When is the best time to innovate?

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When is the best time to innovate?

  • Innovation is 24×7 .. not something that you wait “until your in the mood”
  • Some of the drivers that cause people/organizations to all of sudden change their view of innovation
    • Competitors … they are constantly beating you to market
    • Economic Trends … our old products aren’t selling – hurry up and come up with something new
    • Quarterly Results … we are having a tough quarter so lets pause on any new ideas/innovations
  • Just as great writers set down and crank a defined number of pages per day, the great innovators define a daily idea quota
    • 2 to 5 ideas per day
    • Set aside a time of day (for me, its morning)
    • Don’t filer when you are capturing ideas
    • Combine new ideas with ones already in your idea notebook
    • If you are having struggles to come up with your daily quota, use the killer questions from previous podcasts
    • Try to capture the inspiration for each idea (great use of photo’s)
    • Every week or two, prioritize the ideas in your notebook using the 5 key questions
  • If you do this EVERY day … you will …
    • Improve your own creativity (exercise that creativity muscle)
    • Build confidence that you can create great ideas
    • Get viewed by others as having and endless supply of great ideas
    • Become a key individual to your organization (key in these chaotic times)
  • If, as an organization, make innovation a 24×7 priority …
    • Your competitors are most likely NOT doing it
    • So .. you WIN if you do it right

 

Listener Question:  Do you have a process to create ideas every day?  If so, why not share your thoughts on the how and benefits you’ve seen.