Many companies have a hard time moving from dreamers to doers when it comes to becoming more innovative.
Part of the problem is the lack of vision or imagining the future they wish to reach.
Innovation starts with an idea that fits a business model or creates a new business model and meets with acceptance in the marketplace.
Even Google’s model of innovation which used to be one word: Progress, has changed to a symbol and a word: $ progress. In other words an idea that makes money.
But how do you create a vision so that people in a company will move towards the same direction?
There is one rule: Get the people to create and share a unique vision.
In our innovation workshops we help companies create such visions for themselves during our Innovation Day workshops where we explore all ten parameters that define innovation-driven companies.
But here is something that can help you if you want to try it yourself and it is free!
The instant expert exercise
A warm up activity
Get a group of 10 or more people with innovation potential and interest. In other words people who think out of the box and want to make significant contributions to the company.
Get them in groups of 3 and assign the letters A, B, C to each one of them in their triads.
· Then ask the A’s to be experts in teaching monkeys how to set up dinner tables for formal occasions. B’s and C’s get to ask them any questions they can and A’s have to answer them. Try it for 2-3 minutes.
· Then switch to B’s and their expertise is to fix broken teeth in alligators so that they can eat better and A’s and C’s ask questions. Again 2-3 minutes.
· And finally C’s are electricians who fix the electrical systems to fire flies when they break and they don’t light up at night.
This is an exercise invented by Marcie Segal from Toronto and it is called Instant Expert! This is just warm up!!!
Now after some laughter we get to the good part.
The good part
· Ask the people to write individually on a piece of paper what would be the vision of innovation for your company if it was written from your clients or potential clients point of view? Urge out of the box thinking.
· Also to write a vision coming from your employees or potential new employees.
· And finally what would be the vision coming from someone they consider their business idol (it would be different for each person)
Get them in triads again and let them share what they wrote. Ask them to come up with one definition per triad.
Finally, post the definitions on an easel and vote using some criteria that you all agree on e.g. is it doable? Is it affordable? Can we do it in a certain time frame, like 1 year?
Good luck and remember “If you want the employees to participate actively get them involved from the beginning”. A vision of innovation is just the first step.