Innovation Is More Than Just Technology

Innovative organisations do more than just incorporate the latest and greatest technology into their systems. That’s because innovation IS more than just technology. In fact, although modern innovation often involves technology because we’re so focused on the cutting edge, innovation itself has nothing to do with technology. Innovation is a state of mind.

Taking a New Approach to Solving a Problem

How can new ideas be adapted to solving existing problems? Innovation can be as simple as changing the way your organisation conducts employee performance reviews or the way salespeople interact with customers. Often, innovations such as these can make a huge difference in the long run.

But how does a company innovate? What steps can you take to making innovation an integral part of your organisation?

Welcome Changes

If a manager at your company came to you with a new idea, would you have a process for testing or incorporating that idea? Some companies have what they call an “innovation process,” a clearly defined way to incorporate new ideas into existing systems.

Other companies have developed formal innovation training courses to help their employees and managers to approach problems with innovative thinking. When you combine this kind of focus on innovation with key performance indicators (KPIs), positive changes are sure to follow.

Encourage Collaboration

When you work with people who have different perspectives, experiences, and skill sets, you open yourself up to a whole world of ideas that may not have occurred to you if you were working in your own cubicle or office. Likewise, you have much to offer others. 

Encouraging collaboration is a great way to spark innovation within your organisation. You can do this simply in the way you set up your workspaces, but you can also bring people together from different departments to work on projects, presentations, and problem solving.

Look Outside Your Organisation

Some businesses take collaboration one step further by looking for ideas and suggestions from outside their current staff. For example, Westpac Institutional Bank, which appeared on BRW’s 50 Most Innovative Companies list, invited start-up companies to come up with disruptive ideas to help their enterprises and commercial real estate customers.

Not only does this idea help new companies with their own innovation, but it helps Westpac to reach new customers and do a little disrupting of their own. 

How can your own organisation adopt an innovation-focused approach? Do you have a process by which new ideas could be incorporated into your existing processes and structure? Do you encourage collaboration? Have you considered looking outside your organisation for ideas and inspiration?

Clearly, innovation is more than just technology. While technology often plays an important role in innovation, you can be innovative without new apps, software upgrades, or custom machinery. Just open your mind to new possibilities, and have the courage to follow them.