No Idea Where to Even Look for Ideas?

How to Innovate Your Way Out of Boring

Is your company, products or solutions boring? No new ideas? No idea where to even look for ideas?

Good news for everyone interested in INNOVATION; the ideas you are looking for to get you started are everywhere.

The old proverb, "When the student is ready, the teacher will appear" is also true for innovation. When the mind is ready to accept or search for new ideas, the sources will amaze you.

For years I have tried to study just a little about other industries and industry practices. Having started out in retailing and spending 20 years there, I found that new ideas for solving problems just leaped off the page when I would consider, study or discuss manufacturing or even the service industry.

Study anything new, anything including music, a musical instrument, a new language (or an old one like Latin), Bio-Chemistry ... anything! And let your mind run free.

Read four books at the same time on different topics, related or not, mix fact and fiction, it is all okay. Just read a chapter from one book and then go to the next one; not necessarily in a regular sequence. Read a book on how to play cricket—if anyone actually knows how to play it and wrote a book. (No offense to our friends in the UK, but it’s possibly the most confusing sport in history).

There are so many ways to find new ideas, it is impossible to miss them if you are paying attention. But there is one overwhelming leader in this field and that is Other People.

Those people may be co-workers, friends, consultants or one of the most overlooked groups in history: the front-line employees.

I recently heard an executive from a Fortune 1000 company attending one of our Innovation Workshops say, "Our people on the front line just don't have the time to be innovative." Au Contraire mon ami, the people on the front line spend almost every working minute in between all the other distractions thinking, "How do my managers not know that in order to make this system work better, they need to change the phone system and connect it to the customer files ... ." Whatever is wrong, they know about it and know how it can be improved.

But—and this is one BIG BUT—who really listens to them? Ask them and they will tell you NO ONE! Actually a recent study by Florida State University shows that 39 percent of the workers said that their supervisor failed to keep promises, and 37 percent said their supervisor failed to give credit when due. Nowhere did I see anything about a manager sincerely asking his staff for creative ideas to improve the process, eliminate barriers, improve service or production or make life easier for the employees.

I would not say there is a gulf between workers and managers; there are about three oceans and a couple of Great Lakes for starters. I have personally had a great deal of success in solving problems, some which existed for a very long time and some that others simply could not figure out, and it was NOT because I was so smart (as much as I wish I could say that with a straight face). It was because I ask the people who did the work and then I did the one almost unheard of thing after that, I shut up and LISTENED! What a concept. I even thanked them and recognized them for their input.

Is it every worker? No. Is it every idea they give you? No. Does it sometimes take work to draw their ideas out? Yes. Do you sometimes have to mix and match ideas to get to a more complete solution? Well you should provide some positive support if you are going to bother to show up anyway (that is a Yes).

Should you thank them and recognize them? YES, YES, YES, over and over and over, and especially for the ideas that your company is not ready to use yet. That does not mean that it is not a good idea, and they need to know that too.

In one new position, I inherited a major inventory control problem that was creating poor service to 110 stores, out of stocks, over stocks, just a myriad of problems. Of course this came in the middle of a very unpleasant office merger where everyone was unhappy, edgy, overworked and disillusioned. We were in code red, with no time or money to "conduct a study" and analyze the situation. The key players, including the buyers, the distribution center manager, the controller and all the rest of the "KEY MEN" as they were referred to in those days could not understand why those problems existed.

Look

I took it on myself to do an extensive and in-depth study. I talked to five of the most involved (and as it turned out most frustrated) workers who were at the bottom of the food chain (ironic since it was with a Food Store Chain) when the problems had to be corrected. As amazing as it sounds, within a week I knew several "new ideas" that were right at the heart of the problem, highly logical and reasonably inexpensive to execute. They made it happen with a little help from me, and our world became a better place. After I learned that lesson, it was just the start of good things through better listening.

Listen

If you really want to distinguish yourself from the world around you ask good questions and LISTEN.

Question

Don't ask long, complicated or intellectual questions, just ask: "How can we make this process easier, better or more efficient? What is wrong with this system," and LISTEN very carefully.

Your world can change for the better too and this is just ONE place to start.

About the Author:

Jim Sinclair has been in senior management for over 25 years in several local, national and international companies. He considers himself a problem-solver although he has had many titles including VP of Operations, Director of Government Auditing, Regional VP, Controller and CFO to name a few. His first career was with The Kroger Company and SuperX Drug Stores and he still considers that great training grounds.

Contact Information:

Jim Sinclair
VentureForward Business Manager/Partner
http://www.wow2now.com
jim.s@wow2now.com

This is not Jim Sinclair, but he works with him!