Step 1: Make innovation a key feature of the company culture
If you truly want to encourage innovation across your company, it needs to be ingrained in the very fabric and culture of the company. In fact, we’d go as far as to say that innovation should be contagious. Some major companies set aside time for innovation, like Google with their 20 percent time rule to allow for unstructured exploration. Other companies create innovation labs or allocate budget and resources to allow innovation to flourish. Idea execution programs, such as KICKBOX, are also growing in popularity since they help demystify the concept of innovation and help employees follow a series of proven steps to succeed on their innovation journey.
Step 2: Provide the tools for intrapreneurs to shine
A company spearheaded by a large and diverse group of intrapreneurs will be destined to embrace innovation. However, people need the right tech facilities to make it happen. At least 30% of organizations now actively want to embrace AI and its ability to aid innovation strategy, product development speeds, and project cost-efficiency.
Moreover, intrapreneurs need tools that allow them to record their ideas and welcome feedback from colleagues. It also creates a “low assistance” approach, which can negate the fact that workers won’t approach C-level execs when they’re stuck.
KICKBOX is a solution that prepares teams for innovation by allowing them to express their ideas and support the innovations presented by their colleagues. On the innovative online platform, team members (aka Kickboxers) can easily collaborate, connect with experts, and share advice on their projects, which helps to break up silos within your organization. These ideas can then be reviewed and voted on.
Testing becomes streamlined too. For Kickboxers, testing is integrated into every phase of the innovation process, from the viability of the perceived problem to the robustness of the solution, the effectiveness of the prototype, the validity of any price expectations, and much more. The KICKBOOK helps guide Kickboxers through every stage.
Step 3: Make employees comfortable with each other
Putting the right tools like KICKBOX in place is one thing, but innovation ultimately comes from humans - even if AI does play an increasingly important role. Teams that are truly ready to innovate will feel empowered to do this on both an individual and collective basis. Ensuring that workers don’t fear failure is a key component to make this happen.
Creating a culture where teams accept failure and actively learn from it is essential. Most innovations fail while even the successes usually require an iterative approach. Chris Rüttimann’s Infrabox is a great example, starting with the hardware before discovering the importance of software and data. Had the team feared failure after the first features fell short of the desired results, the project would have collapsed before reaching its potential.
The final word
Ultimately, innovative teams are those that have been enabled to adopt a creative mindset. With the right tools and support network, innovation becomes natural for new and existing team members alike.
Let us give you and your team the tools to promote innovation in your company. If you're rready to transform your business in all aspects, then reach out to us.
Contact us today
