The Future of Innovation is Innovation by Steve May-Russell

The future of innovation will be to throw away the book, break the rules, change the process and challenge everything. Have a go, be surprised and do it again (differently).

In this age of fast and continual change, we are at the point where the corporate world is slowly realising that innovation is the only way to survive and sustain growth. As there is a global rush to write innovation into the corporate systems and make sure there is a sound ‘innovation strategy’ in place, it will become increasingly necessary to do all those ‘different’ things that are the mainstay of innovation in increasingly different ways; to innovate the way that you currently do your innovation.

Structure, process and formula, the keystones of a well-oiled corporate machine, are the enemy of innovation. To stay ahead of the game you will need to break down the barriers of hierarchy, risk, fear and blame, take a voyage into the unknown without a defined destination and harness the power of teams from diverse backgrounds, cultures and disciplines. It is essential to ask stupid questions, be curious, probe unusual avenues and reject accepted facts. Most of all you must be prepared to take risks and tolerate unexpected results (there is no such thing as a failure!).

One thing is guaranteed and that is innovation will not come from where you are carefully watching. It will almost certainly come from the left field, somewhere that never seemed relevant, something overheard, an idea misunderstood or an article in a magazine you were just flicking through. It will not come from formal routines. We talk to our clients about taking an ‘innovation holiday’ a deliberate break from the usual daily structures, people and environment. This is key to breaking out of your regular mindset and common discourse. For most people the problem is not learning new things but forgetting what they already know in order to see things in new ways.

Children have the most creative and fertile minds because they have not yet learned what is and is not possible. In the commercial world, designers and other ‘creative’s’ have the benefit of a mindset that thrives on challenging and questioning everything on a daily basis. This is not an exclusive skill; no one of us is as good as all of us. So take advantage of cross-fertilisation. Put the right minds together and feed their imagination.

Finally, in order to understand what the future of innovation will be for you and your company, it is important to establish what innovation means to you. At Smallfry we define innovation as “the strategic implementation of good ideas for commercial gain”. This helps us to focus on bringing ideas to market in a form that is profitable for our customers. Strategy, implementation, ideas and gain are the critical words in our definition. Innovation may well have other meanings and goals for you.

If you learn one thing from this it should be “if it ain’t broke, see where you might break it for the better”.