How to build an Innovation Mindset? — 6 steps to cultivate the Innovation Mindset

Innovation has been the buzzword in recent times and has been part of many a corporate board room discussion. While there is a lot of hype around innovation, it is still unclear what is defined as innovation and how to instill a culture of innovation within an organisation.

The word “innovation” is derived from the Latin verb innovare, which means to renew.

By popular opinion innovation is defined as a process by which a product or a service is renewed through the application of new processes, introducing new techniques, or establishing successful ideas to create new value. While it retains the original meaning and intent,

Innovation, as per the Oslo Manual, is defined as a new or improved product or process (or a combination thereof) that differs significantly from the unit’s previous products or processes and that has been made available to potential users (product) or brought into use by the unit (process).

In addition, ISO 56000 states that innovation is a new or changed entity, realizing or redistributing value, where value is as perceived by the business. Based on this we can see that compared to design, innovation has a lot more emphasis on the creation of value for its various stakeholders, which means that it has measurable impact and defined outcomes.

To innovate means that the workforce requires a higher degree of creativity than the operative business and a clear innovation strategy, especially in the phase of the so-called “fuzzy front end of innovation“. When working with innovation there is a lot of ambiguity as the future is unclear, requires navigating uncertainty by venturing into uncharted waters, tackling complexity as the systems and value flows are tied up in intricate knots, and work amid volatile waters as the market, and the world is continuously evolving.

So, how do we create an innovation mindset?

1. Be open to change

Change is a tricky thing — we see it happen around us, yet we deny its impact and influence on ourselves. To be open to change is to admit and embrace the notion that the world is in constant transformation and you have to constantly keep realigning yourself and your organisation to keep ahead of the game. In today’s fast-moving markets businesses have little time to adapt to changes, as competitors and new market entrants are pushing forward. Hence organisations need to be agile to accept changes and be able to respond to disruptions as and when they come.

2. Embrace creativity

Rather than the traditional, scientific method, an innovative mindset requires creativity to flourish. An innovator’s attitude embraces creativity to solve problems, rather than pursuing a traditional scientific method. While innovation requires structure, processes, and methodology the starting point for innovation is creativity. To successfully innovate the organisation needs a culture that nurtures curiosity in its workforce and provides freedom to explore and experiment with new ideas, and the ability to learn from failures.

3. Inclusive collaboration

Innovation cannot happen alone and by itself. A crucial point for inculcating an innovative mentality is collaboration as it sets up an environment for mutual help and exchange of ideas. Cognitive diversity ensures a continual flow of new perspectives that will spark innovative ideas and approaches. By breaking silo mentality and encouraging internal and external collaboration ideas concord better with strategic goals and deliver more on outcomes.

4. Think big

Innovation is not just incremental improvements to existing products and services. It takes time to realise innovations and hence requires the ability and courage to think bigger and beyond the current scenario. It is about stretching one’s imagination to envision a desirable future state and continuously striving to make it viable. By rallying the workforce around a common cause, leadership can accomplish more and begin exercising the innovation muscle by taking on small improvements supporting the larger vision.

5. Show courage

Innovators require the courage to challenge the status quo and not conform to widespread beliefs and perceived “truths”, and constantly rethink how things can be done. It takes courage to venture into the new and uncertain, risking failure. Each step of the innovation journey requires has a high chance of failure. Organization needs to show courage in face of such failures, and cannot afford to be risk-averse, but embrace risks to push innovation forward and create an innovation climate in organisations.

6. Think and act fast

While innovation in the twentieth century was often slow with long lead times, the current scenario is different. The world and the markets are continuously evolving and are frequently being disrupted by new business models and emerging technologies. In this situation, organisations should be equipped to make decisions faster and execute better to gain an advantage than their competitors do.

The ability to innovate is a question of mindset, and creating that mindset precedes everything else. It’s the absence of this mindset that often holds back innovation within many a large organization.

To sum all of this up succinctly, there are six main ingredients to an innovation mindset. An organization with the desire to be innovative must be open to change to identify opportunities for exploration and exploitation, else they would be overshadowed by their competitors. Furthermore, they need to be agile, able to aim for the moon, and be able to respond rapidly to any changes in the market. By inculcating a culture that is biased towards creativity, and be brave to challenge the status quo are the ones who successfully become pioneers of the industry. The notion of “failing fast” — to test and validate new ideas and concepts quickly can help organisations avoid getting stuck in a dead-end project. characterized by speed of thought and action. After all ‘disruptive’ is definitive to describe the current market scene, and innovation is key to survive and lead in this period.

Innovation is crucial to the survival of a company and is a key driver for the long-term success of an organisation in the marketplace. Innovation has been the key differentiator for many of the current leaders in the industry. From Apple to Amazon, Google to Tesla, all these organisations have leveraged innovation to succeed in their industry. This was possible due to their investments and being receptive towards inculcating an innovative mindset among their workforce. Those who spurned on developing the innovation mindset have struggled to repeat the achievements thereby becoming accidental innovators rather than repeatable innovators.

So, does your organisation cultivate an innovation mindset? What sparks your innovation mindset?

Do share your thoughts below

#innovation #innovationmanagement #change #mindset #innovationmindset #entrepreneurship #innovative

My name is Mukund Kulur, and I specialise in leading innovation with purpose and focus on wicked problems that matter. I help organisations create desirable futures and making them viable.

I run muku. Business Design & Innovation Strategy firm where we help organisations foster a culture of innovation, and help them accelerate sustainable business growth through human-centered design and value-driven innovation.

You can connect with me on LinkedIn or drop a message for a quick chat.