Revolutionise, Remodel, Renew

Revolutionise, Remodel, Renew

The greatest innovations are the ones we take for granted, like light bulbs, refrigeration and penicillin. But in a world where the miraculous very quickly becomes common-place, how can a company, maintain a spirit of innovation year after year?

Of course the classic innovator’s challenge is always: should we invest in brand new products, or should we improve existing ones? A combination of both is ideal. How does a company the size of Google do it? Here are six principles of innovation used by Google:

• Have a Mission that matters – Work can be more than a job when it stands for something you care about. Google’s mission is to ‘organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.’ They use this simple statement to guide all of their decisions
• Think BIG but act small – No matter how ambitious the plan, you have to roll up your sleeves and start somewhere
• Strive for continual innovation, not instant perfection – learn, improve and update constantly. Repeat. Repeat again
• Look for ideas everywhere and from everyone – diversity is crucial here – include everyone’s input then solicit feedback
• Share everything – Your employees should know pretty much everything that’s going on and why decisions are made. By sharing everything, you encourage the discussion, exchange and re-interpretation of ideas, which can lead to unexpected and innovative outcomes
• Never fail to fail – People remember your hits more than your misses. It’s okay to fail as long as you learn from your mistakes and correct them fast. Use the word fail as an acronym for first action in learning.

Are you nurturing a culture that allows for innovation?