"The heart and soul of the company is creativity and innovation" Bob Igler.
There is new, innovative technology available to us every day. When a new technology displaces the status quo by leveraging technology, we have what we call a "disruption" . Disruptions - via new technology advances - are making the quality of our personal and professional lives easier every day and the source is almost always an innovative idea. (You see disputations) happening all around us - I'll save the examples for another post.
I believe the right approach to innovation is to understand the pain points within the organization and to seek out where there are needs not being met, then deliver innovation as part of the solution. Innovation and creativity are not just new technologies. It can quite often appear as a change in process or methodology.
However, the criteria for applying innovation must be identified first. Questions need to be asked: Is the purpose to drive business development that results in customer-focused successes? Decrease costs? Introduce automation? Investing in future business or client experiences? If we miss this step, we get caught up in applying innovation for the sake of appearing creative rather than adding real value.
When these basic concepts are applied, not only are we able to identify what success looks like, but we can reap another huge by-product. An organization that is empowered, excited, fully engaged and thrives in productivity.
"Do you know what my favorite renewable fuel is? An ecosystem for innovation." Thomas Friedman