A642.9.3.RB - The Innovation Experience

The key to success and survival in constantly changing, volatile and turbulent competitive environments is to be able to learn as an individual and adapt to this chaotic environment by constantly changing with organizational strategies, operations, practices, routines and actions. Organizations however have persistent problems in adjusting themselves and implementing necessary actions before an existence-threatening crisis hits them, even though often they see what happens in their environment. Before starting this course, I thought I knew what creative and innovative thinking was, but I learned quickly I didn’t. While I had a rough idea, I could not simply put my finger on one definition. However, these past nine weeks have immersed me in many different ideas that I probably would not have seen otherwise. This has helped to open my eyes up to different perspectives and has shown me how closed minded I once was. However, I have merely scratched the surface on the subject and still have much to learn.

Reflecting on the last 9 weeks and the entirety of this learning experience, some of the things that will stay with me after this course are a few of the innovation strategies we discussed throughout the course. From the discussion boards to the team project, the diverse range of critical thinking and sharing to ideas. It shows the importance of having a diverse workforce and crucial it is to creativity and innovation.

I also learned the difference creativity, innovation, and leading innovation. Innovations is driving both globalization and the change of value creation towards services. ([OECD], 1997) In recent years, the pace of innovation has risen dramatically, not least due to trailblazing developments in information and communication technology. Implementing innovation is a non-stop process. As you evaluate your innovation, you will find yourself back at the beginning, researching new ideas and implementing new innovations. The future will happen whether or not you shape it deliberately (McKeown, Shaping the Future Together, 2014).

This course also stressed the importance creativity and ways to lead a creative environment. Creativity is not just about generating new ideas. Creativity is defined as ―the ability to produce work that is both novel (i.e., original, unexpected) and appropriate (i.e., useful, adaptive concerning task constraints). To succeed in the long term, focus on the short term. Innovation Goals are usually specified according to two time horizons: one short term (goals for next year) and one medium-to-long term (three to five years).

Creating a culture of innovation and motivating innovators. Culture is an important driver of innovation in organizations. It can either help facilitate innovation to really thrive or inhibit it. Research has continually identified and emphasized the role of Leadership in creating a culture that supports and promotes innovation and at all levels. Leadership can play both a direct and indirect influence on the culture within the organization.

One of the most important ingredients for creative thinking is diversity (a bigger brain). This what a “bigger brain” means to me. In my place of employment, I see the large groups or think tanks, but I don’t see consistent diversity. We all know that diverse teams produce more creative results than teams in which all members are from a similar background. Tests have shown that the one sure-fire way of improving your creativity is to move abroad. Not travel, but move. Living in a new culture, learning new ways of doing things and, in short, diversifying your life makes you more creative. That’s not surprising.

What I have learned is that innovation is a process. While you may be able to skip steps in processes in other ventures, skipping steps in the innovation process would mean losing your footing in the marketplace. As these five strategies have shown, there are many different approaches to innovation. By delving deeper into these steps, I will further understand the importance of seeing things through. I have been known to skip a few steps here and there but it never really hurt anything. If I want to help my organization be innovative, I need to ensure I leave no stone unturned.

Far too many managers stifle the creativity and commitment of their people simply by the way they behave. But if they started doing more listening and less bossing, employee creativity and involvement might re-emerge. We all want to work in a gratifying and stimulating environment – one that brings out the best in us and our colleagues. But how do you cultivate such a work environment? The place to start is by building a creative workforce. This course has shown that leaders must cultivate creativity and innovation.

References

[OECD], O. f.-o. (1997). Proposed Guidelines for Collecting and Interpreting Technological. The Measurement of Scientific and Technological Activities.

Canfield, J., & Smith, G. (2011). INtroduce Process Improvement Skills. In J. Canfield, & G. Smith, Imagine - Ideation Skils for Improvement and Innovation Today (pp. 29-54). Holland: Black Lake Press.

McKeown, M. (2014). The Innovation Book. In M. McKeown, The Innovation Book (pp. 33-58). London: Pearson.