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Thought Leader

Insights and analysis on creative thinking.

The Next Big Idea...

... may come from your employees, if you listen.

by Kathy Lamancusa (April 2, 2007)

(Note: Kathy has an enormous resume: retailer/distributor; designer; author of countless books, magazine articles, and CD's; made numerous television appearances and videos; consulted for numerous companies in and out of the industry; wrote a magazine column for many years, most recently Craftrends; and conducted the largest retailer workshop/seminars in industry trade show history. She started as a designer, but quickly gained a reputation as an observer and predictor of emerging trends.)

All it takes is the right people, an open atmosphere, and focused attention to inspire incredible insights that lead innovation. As Seth Goden of Squidoo says, "When you live in times of rapid change, growth is going to come from innovation because growth is all about fashion." Stephen Berkov from Audi reminds us, "Innovation is all about staying relevant. That's all it is."

Very true! I spend my days now in the financial services industry and find so many parallels to the creative industries. This new chapter of my life is enabling me to study industries and people from a very unique and totally different perspective. I find I am excelling in this industry, just like I did in the craft industry . . . even though I have never worked in this field in my life! It is clear to me that people are the heart of all we do � whatever industry we do it in.

Are you encouraging your people?

One good way to do that is with a formalized program that encourages employees to find new ways to solve old problems. The program should offer some type of incentive � everything from a certificate they can mount on their wall, to a gift card for dinner and a movie, to providing seed money to the employee to follow through on his or her idea.

The innovation program should not just be about a new product to sell but should include every function in the company. Often, streamlining a process or procedure will bring bottom-line dollars in less time than bringing a brand-new product to market.

One of the problems is that top-level management is saying that they want innovation when in reality, they don't. Paying lip service to the process will not provide success; welcoming new ideas will. Most organizations that are stuck have lots of innovative ideas floating around. People want to pitch their idea, but there is no one there to listen. Or the pitch occurs, but the ideas never go anywhere.

The key here is that companies need to accept and embrace the fact that their employees are creative and innovative � and smart; they need to do something about the ideas that are generated � not all of them, but some of them. Once employees see that a few ideas really do move forward, they will continue to innovate and share their thoughts and ideas � that is what every company should strive for.

How do you measure success?

Metrics are the key motivator, as they should be. But how do you measure something that you have never done before? You can try, but the result will always fall short, and that means that new innovations are either cut too quickly because they didn't show great metrics or never tried at all because no one can figure out how to make the metrics show overwhelming success right out of the gate.

People want to innovate, but they also want a set of measures and a certainty of success. The reality is that if you can measure it, it probably is not true innovation. One of the biggest barriers is fear that changing something will make it worse. There is a huge inertia in organizations to keep things the way they are. However, you need 20 times more evidence to change things as you do to keep them as they are. This is embracing the status quo and is the opposite of what innovation is all about. Often the best ideas come from new companies that have nothing to give up. The only thing they fear is that they are going to fail if they don't innovate.

Keep your eyes open and your attitude welcoming.

The craft industry is being flooded with individuals who have spent their entire careers in other industries. Seems to me that this mixing of talent is a good thing. A personal attitude that shapes the corporate culture to welcomes people and ideas will lead to success. The craft industry can't afford to be closed to new people and new ideas � there is too much at stake.

The future of crafts won't look anything like it does today. What will it look like? Hard to say. Just keep your eyes open and your attitude welcoming.

(Note: To read Kathy's previous "Thought Leader" columns, click on the titles in the right-hand column. To contact Kathy, email kathy@lamancusa.com.)

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