Conclusion

Let me restate my proposition. I believe that ideas drive innovation, which drives business growth. Most leaders accept the importance of innovation to their organisation s long- term sustainability yet they struggle with it. My experience is that leaders are most challenged by the front-end, concept development stage of the innovation process.

Australian managers are well prepared and trained to deliver a plan, but implementation, planning and execution are not the most important part of the innovation process. Every business school teaches planning competencies, but what managers are not taught is how to create business- and brand-building ideas. This shortcoming is what this chapter has addressed.

The other major theme of this chapter is that creating new ideas and being innovative has to become a core competency of every organisation. It cannot be delegated or outsourced. Nor can it be given occasional attention. To make a difference, every leader has to embrace innovation as a key leadership skill.

The creation of new ideas must be embedded into the very fabric of ˜how things get done round here . For example, the company 3M requires that 40 per cent of its sales come from products less than three years old. When I interviewed a senior 3M manager, he commented that his unit had made its sales and profit targets but not its innovation goal, so he would have to accept a lower bonus. And, he said, ˜That is how it should be .

The front-end idea system is a framework that can be embedded into any organisation. By building an idea mindset, having a shared understanding of different idea concepts, learning a range of idea tools and trying to practise your idea skills every day, you will soon be at the forefront of the new ideas era.

Every organisation can improve their innovation performance. What it requires is as much effort, energy and resources applied to the fuzzy, uncertain front-end as is currently given to the back- end. An incremental idea, however beautifully executed, will still remain an incremental addition, which is easily copied and provides little real choice for the consumer.

Building a front-end ideas system will reap dividends almost immediately in greater consumer satisfaction, employee retention and growth of market-share.

Tips to help you create big ideas

1. Draw a triangle

   If you are stuck, draw a triangle to remind you to think of a third possibility.

2. Develop three responses for every new situation

   For every new situation, ask your team to develop a business-as-usual, different and radical response.This will encourage left field, big ideas.

3. Have an idea break every day

   Like a coffee break, take an idea break every day and use your creative thinking abilities . Go with a partner, have fun and really focus on a specific problem for a short intensive period. You will create some wonderful new ideas and come back refreshed.

4. Trust your own intuition

   Flag to people that you are using your intuition by saying ˜my gut feel is that . . . . Encourage others to do likewise. At the end of each meeting have a two-minute ˜gut-feel session. Ask every member what their intuition is telling them. If the group intuition is nervous then perhaps a decision should be revisited.

5. Follow your passion

   What do you really feel passionate about? Chances are that if you feel passionate about something, you will enjoy it and be quite good at it. If you feel passionate about a topic or project at work, volunteer for it. You will naturally be more creative and work will be more enjoyable.

6. Think like a competitor

   Imagine yourself as your competitor ”ask yourself what new initiatives will be launched in the next 12 months? It is amazing how insightful you can be by adopting an outside-in approach rather than the more traditional inside-out approach.

7. Use more emotional language

   Reframe your biggest challenges in more imaginative and emotional language: for example, ˜How can we create advertising that is talked about at dinner parties? If you stay with rational, business-type language you are more likely to get rational responses.

8. Be uncomfortable

   Be more open to uncomfortable, challenging ideas.

9. Lead by example

   If you are a leader, the quickest way to kill creativity is by your own actions. If you call for new ideas and then reject them without appropriate feedback, you will not receive many more ideas. Talk about the importance of ideas and innovation at every opportunity.

10. Test and retest

    Find quicker, easier and cheaper ways to test a new process or product. Continue to test relentlessly.