The Two Must-Have Keys to Innovation

Hello friends,

It’s that time of year again: new year’s resolutions, hot cocoa, and a frantic pressure to put together a plan to somehow be innovative as the calendar starts anew.

Let’s pause on the panic and look closer at innovation. It takes two factors to make innovation real at an organization:

1. Concepts
2. Culture

Work on both at the same time and the rest will emerge as a byproduct of the process.

Of course, if you’re only focused on innovating and leave your culture to stagnate, these new value-generating concepts will be rejected by the preset filters and default thinking of the organization. On the other hand, if you just work on the culture, but do not produce concepts that resonate in the market, you have created no new value.

If you’re looking for a place to begin your planning, start there: at the crossroads of concepts and culture. You can read more on this here, or feel free to shoot me a reply and we can chat. If you’ve already started your innovation journey, but feeling stuck, consider these points on overcoming a corporate system rigged against innovation.

We hope you had a lovely holiday season, and best of luck in the new year!

Image credit: transferconsultancy.com

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Michael Graber is the managing partner of the Southern Growth Studio, an innovation and strategic growth firm based in Memphis, TN and the author of Going Electric. Visit www.southerngrowthstudio.com to learn more.