This week’s focus: I hate the gym. My body is an endorphin-free zone and so exercise is always a miserable chore. I do it because I know it’s good for me, but every visit is an internal battle of wills. That’s why I use a personal trainer. Having booked myself in for a session, I’m committed to attending. If, instead, I could take a magic exercise pill I would be the first in the queue.
Many companies seem to take a similar attitude to innovation. They periodically seek to drive new product and service development, but this is often a reaction to sales pressures rather than a proactive drive for growth. They somehow want to achieve success with an instantaneous ‘magic pill’ solution. As with personal fitness, however, this approach rarely works.
You should, instead, be creating and pursuing a daily exercise regime for innovation, making innovation a way of life rather than an isolated change programme. Innovation is no longer a strategic alternative; it is a strategic necessity.
What steps do you need to take to turn innovation into a way of life for your business?
Off The Record: Parklife by Blur
It’s got nothing to do with
‘Vorsprung durch technique’ you know
And it’s not about you joggers
Who go round and round and round
© Stuart Cross 2015. All rights reserved.