Have you ever dug into a cup of paper clips and come out with a tangled mess? Then spend your time disconnecting them so this doesn’t happen again? Many times, when individuals and companies try to innovate, it is like digging into the box of tangled paper clips. Join Rick and Brandon as they give you some steps on how to innovate using the creation of a common tool that has not changed in over 100 years, the paper clip.
- To aspire, does your strategy focus on innovation-led growth with benchmarks along the way to measure your success.
- To choose, have you spread the risk of your innovations with resources to handle each one? If only one innovation, have you limited your exposure.
- To discover, have you researched your customer’s needs and the value you are providing with your innovation(s)?
- To evolve, does your strategic plan connect to your business plan to outline the necessary resources and costs as you grow?
- To accelerate, have you developed the policies, processes and procedures that enable you to grow quicker than your competition?
- To scale, have you coordinated your operations and marketing to grow in sync?
- To extend, have you included external networks that can compliment your growth?
- Finally to mobilize, have you created incentives for your employees to take this journey with you so you can innovate repeatedly?
Moral: Innovation is not just coming up with an idea, it also requires real planning
Source: The eight essentials of innovation by Jong et al in the April 2015 issue of the McKinsey Quarterly
The Perfection of the Paper Clip by Sara Goldsmith in Slate.com
