The Role of the Innovative Mindset

It’s exciting that the enterprise beginning to realize the power and importance to innovate not only how they do business but also how they are viewed in the eyes of customer. No company wants to be associated with the erstwhile corporations who refused to move with the times, only to receive the rude awakening that the world had changed far too rapidly for them to stay relevant.

This fixed mindset is often the result of multiple aspects, but in my experience, I’ve seen fear to be a large motivator. Fear of failure. Fear of change. Fear of irrelevance. Fear of finding a fault.

For any company, team or business unit to be successfully innovative, it is imperative to inculcate an innovative mindset, which is sometimes easier said that done. Below are a few aspects that should be kept in mind while establishing innovation as the forefront of your business:

Observe

A desire to innovate is fantastic, however, it’s crucial to look out the window and gauge your environment. Without a sense of what is happening today, it is impossible to brace yourself for the future. Teams operating within the boundaries of a business might have no idea what to look out for and worse, spend time and money working on a redundant solution. Don’t look at your business and industry from the inside-out, but from the outside-in.

Alter Perceptions

Teams will face challenges along the way. Let these challenges be perceived as as opportunity. Altering perceptions is invaluable, and teams need to appreciate that behind every challenge lies a chance to better the old approach. Stop viewing risks as hurdles or causes of concern, but as rungs in the stairs leading to a dynamic, more innovative business.

The Big Picture

Focusing on the big picture instead of the problems to today helps break a mindset that is bound by years of conditioning. With the world changing rapidly, today’s problems may not be tomorrow's concern. Think beyond the challenges of today and don't allow them to influence your solutions for the future. What will my target market want in 5-10 years? How will my target audience change over the next few years? What are the platforms that will be giving me a run for my money in the future? What will my business look like in the years to come?

Bring Teams Together

Bringing units across different verticals together with a common goal opens the floor for ideas and a way of thinking that often does not surface in a silo-ed approach. Establishing a dedicated innovation team is great press but doesn’t necessarily translate into tangible results.  Get people thinking together, mobilize your teams to work to revamp your business, without the fear of failure looming over their heads – that is sure shot method of accelerating innovation.

Accept & Expect the Unknown

Technology is changing the world as we know it. It is impossible to predict what will be 5-10 years down the line, forget about next quarter or even next year. This is where it becomes exciting, as the possibilities are endless. Challenge assumptions, welcome ambiguity; these are the ways teams can be forced to think outside the lines that have been ingrained in their mindset.