Innovation

From Entrepedia: The Entrepreneurship Wiki

"Innovation is not a nicety, it's a necessity" So said Scott Anthony, president of Innosight, in an interview with the Harvard Business Press. In today's business world, it's no longer enough just to be efficient, hard working and even tenacious in order to be successful, the fast moving developments of information technology mean that if a venture wants to succeed, innovation must form a fundamental part of its business strategy.

In the video clip, talks about how to ensure that your venture adopts a strategy of continuous innovation. The ten points below offer a summary of his advice:

• There is no longer a choice between innovation and survival: nowadays, innovation is survival.
• In order to innovate successfully, a business must allocate time and money to innovation.
• Your core business must be in good shape and under control otherwise you will spend all your time fighting fires and not pursuing innovation.
• Be selective and prune your innovation portfolio: ditch the low potential ideas and focus on the ones that can bring you success.
• No time? Stop some of the small ideas to free up time to work on the big ones.
• Increase your success rate: learn how to manage innovation.
• Find people who can share the risk
• Share the risks with your partners; look to them to inspire your ideas.
• Put yourself in a position from which you can see things differently: visit trade fairs in other industries, find activities which take you away from your comfort zone.

See our Business Ideas page for an idea of some of the current hot topics favourable to innovation.

Further Reading

• Anthony, S. D. (2009)
  Silver Lining: An Innovation Playbook for Uncertain Times
  Harvard: Harvard Business School Press
  (Silver Lining website)
  (Amazon.co.uk)
  
  

• Innovation Insights Blog by Scott Anthony.

• Page
• Discussion
• View source
• History