5 Ways to Create The Invisible Advantage

The opposite of innovation isn’t stagnation. It’s slow miserable defeat.

The future belongs to organizations that view innovation as an expression of who they are, not something they do. A culture of innovation is “The Invisible Advantage,” by Soren Kaplan PhD.

Success is the result of hard work and innovation.

Kaplan’s 5 tips for creating a culture of innovation:

1. Don’t assume innovation means creating the next big disruptor like the iPhone.  Define “innovation” in a way that makes sense to you, your team, and your organization – (new products, services, processes, customer experiences, or anything else that just improves something.)
2. Give people tools.
   1.  Adobe Kickbox
   2. Intuit Catalyst Toolkit
   3. Australian Government’s Public Sector Innovation Toolkit
   4. Colorado Dept. of Education Community for Collaboration for School Innovation Toolkit
3. Share success stories.  Highlight the early wins to reinforce the value and importance of innovation
4. Give “worthless rewards.”  Don’t reward people with money. Give them symbolic awards like trophies, plaques, lunch with the CEO, and even wooden nickels!
   “Worthless rewards.” (3:41)
   What makes “wooden nickles” work? (1:18)
   
5. Measure what you want to get.  Choose specific metrics to track like the number of ideas generated, number of prototypes tested, or revenue from new products introduced in the past 2 years.  You get what you measure!

A mindset:

Innovation, like all meaningful success, is dedication to improve life for others.

“Frame the way you want to change the world, and make it about the customer.” Soren Kaplan, The Invisible Advantage: How to Create a Culture of Innovation.

You don’t need more money, time, or resources to innovate. Scarcity actually accelerates innovation. You need an invisible advantage – a culture of innovation.

Download 52 pages of, “The Invisible Advantage.” (No strings attached.)

What does a culture of innovation look like to you?

What behaviors and/or attitudes promote a culture of innovation?

Bonus material – Soren Kaplan in his own words:

No one has time to innovate? (1:43)

Eliminate the feeling of risk. (1:57)