04 Jan Let’s Roll: Innovation Every Day (Part 2 of 2)
As we discussed during our last blog post, the beginning of the year is the perfect time to take a step back and ensure you are thinking strategically about your business plans for growth. Do you have smart answers to the following critical questions?
Is your company innovating as often as it should be?
Simple truth – if you are not constantly innovating, you are not growing. A commitment to innovation should be a regular and on-going part of your business. Our most leading edge (or successful) clients view innovation as a function of their business process – not an event.
Do you have a process that is dedicated to innovation? Do you have sufficient resources – people and dollars – committed to innovation for 2018?
Is your company as lean and quick as it should be?
Lean innovation – the process of quickly developing, testing and refining new opportunities is the key to business growth. Long gone are the days of lengthy development and testing cycles. Fail fast and move ahead is the mantra for today’s economy.
How efficient is your innovation process? Has your company developed a fail fast, learn quickly and move ahead approach to innovation?
Is your innovation process rooted in learning and customer needs?
Our experience has also demonstrated that successful innovation is based on customer needs. While it may have worked in the past to develop ‘cool ideas’ and find someone who needs your cool new idea after the fact, we know that just doesn’t work in today’s world. Immersion into customer needs is a critical part of human-centered design thinking and successful innovation efforts.
Do you really know your customer and prospects needs and pain points? Do you have a dedicated effort to really know your customers? Are you using the techniques available including leading-edge insights methods to uncover and anticipate unmet needs (and innovation opportunities!) of your customers and prospects?
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