Fortune Magazine’s Business Innovation Blog has posted a Q and A with me on small business innovation:
Q: How can a company unlock its “innovation DNA”?
Dane: Ideas have always been cheap, because it’s how you execute that matters. Now it’s finally possible to try what I call the disposable business idea: Have an employee with a new idea? Start a business in an afternoon and give it a whirl between meetings for a few weeks. If it doesn’t work, toss it out and start something new after lunch. If it takes off, turn it into a division and assign a Vice President.
tim Reid on December 26th, 2005 at 9:52 pm
Mmmm….I guess my website is proof that ideas are cheap. Maybe inexpensive is a better word!? And yes, I do agree that execution (actually implementation) is everything. Implementation rings true to me as I think the act of doing alone will create some kind of reaction with the aim of moving your business forward. ACTION CREATES REACTION. The business owner can then refine the execution over time until the big idea is just right.
However, the fact that ideas are cheap doesn’t mean they have no value. As someone once said…”One idea can be worth a million dollars.” Actually, I used to give ideas away for free until I realised people didn’t take any notice of them. Now that I’ve set up a business 100% focussed on providing business building ideas for small to medium sized businesses (and charging for them) many more business owners are taking notice and benefiting from my advice.
Overall, innovation / the generation of ideas, whatever its definition, its face and so on, is a massively under-utilised strategy for businesses looking to create a strong point of difference. I’m personally frustrated by the amount (read majority) of businesses going about everyday life as if they were the only ones in the market …Like they ARE they market! I’d like to encourage anyone out there who is responsible for the success of a business (or not-for-profit) to take a risk in the coming new year and attempt doing a few things differently. Take a look at the rules in which your category operates and flip them on their head…Then see what fall;s to the gorund in terms of practical, useable ideas. Do this and you’re guaranteed of commencing the rewarding journey of telling your own story, as opposed to becoming another ‘me too’ organisation who is satisfied with just keeping up. Go for broke…You might surprise yourself! If you’re looking for inspiration or information on how to start this rewarding journey, then please vist me at my website… http://www.theideasguy.com.au . Cheers for now…TIM The Ideas Guy.
http://www.theideasguy.com.au