We know we are living in a time of exponential change, hyper competition and globalisation. In fact, futurists say what we are experiencing now is just the tip of the iceberg. The world will change so dramatically over the next 30 years that what we see as breakthrough innovation today will pale into insignificance tomorrow. The most important human survival skill will be our ability to consistently create value out of new ideas.
Being prepared for this change is critical to our continued existence. Our world desperately needs new thinking, new ideas and new solutions to some of the most complex problems that human beings have ever faced. To be an innovator is to be a pioneer of bringing the new into the world, but it is not just about being creative. It requires a complex and diverse raft of skills and ways of thinking. It also requires the application of new thinking to everyday situations – what I call day-to-day innovation. All of us, whether we are pioneering breakthrough technologies or working in an operations department of a logistics company, can make a difference. More importantly, all of us have a reason for being – a Purpose, a contribution to make – with our lives, our talents and our skills.
Yes, You Can Innovate is a practical book that will help you to understand what innovation is, why it is important and how to create ideas and make them happen.
It will:
- Outline a clear six-stage process on how to innovate
- Help you to understand and develop your individual strengths
- Build skills to compensate for your challenges and know how to partner with others
- Provide tools, tips and strategies for developing your innovation skills and mindsets
Structured around a proven methodology: Yes, You Can Innovate incorporates The Six ‘I’s of Innovation®, an integrated framework to help improve your ability to create value out of new ideas. Used by individuals and corporations around the world, including Cisco Systems, Singapore Airlines and LEO Pharma Asia, The Six ‘I’s® is a simple system that covers six distinct stages – the journey of an idea, from its creative inception through to implementation and improvement:
- Identify opportunities (to understand trends and potential areas of growth)
- Ignite ideas (to create novel solutions)
- Investigate (to prototype, test and research ideas)
- Invest (to have courage and persuade others to back ideas)
- Implement (to make an idea happen and create value from it)
- Improve (to optimise, scale and learn from success and failure)
All stages are interlinked by an overarching Purpose or intent, to help you think through what you want to create and the problem you want to solve.
While the business buzzwords of our time will change – human skill, mindset and behaviour will still need to be applied. We will still need to identify opportunities, ignite ideas, investigate whether they will work, invest in them, implement the idea into the world and improve on what we have done.
Below are key terms, and a simple explanation, for the definitions that I use in the book.
CORE DEFINITIONS
- Innovation – the ability to create value from ideas that are new to a person or organisation
- Skill – the ability coming from one’s knowledge, practice and aptitude to do something well
- Behaviour – a range of visible actions made by people towards their environment
- Mindset – a set of attitudes that shape thinking about oneself and the world
Imagine an iceberg. Below the water line is our mindset. Above the water line are our observable skills and behaviours – or how we choose to use our mindset and show up in the world around us.
EXAMPLE: RIDING A BICYCLE
Skills required to ride a bicycle are usage of the pedals and coordination.
Behaviours required to ride a bicycle are concentration and balance.
Mindset required while riding a bicycle is determination and persistence.
When you look at a child riding a bicycle for the first time, you can observe their behaviours as they try to master using the pedals and coordination (skills). They are not normally very aware of their environment and do not have the ability to adapt to change, often falling off as they learn, despite their concentration and attempts at balance (behaviours). As they improve, they start to become more aware of their surroundings, of people or potholes in the road or cars passing by. Through determination (mindset), their skills and behaviours become second nature and they start to feel confident, becoming more aware of their context (behaviour) and open and responsive to change. It is these elements – skills, behaviours and mindsets – working together, that help us to do things effectively. In addition to having a novel and workable idea, our ability to innovate – to create value out of new ideas – requires the conscious fusion of the three.