Unleashing the power of innovation

BMI Lab
BMI Lab
Aug 23, 2017 · 4 min read

Innovation is not about luck or genius, but a real business process we can follow.

Innovation is a recurrent topic in many companies. As business men and women we all know that we need it for our businesses to thrive in the mid-term. Today, this is almost common knowledge. But it is not so common to find someone who really knows what innovation is, and how is it actually done. For many people, it is the result of some kind of serendipity, a genius mind, or a powerful insight coming from nobody-knows-where. But, although all these things can be involved and sometimes happen, innovation is a process we can follow, unleashing the creative forces within our companies and taming them into some real business results.

Innovation is a business process we can follow.

At the core of this process, there is one simple credo: thinking outside the box to discover and connect dots, which will show the right path to follow. And for this purpose many researchers and business innovators have been developing tools and methodologies, testing them in real life, and achieving some excellent results. Because of that, we already know that innovation does happen within a business process.

Next question is obvious: what does this process look like? It is not a simple topic, as there are many innovation methodologies with proven results. For instance:

  1. We can follow a design thinking approach, like the one proposed by Stanford Design School. It is basically a conventional design methodology applied to business challenges.

As you can see, the variety is wide open. Nevertheless, we should look at all these methodologies as different approaches to the same problem. And, in fact, in many cases, they share some common ground, such as:

  1. A customer focus: for too long, companies have concentrated on new technologies and products and flooded the market without understanding the real concerns of their customers. All of the approaches bring the customer to the centre of attention, exploring his needs and trying to satisfy them with the most promising solution.

Of course, there are many differences as well. We are not going to explain them now, but it is important for you to know that innovation can be unleashed and tamed with the right methodologies and expert guidance. Anyway, we have to be very clear about this: no process or method can deliver results without the involvement of top executives. Innovation should be a strategic policy in the company. You cannot expect results in the short term, persistence and compromise are significant to success. You are making an investment in the mid-term, be patient.

Finally, you will not be able to apply any innovation method without a cultural change inside the company. These kinds of approaches require a new mindset, focused on experimentation, which probably will demand some broad changes for many businesses, from top to bottom. As Peter Drucker allegedly said: “culture eats strategy for breakfast.” No innovation strategy can survive in a fearful, conservative and command-and-follow environment.

The good news is that everybody can do innovation. Your company does not need to be a business giant or a top-notch tech-maker. You can unleash innovation through a clear, precise and accountable business process. You will need guidance, tenacity, and compromise, and probably some changes in your mindset and corporative culture. In exchange you will have the chance to upgrade your business, exploring new markets, raising profits and getting new clients.

Do you want more content about innovation? Download our Business Model Innovation Map here: https://www.bmilab.com/bmi-map-downloading

Further reading:

https://hbr.org/2002/08/the-discipline-of-innovation

https://hbr.org/2015/06/you-need-an-innovation-strategy?referral=03758&cm_vc=rr_item_page.top_right

https://www.fastcompany.com/3020950/what-is-innovation


Originally published at www.bmilab.com.

Business Model Innovation

The BMI Lab sees itself as a constantly evolving entity. We challenge the status quo and break dominant logic to imagine and create the future of business. We favor small, flexible teams and effective, result-focused communication. Each member is empowered with the autonomy to fu

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BMI Lab

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BMI Lab

We help companies of all kinds innovate to break the dominant business logic.

Business Model Innovation

The BMI Lab sees itself as a constantly evolving entity. We challenge the status quo and break dominant logic to imagine and create the future of business. We favor small, flexible teams and effective, result-focused communication. Each member is empowered with the autonomy to fu

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