By Anne Miller of The Creativity Partnership
There’s an apparent paradox that in a time of crisis, companies need to become more creative, but tend to become more risk averse.
What can one do about it?
In my experience, it helps when you realise that innovation is often less risky than it appears. In a way, innovators are like stuntmen. Just as the stunts may look risky when the film is shown in the cinema, a stuntman has taken great care to minimise his actual risk. He will plan the stunt carefully, prepare himself well, and protect himself as much as he can in case it goes wrong.
Similarly, skilled innovators prepare, plan and protect themselves, so the real risk is less than the apparent risk.
So what should innovators do to minimise the risk?
Prepare:
In the current climate, people can easily become paralysed with fear and indecision, as disaster seems to strike without warning or justice: a customer doesn’t re-order; credit insurance is withdrawn; a debtor goes bust. This is where leadership can do a lot to recognise the threat, while also giving people the sense of safety to act.
As President Obama said in his inaugural speech: “Our workers are no less productive than when this crisis began. Our minds are no less inventive, our goods and services no less needed than they were last week or last month or last year. Our capacity remains undiminished. But our time of standing pat, of protecting narrow interests and putting off unpleasant decisions – that time has surely passed. Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America.”
This was a great example of how to try to turn the mood.
Plan:
Baroness Vadera may have been shot down in flames by the media recently for mentioning possible “green shoots of recovery” in the credit market, but in my experience, there will be at least a few potential “green shoots” in almost every business, no matter how gloomy the overall picture seems.
Taking a few examples spotted by my clients recently: exports are thriving; social networking sites are booming; environmental monitoring is doing well; public sector business is doing well; climate change related business is growing well; sales of chocolate and lipstick are up. (The last apparently because people are comforting themselves with little luxuries!)
It’s easy to overlook these when you are facing disaster, and they may not earn much at the moment, but they may well be the seeds of your future blockbusters. However, rather than jumping straight in on the first idea they think of, experienced innovators will plan to generate and explore a range of alternatives, before they decide where to invest serious money.
The very slight delay and cost incurred in doing this are far outweighed by the reduction in risk. I once looked at 300 innovative development projects, and those that started with a programme of this sort were 10-15 times more likely to result in a successful implementation than those that started with a specific bright idea.
Protect:
Experienced innovators expect the unexpected. They know that things will go wrong.
Even if the budget’s tight, they’re loathe to skimp on prototyping and testing: they’re likely to test more, not less, but simplify the scope of the innovation so that it’s achievable within the available funds and timescale.
On the other hand, novice innovators all too often determine that they’re going to “be innovative” so set themselves a very challenging target, tell their teams that mistakes will not be tolerated… and pray it all works out. This is a highly risky strategy.
For example in one disastrous case, a company tried to save the cost of making a prototype injection mould tooling for their new product by modifying the production tooling of the current product. When the new design didn’t work, they were in real trouble, unable to manufacture their main earner and threatened with bankruptcy. They brought in the lawyers to try to recover damages from someone, but although this might have made them feel better, it didn’t save the business.
At the moment, innovating your way out of the credit crunch may seem as impossible as escaping from a car plunging over a cliff, but remember: it’s a lot less risky than it seems if you’re professional in how you prepare, plan and protect yourself.
January 2009
© Copyright Anne Miller 2009
How to get your ideas adopted (and change the world) by Anne Miller
Published by Cyan/Marshall Cavendish
http://www.annemiller.info
Anne Miller is Director of The Creativity Partnership. www.tcp-uk.co.uk 01223 513821
About Anne Miller and The Creativity Partnership
Anne Miller is director and founder of The Creativity Partnership, helping a wide range of organisations build creativity and partnership.
Anne has an infectious enthusiasm for creativity. She began her career with an MA in Engineering from Cambridge University, then spent 20 years leading teams developing innovative products in collaboration with the world's leading companies. She is a successful inventor and holds 39 patents for a diverse range of products, ranging from power tools to the manufacturing system for the female condom.
Anne was one of the founders of TTP Group in 1988, and played an active part in fostering the Group's innovative culture. As TTP developed she became increasingly interested in how the ability to innovate can be developed in both organisations and individuals. She founded The Creativity Partnership in 2000, spinning out from TTP in 2004.
The Creativity Partnership runs senior level training courses, workshops and events and helps organisations develop greater creativity and partnership.
