Running a small business requires stamina, determination and constant attention to details. Business owners and leaders want the business to grow, and will invest the time, energy and money to achieve this goal. However, hard work alone does not guarantee success. We must begin to search for that fresh look or fresh idea that makes a significant difference. The answer: Intentional Innovation – moving innovation from a random gamble to a repeatable business system.
Intentional Innovation is a thinking system. When applied, a leader and their team have the ability to generate great ideas. But more importantly, they have a system or process for taking those ideas and really working the meaningful and critical items. To accomplish this, we have partnered with the Innovation Engineering Network to establish a repeatable system to facilitate and guide you to successful idea implementation. Generating ideas is only part of the system. Ideas do not mean anything if they are not implemented.
Meaningful designates that someone has a use for the business idea. It serves a purpose. It solves a specific issue or customer need. Meaningful translates into purchase intent. The second part of the equation is unique. Unique means new or different, something you do not see every day.
I collect ink pens. Not just ordinary run of the mill pens. I collect unique pens with personality. These ink pens draw your eyes and attention to them. When people see them they have to comment. All of these pens are fully operational and in use on a daily basis. My pens are made of marble, coral, wood, and other exotic materials. Many have characters carved into them. The point of the story is – I will pay more for a unique ink pen with personality.
The second part of the Intentional Innovation business system is targeted innovation. Too many business leaders generate unfiltered and untested ideas and proceed into development. In many cases, this process leads to a failed idea with wasted time and finances. Therefore, the Intentional Innovation system concentrates heavily up front on defining the true business need that ideas are generated to solve. When a leader channels the brainpower of the team in a targeted area, the ideas generated focus on that specific customer and set of needs. These ideas have an exponential positive factor for success.
Share your thoughts. What does meaningful mean to you?