Will Your Company Merely Survive, or Thrive? Innovation Makes All The Difference.

How innovative is your organization and the people in it? We all know that innovation is important. In fact, in a recent survey, CEOs listed innovation as critical to their companies' success. Unfortunately fewer than 10% felt they were doing it very well. Today innovation is no longer a "nice to have," it's a "must have." The choices in this environment is simple: innovate or perish.

The companies that will survive today's economic environment and succeed in tomorrow's are those willing to continually reinvent themselves, their products, their brands, their processes—in short, the way they do business. Many organizations are even looking for innovative ways to innovate, replacing traditional brainstorming techniques with new, more inventive processes like SmartStorming, 3-D Ideation, Six Thinking Hats, Mind Mapping and others. Introduce the world to the new new thing, the bleeding edge technology, the better mousetrap, the reinvented paradigm and there's a good bet you'll remain ahead of the curve and be around to reap the rewards in the future.

The Innovators

The topic of innovation certainly isn't new; it's been the hot topic for quite some time now. We've all read about it in business magazines and heard the reports on financial news stations. business school faculty speak about it at symposia around the world and endless books cover it. And the same companies are consistently held up as the elite innovators—Apple, Google, Nintendo, JetBlue, Toyota, Target (and today again, WalMart). And there are hundreds and even thousands more you've never heard of, visionary companies that are seizing the opportunities (yes, opportunities) presented by the current economic phase, breaking the rules, establishing new standards, delivering incredible value, and then starting that process all over again...and again, and again. These companies come in all shapes and sizes, and exist in every industry—technology, biotech, pharma, automotive, consumer packaged goods, retail, you name it, they're out there, outthinking and outdoing everyone else in their fields. No matter what space they're playing in, they have this in common: they innovate.

Three Not-So-Easy Choices

Today, businesses face three choices. In many cases, none may be easy to make.

1. Actively innovate. Stay at the forefront of their industry and their competitive set, doing whatever it takes to meet constantly evolving market conditions and consumer demand.

2. React. Wait for others to set the standard and play catch-up, forever scrambling to match the latest development introduced by market leaders.

3. Do nothing. Maintain the status quo, focus solely on survival, and wither on the vine, becoming increasingly less relevant and eventually, non-existent. Innovate or perish.

Innovation of the Individual

By the way, the innovation imperative doesn't only apply to businesses; it's a challenge facing individuals, as well, again, even more so today. Every person who depends on a company for a paycheck has at least one customer, the organization responsible for their income. Individual employees must also continually reassess their approach and establish their value, or face the same dismal fate as their corporate counterparts. In fact, while we are currently facing increasing jobless numbers, still more than 90% of the workforce remains employed. While in many cases circumstances beyond the control of the individual are responsible, what might that 10% do, innovatively, that could help them make it back into the 90%?

Work Your Innovation Chops

The time to develop an innovation orientation is not tomorrow or next week or in the third quarter. It's now.

Begin actively searching for new, better, more productive ways of doing things. Utilize proven innovation tools—advanced ideation techniques, new technologies, breakthrough processes. Adopt an "innovation mindset," asking yourself every day, "How could I do this better?" Turn yourself and your organization into an Innovation Machine. You will not only survive this evolutionary upheaval, you will thrive.

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