Lessons From Innovative Companies



Learn Management Articles on management-info.biz. Lessons From Innovative Companies article will help answer your questions on Management Articles.We at management-info.biz specialize in Management Articles. Management Articles at management-info.biz provides the most up to date news and articles. If you have questions please do not hesitate to contact us.

What do the companies 3M, Polaroid, and Walt Disney have in common? All have innovation in their blood. All encourage an innovative spirit at every level of their organization.

For example, 3M has a goal to derive 30% of revenues from products less than 4 years old. Research staff spend 15% of their time on projects of their choice. They are encouraged to mingle with customers, take risks and champion ideas. Out of this culture have come the famous Post-it notes and other very profitable products.

However, innovation is not the same as creativity. Creativity is an individual process. Everyone is capable of coming up with good ideas. Innovation, on the other hand, is a group process. Innovation results from bringing together the experience, skills, and wisdom of a group to convert good ideas into tangible products, services or processes.

It takes the technique of brain-storming to a much higher level---that of focusing the group's efforts to solve a specific problem or take advantage of an opportunity or improve performance. So how does a manager or team leader cultivate innovation in their organization? What can be done to take, for example, an idea for a painting and actually come up with the painting itself?

Here are a baker’s dozen strategies to build your team, department or your business innovative muscles.

  1. Establish brain trusts or innovation teams comprised of management, operations, customer service and other groups to openly explore problems and come up with solutions. Teach people specific creative thinking an problem-solving techniques.
  2. Go out and get information directly from your customers. Bring them together to evaluate your existing products and services in terms of their current value and potential value.
  3. Actively seek out, encourage, and reward innovation in your employees by having contests, special days, open office areas for brainstorming, etc.
  4. Sponsor in house trade show where employees share ‘how I did it’ stories on recent work accomplishments.
  5. Schedule regular meetings, open to all employees at all levels, to discuss issues and solicit ideas.
  6. Encourage the Edison factor---let people know it's OK to fail. Edison conducted 9000 experiments before developing a working light bulb. The important thing to emphasize is what is learned from a failure.
  7. Provide ways in which innovative ideas are transmitted to decision makers for feedback and implementation similar to what General Electric does in its "work out sessions".
  8. Have a creative corner or special area stocked with books, videos, learning games for people to engage in creative thinking on their own and company time.
  9. Ask people to focus their creative thinking each month on a specific issue. Recognize and reward all ideas that are submitted. Follow-up with what is being down with the ideas.
  10. Recognize the person or group each quarter that has made a significant contribution or solutions to important issues.
  11. Use daily reminders such as desk calendars, handouts, computer messages or posters that will nudge people to be more innovative.
  12. Bring people together regularly just to think and talk about issues and ideas. When people are relaxed, the vast mental resources of their subconscious can be put to work.
  13. Create a learning environment that recognizes and rewards ‘out of the box’ thinking and acting. On an operational level, this means constantly encouraging risk taking and innovation and tolerating mistakes and false starts.

Are some of these strategies already being done in your organization? Or does your team or department need to strengthen their innovation muscle? Which can they start doing right now? Start tapping the innovative spirit of your team, staff and even your customers.



Golf Tips, Golf Lessons- How To Break 80. - How to Break 80 is an instructional guide for golfers looking to get the best golf tips, golf lessons and golf instruction.
Fitness-eBooks.com. - Innovative weight training eBooks, covering rapid fat loss, muscle building, unique new exercises and powerful training programs.


Article Index: | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 | 47 | 48 | 49 | 50 | 51 | 52 | 53 | 54 | 55 | 56 | 57 | 58 | 59 | 60 | 61 | 62 | 63 | 64 | 65 | 66 | 67 | 68 | 69 | 70 | 71 | 72 | 73 | 74 | 75 | 76 | 77 | 78 | 79 | 80 | 81

More Articles:


1. Stop Trying to Motivate Me! Part II By Peter Hunter
Stop trying to motivate me! Part II Or Why are you trying to make me angryThroughout our industries, both public and private, there persists a perception that motivation is a commodity to be handed out by the manager at his own discretion.Nobody seems to consider the effect of what would happen, if instead of finding time for motivational speeches and conferences, we spent the same amount of time and energy looking for the reasons that people become demotivated in the first place, then simply…
Credit Cards

2. Hold Your Applause! By George Ebert
It’s amazing what you can accomplish if you don’t care who gets the credit.     Harry S Truman President Truman had decided that Secretary of State, General George Marshall’s name should be attached to his plan for massive European relief following World War II. Many in the White House objected, believing instead that the President should get credit for the initiative. Truman, however, wisely recognized that a reluctant Congress would have a much harder time voting down a plan that carried th…

3. Workplace Security Plan: Does Your Company Have One? By Felix P Nater
Consultant's Perspective...The threat of violence whether it emanates from a disgruntled employee or the threat of terrorism require both a concerted and an individual response. Terrorism in any form is terrorism. Having been exposed to the daily taunts, acts of intimidation, verbal threats of bodily harm are as debilitating psychologically as the blunt strike or the piercing bullet. Vigilance and security awareness makes for a good prescription. In my previous writings on the topic of workpl…

4. Should Quality Controllers be Sacked? By Vernon Stent
There are various factors to consider when buying a product, but the two main areas must surely be price and quality.Price is easy - the only three options you have are up, down or same. That's it. Quality is much more involved. Firstly we cannot judge or even quantify the quality of a product if we don't have a yardstick. There are two ways to do this and both have their place. Firstly, find an equivalent product sold by a rival company and compare its attributes with your own product. Better…