Five Key Ways to Increase Breakthrough Innovation

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How do we, as leaders, drive innovation? I’m not talking about run-of-the-mill innovation, but breakthrough innovation.

How do we challenge the status quo and build a disruptive team that truly creates change?

On Tuesday’s livestream , I answered these questions –– and shared five key action items from PA Consulting’s Breakthrough Bridge report. Here’s what leaders who want to drive breakthrough innovation need to know.

Dare to be a breakthrough growth leader

It’s not enough to manage the status quo. Leaders need to create growth and change.?

When PA Consulting surveyed over 500 business leaders, 32% of them said that leaders lacked the vision and passion needed to make breakthrough innovation happen. But to drive breakthrough innovation, we have to leave “business as usual” behind.

A breakthrough growth leader asks, “What are the possibilities? How far can we go? What big changes can we make? Are we underestimating our possibilities? Our team?”

True leaders think about what's possible instead of what’s not. They’re considering what’s beyond current limitations, behind the status quo. And they imagine the possibilities and then figure out how to get those capabilities on their team.

Invest in experimentation

Experimentation is our responsibility as leaders, but that means we must be comfortable with failure . We have to embrace it and admit that it will happen. That’s the cost of experimentation, and that’s what leads to breakthrough innovation and success.?

Breakthrough innovators can’t be afraid of failure. Encourage everyone in your organization to experiment and take risks. Give them agency — and the ability to bring you new ideas. When the people on your team know that they have permission to inspire and create change, and that their ideas will be heard, you create a community that invests in innovation.?

But you must create that foundation for experimentation if you hope to drive true innovation.

Ready your rebels

Part of being an innovative leader is finding your rebels and setting the stage for them to shine.

But what is a rebel?

The rebels in your organization are the disruptors who are constantly thinking about how things can be done in a different, better way. They’re looking to the horizon instead of focusing on the present. They look for complex challenges to solve and seek out organizations that will support and encourage their growth mindset.

To find them, you must learn to uncover people's strengths , discover what they bring to the room, and understand what drives, motivates, and inspires them.?

Having the right people in the room — and a team that works well together — is the key to breakthrough innovation.?

Build an innovation engine

All of your rebels build your innovation engine! Your job is to maintain this engine and keep it running. That means leading your rebels so that they work together effectively.

Your team should understand how they fit into the organization’s larger strategy so they don’t use their time and talents to create something that’s too far out in left field to be connected back to the core of what your business does — or wants to expand into.

They shouldn’t be constrained to “business as usual,” but you should have a clear strategy that defines your goals and frames innovation. It’s a delicate balance, no doubt, but a needed one!?

Nail the idea, scale the idea

While scaling properly is critical, you don’t want to think about it too early!

LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman’s podcast, Masters of Scale, is all about how you scale your business. He’ll tell you that one of the first things you want to do is get your minimally viable product out there, optimize it, and be sure it’s the right step for your business before you start scaling.

You have to protect your innovations. Don’t take something to market before you know how it will serve the market. Give it time, and nail the idea first.

As leaders, it’s time to say goodbye to the status quo, leave behind “business as usual,” and think about the real possibilities of what you can do. If you do? You might just join the Breakthrough Brigade!

Next week, I'm going to talk about something on everyone’s mind: What’s the future look like? I know we’re all hoping that things get better! But you can still grow your way out of an economic downturn. Join me on Tuesday, February 21 at 9 am PT to learn how. See you then!

Your Turn

I’d love to hear from you! How are you driving innovation in your organization? What are you finding helpful? What ways have you found to drive not just regular innovation, but breakthrough innovation? Please share your insights in the comments!