Innovation is a conscious choice. You can choose to do things the way you have always done them before. Or you can think innovatively.
If you don't think that constant innovation is vital, "then you better hope that your competition thinks the same," said Roger Firestien.
Firestien is president of Innovation Resources and a senior faculty and associate professor for Applied Imagination at SUNY Buffalo State.
The organizations that will thrive over time are not the ones with the deepest pockets, he said, "but the ones that unleash and apply the creativity of their entire workforce."
Use Innovation To Solve The Right Problem
Firestien says more than 95% of the time what business people think is the problem, actually isn't. Most people are bad at diagnosing and solving the right problem, Firestien said. Why? "They see problem-finding as a waste of time," he said.
He says a common response he hears is: "I don't have time to sit around and figure out what the problem is, I've got to get stuff done."
However, Firestien says research studies show when subjects took even just five minutes to redefine a problem, innovation blossomed.
"Those people produced more original and higher quality solutions than those subjects who did not spend time redefining the problem," he said. "Taking time to figure out what is the real problem is not a waste of time. Trying to implement solutions that don't address the real problem, is."
Firestien, who wrote "Why Didn't I Think Of That?: Better Ideas & Decision Making At Home And At Work" asks: "Can you afford to spend five minutes to find the real problem? Can you afford not to?"
Think And Ask Creative Questions To Trigger Innovation
The language we use to describe a problem determines the kinds of ideas we generate, Firestien said.
Take the statement "we don't have enough money" for a project. It gives the brain license to retort, "There aren't any solutions out there, don't bother looking," he said.
Firestien says some better innovation triggering questions would be, "How might we raise the money for this project? How might we reduce the cost of this project?"
Questions framed in this way provoke your mind to search for solutions, Firestien says.
Know Where The Best Ideas Happen And Capture Them
Firestien says most people don't get their best and innovative ideas at work.
Activities like driving, walking, bathing, favorite hobbies or simply falling asleep are so automatic that "We relax the judgmental part of our thinking, thus allowing new ideas to surface," he said.
Keep paper and pen or your smartphone nearby to capture innovative thoughts when and where they surface, Firestien said.
Overcome Setbacks With A Resilient Innovation Mindset
There can be many setbacks on the road to success, and resiliency is a vital trait that allows you to see successes materialize over time, according to David Nosibor. He's the global product manager at UL Solutions, an applied safety science organization.
He says the key to resiliency is to accumulate positive energy from successes to mitigate disappointments. "Build momentum toward the next milestone," he said.
Nosibor says developing innovative software products at UL Solutions has required a lot of dedication and commitment at every step of the process. "Our team's relentless attention to all details and the persistent pursuit of the highest quality helps keep us on track."
Cultivate Innovation Curiosity
Being constantly curious helps you identify and monitor weak spots and areas of business opportunity, Nosibor says.
He also credits his curiosity with helping him advance from a self-taught social media marketer to spearheading corporate entrepreneurship to being a global product manager.
"Closely monitoring trends and events and then connecting the dots with constant upskilling has helped me advance projects as well as my career," he said.
"An innovator also must get out there and talk with prospects and customers to focus on understanding the challenges they are facing, as opposed to falling in love with ideas that haven't been tested," Nosibor said.
