” That’s when they can make the leap into the unknown.
Getting out of the proverbial box takes practice. When you’re with brilliant people, you’ll need to have them go through the process a few times before you can get them beyond their “faves” and the things “they’ve always said we should do” – those assumptions and prejudices that stand in the way of getting to real innovation. A few sessions in, the real game-changers will start to come out.
Here are some questions to use in a workshop with your teams:
- Review the obvious, and not so obvious trends in consumer life, the world and in your industry – what do they truly mean?
- What is a “day in the life” your target consumer? Don’t just download the latest research report – have your participants go ask a few carefully thought-out questions to people around them.
- What “Problem Statements” do you really want to answer, given the possibilities and scenarios that those trends and client journeys suggest?
- What are your core assumptions about how, when, where your products and services are used – and could the opposite be true with some innovation?
Go from Ideas To Implementation Planning in a day
That set of discussions can drive to real ideas.
Now PRIORITIZE. It’s important to make things happen. Don’t fall in love with all your ideas, chose the ones you can/ want to drive and then DO IT!!!
Remember – prototype, and make the organization SEE AND FEEL the change you want to unleash. Make it about more than the words and the numbers, and you’ll be doing an end-run around the blockers.