I often quip that back in 2006 the makers of flashlights were highly unlikely to be discussing their response to the competitive threat that the phone company was to their business. Who would have thought that in a few years just about everyone would have a flashlight with them almost every moment of every day?
Funny, but true. A quick scroll through your phone and the list of casualties wrought by smart phones is amazing. In a few short years, smart phones and apps have been a major disruption (if not a death knell) to photography (still and video), books, games, movies, big box stores, restaurants, newspapers, computers, and music. Smart phones have changed how we sell, how we buy, how we connect, how we collaborate and how we do business.
And the smart phone is only one of the disruptive forces businesses face today. Add to the list the increase in computing power, the dramatic drop on the cost of storage, the advent of big data, increasingly faster data transmission speeds, the internet of things and the connection of people across the globe via the World Wide Web.
Clearly it is not business as usual. Nor will things be more stable, more predictable or easier to anticipate, respond to, or manage any time soon.
Innovation in Organizations
In the not so distant past, organizations had the luxury of having most of their workforce focused on the core business and a few odd balls tinkering around in R&D. The CEO and perhaps a few in C suite would the external scanners, discerning both threats and opportunities.
I suspect that those of us who have worked in a large, stable, successful company have hit the wall when suggesting an innovation, for there are many internal processes designed to protect the status quo and to successfully fend off new ideas or ways of doing things.
Today’s environment requires more. More outside intelligence. More ideas. More innovation. More speed. More willingness to try new approaches.
A quick look at Fast Companies Most Innovative Companies of 2017 list tells the tale. The most innovative companies are also disproportionately the most profitable, the fastest growing and the most likely to bump out a longstanding company from the Fortune 500 list. Only 12% of the companies that were in the top 500 in 1955 still remained on the list in 2016. And these were the behemoths – to “too big to fail” kind of companies.
Tech innovation and the power of networks has propelled Airbnb to surpass the valuation of Hilton and Hyatt COMBINED. That valuation in spite of the fact that Airbnb owns no property or real estate. What they do have is a network, technology and the ability to innovate in a space that has been dominated with a very different business model.
In an age where your longstanding business can be disrupted by a novel way to approach the market with a new business model and tech start up – innovation must be cultivated and embraced on the inside. Having more people who can rethink the business, the market, your produces and services, your delivery channels, and your internal processes is a competitive advantage. In fact, it may be a survival strategy.
As such, I’m going to do a series of posts on the creative process INSIDE organizations. Stay tuned!
I’m hoping you’ll share your thoughts and insights as I do. For one of the hallmarks of innovation is the importance of many voices and multiple viewpoints!
