There are a lot of innovators out there. If you listen to what people and companies say, everyone is an innovator. People like to toss around the term innovation because it gets people’s attention. It makes you think of something new and amazing.
Steve Wozniak just took a job with Fusion-io, a startup focused on Flash memory devices to speed up servers. Steve, co-founder of Apple, is a true technology innovator. If you need proof, read his book. He is an idea man, and he gets things done. His mind just works in ways that other people’s don’t.
Really, at its base, innovation is change. It is taking something, usually something that most people take for granted, and improving on it (or creating something completely different in its place). And, truthfully, we can all innovate. Every company, from the smallest of small businesses to the biggest of corporations, can make innovative strategic decisions on a daily basis. So why don’t we?
Well, innovation can be hard. It must be built into your culture. It feeds off of creativity and ideas. You need the people with those ideas to spawn innovative discussions, and you need leaders who listen and see the value in new ideas.
But the point of this blog is to show you that you don’t need a mind like Steve Wozniak’s to innovate. Read his book, its inspiring. In fact, read as many business books as you can. Read the top business blogs. Take in information, news, suggestions, etc. on innovation and business practice.
Let your mind wander. Think of possibilities that are far out of reach. It doesn’t matter what you do on a daily basis, after a while, things get stale. And for a company that relies on putting out consistently good products or delivering consistently good service, staleness will kill you.
Suggestions: Whether you are an aspiring entrepreneur, an employee, a small business owner, and inventor, or a CEO you can…
- Always be learning – read everything around you and find out what other people are thinking, doing, and saying. Surrounding yourself with information leads to inspiration.
- Always be doing – don’t let yourself hesitate or put down certain ideas because you are afraid. Don’t let a day go by where you are not experimenting with something physically or mentally.
- Always be talking – social networks like LinkedIn and Twitter have allowed for limitless conversation. Seek out others in your field and communicate with them, this will bring new ideas to light.
But it doesn’t stop there. Take advantage of the comment area below and add your own suggestions. How can you foster innovation and creativity?
Great post Zach. I think the most important rule here is “Always be doing.” There are a lot of ideas out there that never get accomplished due to the lack of action. Nothing happens without action.
Great job Zach and congrats on Alltop!
Thanks Paul, always good to hear your thoughts. I know one of my main problems is that ideas just get lost in the shuffle. It’s important to force yourself to do something, anything, to move ideas forward.
Thanks for the irvmnoatife blog. Hope you dont mind if I connect to it. I think other bloggers are going to want to get into this.
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@Zach – Really like your 3 action points, especially number 1. As soon as we stop learning anything new, we may as well be dead.
Just followed your link over from your comment on mashable & the Seth Godin interview. Now there’s a guy you could write a blog post about innovation on.
Patrick
Patrick, thanks for the input. I agree with you, Seth Godin has a great way of looking at things and pointing out new ways of thinking and looking at business. He is most definitely an innovative person.
Steve Wozniak will be innovating dance moves soon…on Dancing with the Stars!
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