Finding the Right People in Your Organization
Crisis drives innovation! We all know this, and as we shake off the painful COVID era, we all dread the idea of waiting for another crisis to make the next leap. Instead of leaning back until then, let’s see if we can find the ingredients for progress in a less dramatic space and bring them together for our advantage.
A Framework for Innovation Without Crisis
Innovation requires motivation and resources. By identifying the right individuals within your organization and aligning their intrinsic motivation with business goals, you can foster continuous innovation without needing a crisis.
The Process in Short
- Identify someone with a motive: Risk-aversion, Opportunism, Curiosity, etc.
- Align the motivation with a business goal: Resilience, Competitive advantage, Operational improvement, etc.
- Define the project to be a minimal viable version of the innovative step.
- Provide resources: Time, budget, etc.
Motivation
Start by searching for signs of intrinsic motivation within your team. This could be someone raising alarms over an issue or someone advocating for new technology. Whether they are motivated by managing anxiety or seeing an opportunity to get ahead, their intrinsic motivation is valuable and should be harnessed.
Alignment
Once you have identified the motivated individual, align their motivation with a business goal. Empower them by asking how their project will contribute to:
- Resilience
- Competitive advantage
- Operational improvements
Resources
Every mission requires time and money. While a tight budget might favor creativity, a more generous budget might help complete the mission quickly and effectively. Ensure the budget is sufficient to deliver a viable solution.
Define Success
A minimal viable solution (MVS) is an excellent way to define the boundaries of such a project. It should deliver value while being lean enough that removing any part would render the solution ineffective. This ensures that the project stays focused and manageable.
Evidence from the Pandemic
A survey of 22,000 businesses that survived COVID-19 revealed valuable insights:
- Companies with pre-existing e-sales capabilities were twice as likely to scale them effectively during the pandemic.
- Younger firms (under 10 years) were more likely to innovate.
- Firms that had already dabbled in new technologies were more adaptable when opportunities arose.
Conclusion
Innovation does not have to wait for a crisis. By identifying intrinsic motivation within your team and aligning it with business goals, you can foster a culture of continuous innovation. Management cannot control intrinsic motivation but can provide the necessary resources and support to turn it into actionable projects. These small projects can be the seeds for fast and successful adaptation to external pressures and opportunities.
Find your team’s innovators and empower them to drive your organization forward.