Time for Innovation

History shows us: hard times have pushed mankind to move forward. Looking back at the last one hundred years, the large scale use of airplanes, control of atomic energy and the man on the moon are good examples.

No matter whether they were times of wars, natural disorders or economic crisis, some good always came out of evil, just as we see it in nature.
We have the opportunity to witness now, as it unfolds before our eyes, another tough period.

So, how shall we profit it?

Simply by letting the those insights, those dreams and those great ideas out. Then it is just a matter of separating the superb ones, and hands on to work! Make money! Create jobs! Cooperate for a better society! It is time to invent and reinvent things!

This bulk of superb ideas will certainly produce some innovation. It may come out in the form of a new product, a new method, or most commonly, a new service. Remember that today's common ones, once were great innovations.

- Imagine the guy who had the idea to tie together Pizza+Motorbike/car to come up with pizza home delivery. He would be millionaire by now if he had ever registered it.

- Or the individual at a large fastfood company that added the sale of Sandwiches + hunger of mobel clients. He came up with the drive through. Both examples show the simplicity of joining two already existing services to create a brand new one.

Needless to say that we, average Joe's, are able to come up with great ideas. The matter resides in putting them into practice. For a self entreprenor or a company, these days of crisis might give you a shot, even if there are countless reasons telling you not to innovate.

We have selected ten of most common ones (and they are in great number, belive us) to be prepared for:

1. Definition of "innovation" (framed as an initiative, not a normal way of doing business).
2. No sense of urgency nor strategy.
3. Employees suffers from "initiative fatigue".
4. Senior Team is not aligned and/or CEO does not fully embrace the effort.
5. No compelling vision or reason to innovate.
6. Key players lack time to focus on innovation.
7. Innovation champions are not empowered, generating lack of trust.
8. Non-existent or fuzzy decision making processes.
9. Cost cutting or incremental improvement culture.(we stay where we are, producing more with less).
10. Employers ruled by past assumptions and old mental models.

Are we motivated yet? Do you feel that you have that super, doable, business oriented, impossible- to- fail innovating idea?

The Intelligence Factory is there to help you out to put it into practice, by making it easier the task of braking paradigms, cultural barries and low spirits.

We are able to give you a hand with: creativity, observation, perseverance, oral and written communication, analysis capacity, business hints and clues, strategic approach, business terminology, market monitoring, presentation of new ideas and sourcing.

Moreover, we may work out solutions using our knowledge on methodologies, power structures inside companies, decision making processes, the development of competances, control of changing habits and the industry in general.

So, next time you come up with that so called long shot idea, do not let it aside, to be shared with your buddies at your favorite bar.
Drop us a line and maybe we can help you make your idea a profitable, innovating one!

Photo by Felipe T. Marques at Flickr