How Asking Questions Can Unlock The Power To Innovate

It’s hard to believe another summer is almost over.?Technically we’ve got until September 21st to enjoy the rest of summer, but many of us are already busy planning our fall marketing campaigns and working on forecasts well into 2022 and beyond.?At the same time, we’re trying to wrap our head around the Delta variant and how this may affect plans in our personal and professional lives.

Recently, I read an interesting article in The Drum featuring interesting insights from Jeff Tan, a Dentsu Innovation solutions officer, about adopting an innovative mindset.?Jeff reflects on the natural curiosity of children, including that of his young son, and proposes that asking questions is the first step to innovation. ?And I couldn’t agree more.

But when did we go from asking up to 400 questions per day as young children to an average of 10 as adults? ?When did people start interpreting that adults who ask too many questions may have a lack of understanding instead of just flexing their innate curiosity?

A study from McKinsey revealed that 84% of chief executives value innovation as an extremely important part of their growth strategy. Yet many executives also worry that their organization’s internal culture is holding back their ability to innovate.

As marketers, we should be at the forefront of innovation. ?However, too many of us simply view the idea of innovation as an overused buzzword.?So, what can brands and marketers do to reclaim the term?and showcase true innovative ideas and ways of doing business before the word?becomes redundant?

My view is that we must take on the same view of the world as children do, looking around and asking questions—the more the better.?We must inspire change, dream big and evolve the ways that we view the world around us.?

In my own work, I try as much as possible to encourage my team to be curious, ask questions, and be as forward thinking as possible.?During our all-hands team meetings, we set aside time for a groups to present what they’re working on and ask for opinions or present new ideas to crowdsource feedback.?

Using innovation to foster business growth takes a considerable amount of skill and discipline.??Here are four key aspects to watch out for if you’re a marketer looking to get to the core of what innovation truly is.

1)???Create a roadmap for innovation.?Playing the “long game” does not mean writing out a short-term road map. ?Instead, I urge businesses to consider developing a longer-term strategy to ensure success over a significant time period.?Setting up a road map with checkpoints will allow businesses to be clear about ownership of roles, how to align tasks and responsibilities to advance projects and how to infuse innovative thinking along the way.?On the flip side, if you decide to play the “short game” and plan for real-time instead of long-term innovation, you will likely find yourself at a disadvantage.

2)???Innovation should push boundaries.?The term innovation can refer to everything from a simple change to a complete overhaul. ?At times innovation may refer to small brand iterations, but it could also describe new products and services.?I believe innovation should push boundaries and create solutions for problems that have yet to be solved.?At CFA Institute innovation is about continuous improvements and we focus on pushing our teams to communicate openly and freely with the idea that all questions are good questions.

3)???Innovation must be a value-add for your customers. ?If innovation boosts brand reputation, but doesn’t add value for the consumer then it’s has gone awry.?True innovation should deliver a better customer experience and improve efficacy within their lives.?One of the easiest ways to gauge what your customers want is by asking them for feedback.?If you’re able to focus on the customer experience and relate to your customers on a deeper level you may have a breakthrough business idea and really crack the value-add intended with innovation.?

4)???Innovation must be company-wide. ?Successful brands must be able to showcase the ability to adapt to change slightly ahead of customers— not too fast, but enough to spot trends and innovate at the same speed that customers are exposed. ?This ability to showcase agility must happen across the entire company, especially at the leadership level.

The most important thing for marketing leaders to remind their teams to do is ask questions.?People should not be afraid of questioning the way things are and trying new things along the way.?By embracing the curiosity we had as children and reclaiming it in our adult lives, innovation will be well within our reach.

Jeff Tan asked a great question I plan to ask my team: What was a good question you asked today??Consider asking the same of your teams and let me know how you’re transforming and innovating your marketing strategies.?Feel free to leave a comment below.