Writing on the American Express OPEN Forum, John L. Mariotti, president and CEO of The Enterprise Group and a former executive at Huffy Bicycles and Rubbermaid Office Products Group, talks about the importance of innovation. Everybody seems to agree that innovation is a good idea, Mariotti points out, but inhibitors to innovation can dampen enthusiasm and chill the spirits of the most creative people in any organization. He cites three of the biggest and most common enemies of innovation as:
- Negativism. Literally thousands, perhaps millions, of ideas were tried before the technology to make them work was sufficiently developed, Mariotti maintains. For example, smart phones were imagined decades ago when the TV series “Star Trek” used flip-open communicators similar to today’s “flip” cell phones. However, the technology to make this concept work didn’t exist until battery technology and cell towers could process the signals. The lesson: Technology advances rapidly, making innovations possible that couldn’t be realized in the past. Change is the only constant, and the rate of change is accelerating. Those who fear change may be daunted, but those who embrace change can recognize enormous opportunities.
- Giving up. Many have heard the story of Thomas Edison’s failures before inventing the incandescent light bulb. A young reporter once asked Edison if he felt like a failure and whether he should just give up. Edison replied, “Young man, why would I feel like a failure? And why would I ever give up? I now know definitively over 9,000 ways that an electric light bulb will not work. Success is almost in my grasp.” Soon afterwards, approaching 10,000 attempts, Edison invented the incandescent light bulb. The lesson: Relentless persistence is at the heart of innovation. The innovator must believe in and be committed to his ultimate innovation.
- Drowning in complexity. At first, complexity seems harmless enough: a few more product variations, a few more customers to serve, a few more markets to manage. Soon, these combinations grow into a tangled web of work that strangles an organization. Suddenly everyone is busier than ever, doing more work, but achieving less. When people are preoccupied with an explosion of transactions, products, variations, customers, and markets, little or no time is left for innovation. However, complexity can be exposed, measured, and removed, Mariotti maintains. “Like pruning vines that invade a garden, it can be cut away and discarded,” he writes. When people are refocused — to work on new and better products and to serve the best customers and markets — sales rise and innovation grows. The lesson: Find complexity and manage it. Once complexity is revealed and managed, innovation can flourish again. When complexity is conquered, the organization will become rejuvenated and develop ideas built upon its best people, partners, products, and ideas.
Source: OPEN Forum