It’s easy to get caught up in the everyday activities of your business however it’s important to keep an eye on the future. If you fail to keep an eye on the future it’s possible that one day you’ll look up and see that everything has passed you by. And you’ll be wondering why your business isn’t doing so well.
Helping foster a culture of innovation in yourself and your employees can help your business continue to thrive into the future. Consider the following six pillars as they can help you foster innovation in your business.
Ignite Passion
Passion drives people to push through difficult things. It keeps you going when you feel like giving up. Passion comes from a purpose that is connected to something that is bigger than you. Something that matches your unique gifts. Passion fuels the quest for improvement, discovery, change, and contribution. It’s a passion that can help you and your employees find better ways to serve your clients.
Pull The Rug Out From Under Assumptions
Industries and individual businesses often have rituals and traditions that mostly go unquestioned. Don’t just take things as they are. Be willing to ask questions that start with words like why, what if, and how come. Encourage yourself and employees to question the status quo so that you can find ways to better serve your clients. In fact, question the answers.
Keep Your Eye Toward The Future
Many companies have fallen into the trap of living on past successes. But those successes never last indefinitely. To keep your business thriving you need to keep learning and growing. Companies like Polaroid, Kodak and Ford have struggled when they stayed focused on the past or current success and failed to foster innovation. You must keep an eye on the future and invest the time in finding ways to improve what you offer.
Embrace All Ideas Even The Odd Ones
Just because you foster a culture where all ideas are embraced does not mean you have to implement all of them. But in order to help yourself and employees feel comfortable to come up with ideas and share them, they must not be ridiculed. Give every idea a fair shake. Besides the more ideas you put out there the more likely, you’ll discover a really good one.
It’s Okay To Be A Rebel
If you’re content to just keep doing the same thing you’re in trouble. If you reverence the status quo to the point that you won’t consider change you’re in trouble. Someone else will question the status quo and they will be innovative. It’s okay to have a little disdain for the traditions and rituals of an industry. It’s okay to have a little disdain for the way things are in your business. Let your passion drive you to always improve what you’re offering your clients. And never believe the status quo is good enough. Shake things up.
Never Settle
Challenge yourself and challenge your employees to challenge themselves. Challenge yourselves to never settle. Always keep an eye out for ways to improve. Keep reading and learning. Look at what others are doing not only in your industry but in other industries. Look for innovative ideas that other people are using that you could bring into your own business.
Wrapping Up
While these ideas might sound great, in order to sustain innovation it needs to be fueled by passion. You and your employees will need to get clear on the big picture. Why is innovation important to you? Get clear on why you want to improve. If you have a clear vision of the benefits you want to offer your clients it will help sustain your efforts to be innovative.
You’ve probably heard it said that one of the constants in life is change. You can either be an observer or a participant in change. Which group will you be part of?
Photo Credit: Ideas can change the world but some ideas just need to change you. Thanks, Juan Marin.
Inspired by: The Road to Reinvention – It’s an affiliate link if that matters.