Getting bumped off the path is not thought of as a good thing. Most of us like to stay on the main path because it is easy and seemingly safe. However, the path to innovation is not the highway! It is usually the little side road that nobody notices or has time to take and because of that we find it difficult to innovate. The new ideas don’t show up like we need them to, especially when we are trying to really hard. The problem is that we actually need to be bumped off the path and it is hard to do that by yourself. We do have habits of thinking mostly because we have created a large, free flowing neural pathway by using it again and again. Thinking habits can be a good thing, like when a pilot is faced with an emergency and habit just kicks in and takes over in spite of the emotion and stress. The stronger the habit, the bigger the neural pathway can be and the harder it is to break away from that habit of thinking.
What does all this have to do with innovation you ask? Well, it has to do with understanding what you need to do to break free from the normal ways of thinking. Most innovative companies are very cognizant of the need to have teams. The innovative giant IDEO calls them “Hot Teams.” Not just departmental teams but cross functional and cross cultural teams, because teams can help bump each other off the beaten path (habits of thinking) and onto new discoveries. Habits of thinking and beliefs are one of the reasons that old companies that were established around the turn of the last century have difficulty keeping up with newer companies. They are fighting the beliefs that were trained into them from a culture that in many ways is obsolete for the new century. Many old corporations try to bring in new CEOs and fresh perspective to help bump them off their old habits and into new more productive ones.
Getting together an innovation TEAM will be the best investment in innovation you can make. Especially if you are a one man/women show!
What does all this have to do with innovation you ask? Well, it has to do with understanding what you need to do to break free from the normal ways of thinking. Most innovative companies are very cognizant of the need to have teams. The innovative giant IDEO calls them “Hot Teams.” Not just departmental teams but cross functional and cross cultural teams, because teams can help bump each other off the beaten path (habits of thinking) and onto new discoveries. Habits of thinking and beliefs are one of the reasons that old companies that were established around the turn of the last century have difficulty keeping up with newer companies. They are fighting the beliefs that were trained into them from a culture that in many ways is obsolete for the new century. Many old corporations try to bring in new CEOs and fresh perspective to help bump them off their old habits and into new more productive ones.
Getting together an innovation TEAM will be the best investment in innovation you can make. Especially if you are a one man/women show!
RSS Feed