March 2000

PARTNERS FOR INNOVATION, INC

www.partnersfi.com

Innovation Tips

…ideas to help you foster collaborative innovation

==============================================

The Discipline of Innovation

We think of innovation sometimes as being highly creative, fluid, a burst of insight or creative impulse. The pursuit of the new, the glamorous, the charming. Yet there is also a very practical side to innovation, a side that is more routine, rigorous and disciplined.

Innovation for innovation sake too often produces novelty. Something that is new and different, but not especially valuable. That is always the temptation in a highly innovative environment. Produce the neat, the cool, the outrageous, the creative, just for the sake of the experience of producing something new, charming and different. Apple Computer, a notoriously creative company, may have fallen into that trap when they produced the new “Cube” computer. The computer was elegant, simple, new, different, but what value did it deliver?

And that is the key question for any change, any new product or service, any modification in the way things are being done. Does it create value? And that is where the discipline of innovation becomes essential. Organizations must constantly scrutinize the value of what they are delivering. It is that tenacious dedication to examining all aspects of the organization’s work that produces valuable innovations.

The discipline of evaluating needs is strenuous work, but it must be carried out to lay the groundwork for effective innovation. That discipline shows up in several ways. Organizations must hold no sacred cows. They must judge whether or not their activity, project, product, service or program is worthwhile. They must be willing to destroy—to cease doing something—if it does not deliver sufficient value. That takes work and discipline. It is too easy for all of us to keep doing what we have always done, just because we have always done it.

And there is a second aspect to the discipline of innovation that is also critical. Organizations must be constantly on the look out for emerging opportunities. Those opportunities may show up as unexpected successes. If they do capitalizing on the opportunity is easier. More often though, the opportunities show up as trouble spots, problems, kinks in the system, incongruities, process needs, changes in market structure or demographics. These are the opportunities that are harder to get hold of, yet they must be sought out and identified to establish the groundwork for valuable innovation.

The work of innovation is highly creative, and can be a great deal of fun, but the work of valuable innovation is usually founded on the firm groundwork of discipline—thorough, well-thought out assessments of the organization’s work.

__________________________________________

LET US HEAR FROM YOU! We appreciate your comments, queries and suggestions. Most importantly, we would like to know what you would like to read. Let us write about those issues you find most troublesome in the area of teamwork or innovation. Send us an e-mail telling us about the problem or issue and we’ll do our best to write an article that will help clarify the issue or resolve the problem.

PASS IT ON! We would appreciate your forwarding this article to your friends or colleagues. We grow our subscription base through your referrals. Anyone can subscribe at no cost to INNOVATION TIPS by sending an e-mail with the word SUBSCRIBE as the subject to: innovationtips@partnersfi.com. To unsubscribe, send an e-mail with the word “cancel subscription” to the same address.

INNOVATION TIPS is a periodic letter provided by

PARTNERS for INNOVATION, INC. Each issue addresses some aspect of collaborative innovation. We were founded to help organizations innovate through teamwork. Our full services can be viewed on our web site: www.partnersfi.com. We can be reached by e-mail at: info@partnersfi.com or by phone at 419.872.7140

Copyright (c) 2000, Partners for Innovation, Inc. Permission is hereby granted to reproduce, copy or distribute INNOVATION TIPS provided that this copyright notice and full information about contacting the company is attached.