The ultimate 8 ways to become innovative

Why a cellphone with a camera is better than a cellphone without a camera? Why, at one point, a restaurant decides to make deliveries? Why do we need a 3D printer? The answer is simple: Because we have the need to innovate.

Innovation is renewal, is improving, it’s doing better, faster, more efficiently, more beautiful, etc. It never ends and despite being a very obvious subject within technology companies, there has never been so much innovation in small businesses as today. If you are an entrepreneur, small business or startup and is not thinking about innovation, you might want to reconsider. You should know that if things seem to be ok and settled, this is actually the perfect time to innovate. And we want to help you to get started. If you already consider yourself an innovator, we hope this can help you go even further. Here are 8 ways how:

1. Be opened

The first step to innovate is to be open to innovation. Innovation is part of our daily lives and it is unlikely that we can contain this advance. After all, everything can be innovated and improved. Imagine how little things are innovated everyday. Now imagine the growing scale of innovation happening around the world and the interaction between these innovations! Be opened to innovation makes the process more natural and enhances your learning in whatever innovation you choose to do.

2. Listen to your client

Everything has a target audience. To make sure that you’re doing things right, you have to understand your customer so deeply that you might know what they need before they even realize it. Your competitors are doing the same. Once you’re opened to be innovative, you must be opened to listen to your clients (complements and complaints), understand them, know their needs and how they would like your improvements. Open a communication channel between you and your clients and encourage them to participate. You can open a channel for them to speak through a research online or in person. You can use Google Forms or choose a different tool here.

It’s very important you create a comfortable process for your audience to be able to speak to you, otherwise the answer will be compromised. Also it is important to reward them for responding. After all this it a valuable information for your business, right?

3) Listen to your employees

Your employees has the same importance, as they are constantly with your target audience. It’s hard to make sure what your customer thinks about your business, so the feedback from those who are in direct contact with the customer is extremely important. Make sure your staff understands the importance of this process, by creating a culture of innovation inside your company. Establish periodic dates to review the strategies and use the feedback from employees (and customers through them) to guide your decisions.

4) Get inspired

Inspiration comes from creative impulses, and you can practice this by creating a routine of continuous inspiration process. You can induce your mind to generate new ideas. Put quotes on in visible places, pictures of inspiring icons or symbols. You can use your smartphone for that too. Maybe create a private panel on Pinterest with key figures.

Another way to get inspired is to be attentive to what others have done or are doing. Success formulas can be copied and improved.

Salvador Dalí said that “those who do not want to imitate anything produce nothing”.

How about learning from the mistakes of others or be inspired in their successes? Biographies, documentaries of inspiring figures. Movies are great. The seventh art has an incredible power over our inspiration.

5) Get a mentor

Every master had a mentor. Sometimes not only one but several. This is the oldest format of teaching and has an incredible power over the human being.

This potential maximization method enhances your learning, your skills, your performance and your personality.

Mentors guide not only a career but a life.

Find your icons, your inspiration within your area of ​​activity. Select some of them. Send them a letter or, if it’s possible, visit them in person. You will be surprised with the answers. Act professionally and passionately ask them to teach you what they know and repay them somehow. Those who reached the top certainly had mentors and understand the importance of this process for life itself. You will also in the future become someone’s mentor.

Don’t give up in the first no. You have a mentor waiting for you, I’m sure!

6) Get partners

It is very common to see big companies creating a new product together. This is because often a piece of the puzzle is missing and you’re not able to turn your idea into an innovation. Instead of being years racking your brains and spending more money, how about joining with partners to see if they have this missing piece?

Partners can take you to unimaginable places. Be humble and courageous to share ideas and collaborate with your network. This network will reward you for sure.

7) Get knowledge

It is very common to see people associate knowledge only to books. I love books but they are not the only way to obtain knowledge. If you plan to innovate know that knowledge is the trigger for this. It is the main tool to bring you the long-awaited insights. And not only you but your employees will make a huge leap towards knowledge when you involve them in this environment.

Here are some suggestions (besides books) on how to get the knowledge you need to innovate:

• Seminars
• Meetings or Network
• Documentaries
• Magazines
• Articles on internet
• You Tube
• Audio Books

8) Get Social

I’m sure that if you use the internet you will be able to find one (or more) social network that suits you. Enjoy this digital ubiquity to identify trends, prospect partners and interact. The results are always helpful (when focused professionally). It is no longer a matter of joining a social media or not but how to behave on the network.

Finaly you can use some excelent tools to organize your innovation processes. See some of them below.

Business Model Canvas (for Entrepeneurs): The Business Model Canvas is a strategic management and entrepreneurial tool. It allows you to describe, design, challenge, invent, and pivot your business model. (here)

Lean Canvas (For Startups): The Lean Canvas is a version of the Business Model Canvas adapted by Ash Maurya specifically for startups. (here)

Design Thinking: Design thinking is a formal method for practical, creative resolution of problems and creation of solutions. It can be used in many different projects. See: IDEO, Google Ventures and Mixtape.

TRIZ: Triz is a systematic method for solving problems. It can be applied in many fields but is particularly useful in engineering and product design. (here)

If you can master these eight topics, there’s no doubt you’ll have an innovative way of success, whatever your business is. And remember:

Innovation is a journey, not a destination.

And what do you do to innovate? Share your knowlegde with us!

Thanks,

Rodrigo Pancine
Director of Strategy @ KIAI Agency