Innovation Starts With Openness To Change
Innovation is a keyword I have been coming across a lot lately. Well, that is another reason why I decided to study Innovation Management.
Business people keep telling me, they would like their companies to be more innovative. Obviously, innovation already starts in the corporate culture, employee behavior, and in the mindset of everyone working in a company. Unfortunately, when managers and subordinates are asked what they can offer to change for innovation to happen, many are not ready to compromise the old structures and ways of doing things. What we need to stress out here is that innovation starts with openness to change.
In a business setting, I define innovation as ‘a new way of doing something that gives additional value to that specific procedure.’ Hence, the whole process will gain from one innovation happening in one spot.
Let me give you a real-life example: A small/medium-sized enterprise could innovate by introducing a new CRM (customer relationship management) tool that is connected to different databases and the internet. It is common sense that many people are afraid of what they don’t know. If someone has never worked with a CRM tool before, they might be opposed to that introduction. Even though the tool would make their work more efficient, structured, and therefore, more fun!
I have experienced situations like the one I just described in different companies and management levels, and have spent hours discussing if a specific innovation should happen or not. My suggestion for a company that decides to innovate is, to first train every employee on what innovation means, and get them committed to change by making it a part of the corporate culture. This sounds like common sense, but in many corporations it would already be considered an innovation.
