A blueprint for innovation
It’s intriguing to think about what makes a company or person innovative. In the business sector, asking too many questions can have negative overtones, yet a questioning nature is at the very heart of innovation.
Clay Christensen, a knight of the Harvard Business School and author of The Innovator’s Dilemma, is publishing a new study this month, The Innovator’s DNA. Co-written with Jeff Dyer and Hal Gregersen, the study is a trip inside the minds of successful innovators. A trip inside economist.com delivered a sneak peak at some insightful information.
Christensen et al detail five mind-based habits that characterize disruptive innovators: associating, questioning, observing, networking and experimenting. It turns out these same characteristics apply to companies as well.
Their study found innovative companies have high innovation premiums, a percentage calculated by looking at the proportion of their market value that cannot be accounted for by their current products. Case in point: Apple. During Steve Jobs’ first tenure, Apple’s innovation premium was 37%. Without him, it was -30%. Today, it’s at 52%.
The study notes innovative companies work hard to recruit creative people and they work equally hard at stimulating observation and questioning.
In today’s economy, innovation is at a premium. Companies who “get there first” or solve a consumer problem, win. It’s guaranteed other companies will follow, but someone always gets there first. More important, truly innovative companies don’t rest on their laurels if they are lucky enough to enjoy success.
Innovative people and companies are unstoppable. That doesn’t mean they won’t ever fail. It just means they’re smart enough to know the path to success is lined with failure.
Being innovative means being brave enough to fail. How brave are you?
