125 Small Steps to Big Innovations
There can be little doubt that the race is on to improve how we innovate. Individuals, businesses, universities, economic regions and entire nations have a full on push to out innovate their competitors. New ways for making innovation faster, better and cheaper are sprouting up everywhere.
There is a lot of noise, some jewels and of course the fundamentals still hold true and dominate the game. One fundamental, often overlooked, is that innovation flows from specific skills and habits of mind. Innovators have a calling, think flexibly, experiment and are able to influence others to act on their ideas. These skills serve the innovator well even if they lack funding, organizational support or external incentives.
The best way to develop innovation skills is to practice them regularly until they become habits. Innovation is not a special technique or method, it is a habit of mind and way of viewing the world. For example, the knowledge card to the right provides a simple way you can practice a habit of highly effective innovators. Innovators engage the world in a robust way. One way they do that is by using all of their senses. Getting in the habit of using all of your senses in a way that opens up creativity is not hard but it does take practice. Try playing this card five or six times or until you have built up some good notes on products and services that really delight your sense of touch. Not only will you have new experience to draw on for thinking creatively about features and functions you should be well on your way to using your hands in a more robust way to know the world. A very good dividend for a modest amount of effort.
To scale this approach we will need many knowledge cards covering the core skills and habits of highly effective innovators.
I have compiled a starter set of the cards into five decks including:
Calling Cards: Find challenges that stir your heart, mind and soul
Reframe Cards: Master advanced techniques for boosting creativity
Observation Cards: Use all five senses to drive deep learning
Interpret Cards: Learn to make sense of experience
Influence Cards: Convince others to act on your ideas.
Each deck includes 25 cards for a total of 125 innovation cards, all backed by research. Decks script a small-steps learning experience that accumulates over time into new innovation competencies and habits.
For a brief description of each deck and list of all card titles see the table of contents.
All five decks are available through NewHabits, a free iPhone and iPad application that makes it easy to use, organize and share cards. You can play a card daily or every few days from your mobile device to experiment with and eventually master a proven innovation practice. The App is designed to make it much easier to catch the innovator’s habit.
I hope you give the innovation cards a try and share your experiences. You can play them by yourself, with a colleague or on teams. They make excellent supplements to training and coaching material. Let me know if you have questions or would like to discuss how best to implement innovation cards in your situation.
