The currency of success

The value of ideas could never be overrated

Inspiration may be the mother of invention, but ideas are the real stock in trade of every successful organisation. Considered the most important contributor to growth, innovation is the major driver of productivity and the spark that ignites societal change.
This is according to a Forbes Magazine report entitled The Art of Innovation: Turn your company into an idea factory, which highlights a clear imperative: Forget the scuffle to grab incremental market share in favour of creating wealth with revolutionary products and services.
Innovation is at the top of organisational agendas across the globe. It has become a corporate priority that touches every facet of an organisation.
 
“In today’s fast-paced business environment, innovation is a prerequisite for success and perhaps even survival,” says the Human Resource Institute (HRI), based in Florida.
“Ideas are the currency of success,” says Dr. Edward de Bono, who originated the concept of lateral thinking. “They separate you from your competition."
 
 
Great ideas don’t just fall into your lap
“The most precious thing in our world is a great idea that is ahead of its time. Sad to say, most companies passively wait for ideas to fall into their lap,” says Forbes.
Innovation does not just happen. It takes time, effort and hard work. “To even billion-dollar corporations with thousands of employees, successful innovation does not occur overnight but comes down to being patient.”
“Innovation means more than just creating new products and services,” says the HRI. “It also means considering new management principles and challenging old orthodoxies in smart, value-added ways.”
But, vision without action is a daydream; and action without vision is a nightmare. To succeed at innovation, “organisations must have a systemised process for transforming ideas into killer products,” Forbes adds.
This is, of course, easier said than done. External stakeholders, including customers, academia, the government, vendors and even competitors, now form an important part of companies’ creative processes.
The American Management Association (AMA) / HRI 2005 Innovation Survey found that 85% of the 1 356 global survey respondents considered innovation extremely or highly important to their organisations in the next 10 years.
According to the AMA/HRI 2005 Innovation Survey, the top ranked factors that currently influence and will greatly impact innovation a decade from now, are:
Factors Importance today Importance in 10 years
Customer focus 1 1
Teamwork / collaboration with others 2 2
Appropriate resources 3 6
Organisational communication 4 3
Ability to select the right ideas for research  5 4
Ability to identify creative people 6 5
Freedom to innovate 7 7
Ability to measure the results of innovation 8 8
Encouraging both small and big ideas 9 9
Innovation accountability / goals 10 10
Culture of risk-tolerance 11 12
Organisational structures 12 11
Diversity 13 13
Balancing incremental improvements and breakthrough discoveries 14 14
(Source: Human Resource Institute - www.HRInstitute.org)