Here are ten steps to help innovation…
- Concentrate on areas where you already have strengths
- Work concurrently – not in sequence – from the earliest possible stage by bringing all affected interests together as a team
- Decentralise the task to individuals or business units – existing or special purpose
- Bring together people of different cultures, backgrounds and abilities
- Pick leaders from people with relevant past success
- Plan up-front, and thoroughly, before starting any projects
- Forget protocol – encourage good ‘unauthorised’ projects
- Invest in success by backing proven good projects to the hilt, but . . .
- Identify the weak projects early on – and put them out of their misery
- Remove barriers between people, departments and outsiders (like suppliers), so that good ideas aren’t blocked by vested (or dumb) interests.
Robert Heller