Innovation capability: three fields of action that matter

The key success factors for innovation are easy to remember: The best way to shape innovation is with people – courage – methods. Anyone who thinks it’s enough to put the most creative minds in the house together and then BOOM: innovation! is wrong. Nor is it usually enough to simply invest a lot of money in the latest technology. And even those who wait for the brilliant idea in the shower often waste their time. Complicated? On the opposite: innovation is simple. If you accept that successful innovations rarely doesn’t grow on trees, but requires joint efforts, structured processes and room for chance. So what does it take to create an innovation? For us at ifok, there are three areas of action in particular that are crucial when it comes to innovation: 

This is how we spell innovation

• People
  More is created together: the more diverse the team, the more perspectives, ideas and experiences flow into the development process. We call it: “The wisdom of the many”. That’s why we work in our teams as equals and away from traditional hierarchies, bringing in the right expertise at the right time.

• Courage
  Only what is not (yet) possible is possible: those who always follow the same paths will not achieve new goals. But those who are prepared to leave their comfort zone will be rewarded with new insights. In innovation processes, we therefore rely on curiosity, experimentation and confidence in thinking in new and different ways. In this way, we also encourage networking among those involved.
  
• Methods
  Systematically achieving results: Creativity is not a talent, but a question of the right tools. By using proven methods, we ensure clarity and orientation in the innovation process and thus create the necessary space for creative idea development.

Success factors for a good collaboration 

Once the groundwork has been established, we can turn our attention to the question: How do we actually want to work together? Because there are also success factors for a prosperous innovation process in collaboration. In our projects, we therefore work:

• committed: Everyone in the team pursues the same vision and has the clear goal of implementing it.
• agile: We are and remain able to react flexibly to new developments, anticipate new findings and act proactively.  
• co-creative: Everything we create, we create together, consciously making use of the diverse, individual and sometimes interdisciplinary perspectives and skills in our team.

The intersection of all these factors forms the sweet spot in which the process unfolds its optimal effect: This is where innovation is born.

Would you like to know how you can apply the three success factors to your innovation project? What the three factors are all about in practice – and where common pitfalls lurk? Let’s get in touch!