Why innovate?

There comes a point in the life of most organisations when what worked before needs to change. Perhaps customer expectations are shifting; or a process has become cumbersome; or technology is opening up new possibilities; or AI is changing the questions organisations are asking. Or perhaps you simply know there must be a better way of doing something, but you’re not quite sure what that looks like yet. Your only certainty is that standing still is not an option.

It’s all about having better ideas right?

It’s easy to say, “the answer is more innovation; let’s have more ideas, let’s be more creative, let’s get brainstorming”. But in our experience, most organisations don’t suffer from a lack of ideas, because ideas are the easy bit and there is usually no shortage of them. The real challenge is knowing which ideas matter, what to do with them and how to bring people with you; all of these are leadership skills and that is what innovation is all about.

Innovation asks people to think differently, to make decisions without perfect information, to take the risk of putting your head above the parapet, and then to adapt and keep going when things don’t work perfectly first time. Innovation requires leaders to create the fertile conditions it needs; where good thinking abounds, where people make thoughtful choices about how to invest time and energy, and where people feel they have enough confidence to try something new.

That makes innovation a leadership challenge as much as an ideas challenge.

Here’s how we help you navigate this

We use a practical, purpose-driven and human-centred approach that helps leaders and teams work through the journey from possibility to progress. At the heart of it is the Six ‘I’s® model, which provides a simple framework for understanding what needs to happen at each stage; identifying what matters, igniting possibility, investigating the options, investing wisely, implementing with purpose and improving as you learn.

The model gives people a shared language for something that can otherwise feel rather vague. More importantly, we use it around real challenges facing your organisation, rather than asking people to come up with ideas for the sake of it.

We explore how people naturally think and contribute, where their strengths lie and equally what might get in the way. We look at how decisions are made, how people respond when things become uncertain or messy, and what helps an idea move from

an interesting thought to something that creates genuine value. And that’s the important piece, only when you have created value have you truly innovated.

As one of only a very small number of certified practitioners of the Six ‘I’s® model, and currently the only practitioner delivering this model in Scotland, we bring together the structure of an established innovation leadership model with our wider experience of people, communication, behaviour and organisational life.

What’s the end result?

Success is developing people who are better equipped to recognise opportunities, think clearly, make confident decisions and turn good thinking into action.

· For leaders it is about gaining a better understanding of how they influence innovation and how to create the conditions for it to happen.

· For teams it is about developing a shared language of innovation and a more effective way of working through challenges.

· For the organisation it is about becoming better able to adapt, learn and make progress when the world around it changes.

Ultimately, innovation isn’t about having the cleverest idea in the room. It’s about having the leadership, people and practical thinking to do something useful with it.

And that can open up some very interesting possibilities.

Click the ‘book a meeting’ button and let’s see how we can help.