Innovation culture is vital to long-term business success. However, the pandemic has led many companies to focus on business continuity, cutting costs, and driving productivity. Regrettably, this has led to a reliance on stagnant products and services that no longer serve their customers well.
Business Recognizes the Need for Innovation
Most companies are well-aware that they need to infuse their business with novel ideas and new solutions. According to McKinsey & Company, about 90% of all executives admitted COVID-19 would change how they do business. Furthermore, most recognized the pandemic would drastically change customer needs and wants.
Most Companies Need More to Face These Challenges
Unfortunately, most executives also related that they do not have the commitment, resources, and expertise needed to face these new challenges.
Fortunately, more than three-quarters also agreed that the crisis will create significant new opportunities for growth. However, there’s a huge difference between spotting opportunities and seizing them. That’s where innovation culture plays a starring role.
Benefits of a Strong Innovation Culture
The benefits of a strong, responsive innovation culture are undeniable. It can help business achieve growth goals, maximize shareholder ROI, increase productivity and profitability, and increase market share.
It also allows companies to quickly adapt their technological and human resources to meet whatever challenges come their way. If the pandemic has taught us anything it is that agility is more important than ever.
Organizations must seek out and act on opportunities. Otherwise, they will struggle to survive, never mind thrive, in our current volatile business environment.
Luckily, a strong innovation culture is a breeding ground for novel ideas that can lead to unique products and services. These can catapult a company to the forefront of their industry, ensuring longevity.
Improved business models can also ensure a company’s success for years to come. It shouldn’t be a matter of whether business should invest in innovation, but how to get started.
Nurturing Intrapreneurship
Great ideas often come from within an organization. Many employee ideas lead to new products, innovations, and ways to improve business. Amazon Prime, McDonald’s Happy Meal, and putting your name on a Starbuck’s cup are just a few employee ideas that improved the bottom line of these companies.
Clearly, creating an innovative culture must start with the promotion of idea-sharing within a company. The enterprise must be full-engaged from the top-down and manage must encourage experimentation.
Of course, failure and reward must be part of this process. Failure offers an opportunity to learn quickly, but it can’t involve condemnation. Instead, business must extract lessons learned and look for a new angle.
Reward engages participants and encourages further ideas, providing it is awarded equally. Innovation culture must be nourished until it becomes organic throughout the organization.
Partnering to Create Innovation Culture
Without guidance and proper resources, creating an organic innovation culture may seem a distant goal. Some companies simply don’t have access to the personnel or innovative ideas they need. Others don’t have a clear idea of what’s needed to achieve their goals. Still others need a faster process.
Fortunately, partnering with a seasoned business leader can provide you with direction and resources. It is possible to accelerate the process to create a more robust innovation culture.
EarlyBirds provides self-service and assisted services specifically designed to support the acceleration of actionable innovation. We know ideas are just ideas, unless you have a proven method to make them happen.
Our firm has connected many startups, scale ups and mature innovators, with early adopter businesses, and industry-specific consultants. The process focuses on your industry, business functions, and desired outcomes. By forging powerful connections, we can help your company create and nurture an innovation pipeline for ongoing business success. We connect business and educational institutions with innovators.
EarlyBirds Open Innovation Ecosystem
Our well-developed platform has over 4 million innovative ideas, products, and services. If your business is eager to adopt new technologies into your business plan, we can match your business with the products and services you need. A subject matter expert works with the innovator and your business to bring the partnership to the desired conclusion.
Consequently, it is often possible to transform a business in a matter of weeks through actionable innovations from disruptive innovators, as opposed to years. Whether you need to meet climate change goals or want to tap into additive manufacturing opportunities, we can help.
EarlyBirds Programs
EarlyBirds also offers several programs which directly connect Early Adopters with Subject Matter Experts and independent consultants. This can help you define and resolve challenges, evaluate innovators, and create a roadmap for the path ahead.
The Explorer Program is tailored towards businesses who need innovation as a service to supplement existing innovation programs, or to conduct innovation projects when required.
The Challenger Program focuses on a single business or technical challenge. It looks for the most relevant innovators that meet business, technical, commercial, and business risk requirements.
*****
EarlyBirds is your best choice for innovative solutions and new opportunities. Let us help you create innovation culture, find innovative solutions, overcome your wicked problems, improve security, strengthen your business, and reach net zero goals. We’ve helped companies in the food industry, energy, energy supply, operations & maintenance, education, finance and insurance, manufacturing, retail, the public sector, and others reach their goals. Our innovation ecosystem is also highly-beneficial to startups and can help business create a capability edge.
Register at https://earlybirds.io/, or contact us to discuss your needs.