Innovation ain't easy

The road to innovation is never straightforward. Unexpected challenges, setbacks and unknown parameters can deter even the most ambitious projects. The fact that a lot of these challenges are unknown is probably a blessing, as journalist Dan Rather famously once said:?

'If all difficulties were known at the outset of a long journey, most of us would never start out at all.'

Innovation is the key to success. It is becoming even more critical as customer expectations and choices increase. The bare minimum is striving to innovate to stay on par with the competition and meet this customer demand. Innovation should be undertaken to drive growth.

Why is innovation hard?

Innovation doesn't just happen; it cannot even be forced. It appears to be a natural progression, but that progression doesn't happen in all natures. Innovation is hard because it is a process that can only be driven by people.?

People make innovation happen. Is a certain type of person more passionate about what they do and pushes through changes? Can anyone innovate? We often think of innovators as special types of people, like Steve Jobs or even inventors like Einstein. The reality is that while innovation is hard, we are all innovators. Every individual within your organisation has the ability to innovate. You, as the business, have to provide the right environment and dynamics to allow for innovation to occur.

What happens if you don't innovate?

Not every business can be at the forefront of innovation, but every business needs to innovate its practices. Take a simple beauty clinic - as a customer, do you still expect to book an appointment over the phone on a handwritten calendar? Some businesses may continue this way, but eventually, they will lose out to the competitor, making it easy for their new customers to book appointments as soon as they search and find the business near them.

Kodak, once a giant in the photography industry, failed to innovate truly. This is a surprising example of a business needing to innovate with digital technology. Kodak was actually the inventor of the digital camera in 1975. They continued innovating there; in 1986, they developed the first practical megapixel charge-coupled device (CCD) image sensor. Why did Kodak fail? Despite being inventors and lead innovators, they didn't embrace digital technology to its fullest. As a business, the physical film used in cameras was incredibly lucrative; the company didn't want to disrupt that revenue by pushing out digital cameras. While Kodak didn't follow the innovations they created, the market did not stay still. Consumer preferences shifted as other businesses embraced the technology. By the time Kodak responded to this, it was too late. They were too far behind the rapidly improving technology and couldn't innovate fast enough, having stifled their people and innovations in pursuit of short-term profit. Kodak filed for bankruptcy in 2012.

Sometimes, a business will grow too big to imagine it will fail. Blockbuster was famously unable to respond to Netflix's challenge to the industry. The story, told by Netflix's co-founder, is that Blockbuster laughed them out of the room when they tried to sell the business to them for $50 million. Netflix is now worth over $150 billion, and Blockbuster has one remaining brick-and-mortar store. The board at Blockbuster refused to see that digital innovation would also reach the video rental industry and failed to adapt to this shifting landscape. The culture within the business mocked the technology, which ultimately led to over 9000 stores worldwide closing down.

How do we overcome the challenges of innovation?

Innovative thinking is much like critical thinking; we can all do it, but we all need to learn how to use it and have the right circumstances and environment around us. To innovate, we must break free from our typical approach, as Daniel Kahneman stated:

?'Laziness is built deep into our nature.'

?However, laziness, given the right environment, can result in extraordinary efficiency. Bill Gates once said he?

'choose(s) a lazy person to do a hard job, because the lazy person will find an easy way to do it.'

Foster a culture of innovation: An innovative culture empowers everyone within the business. Creativity is shared, and failure is praised as it takes you closer to achieving success. An innovative business listens to its people and its customers.

Embrace agility: Agility can become more challenging as a business scales. It is essential to remain flexible and adaptive to market changes. Continuously test new hypotheses and refine your practices at all levels. Don't end up like Kodak!

Invest in Talent and Resources: Recruiting the right people for your business is vital to innovating successfully. If everyone thinks the same, where will change occur? However, a pivotal aspect of innovation and talent is allowing people the time to think. If your people are constantly working on tasks, where will they find the freedom to think innovatively?

Create Partnerships: Not everything can be done in-house. Partnering with the right businesses to support you is a great way to bring a different type of thinking to your business. External partners who aren't afraid to tell you that you are doing something wrong or how you should improve can give you a critical advantage over your competitors.

Innovation is challenging but essential. Start by creating an environment that encourages creativity and agility. Don't be scared to take risks, and remember, the right partner can help you remain competitive in an ever-changing world.