If you are like most business owners, you know the importance of developing or promoting a product or service that is unique and enhances an existing process or procedure.
Which is also true, if you are like most of the business principles that you have spent, or are spending most, if not all, of your time managing and overseeing the parts of your business that have to do with it. monitoring and tracking of efficiencies within your company.
While there is nothing wrong or out of place with you doing this, continued attention to these aspects of your business conflicts with an innovative mindset.
The good news is that you can retrain your mind and redirect your perspective to include the different aspects of innovation.
The difference between an entrepreneurial mindset and an innovative mindset
Generally speaking, a traditional business mindset is always looking to improve the quality of products, services, and processes. At the other end of the spectrum, an innovative mindset issues mandates for new and better ways of doing business.
Another difference is that a traditional business leader can become shortsighted with a primary focus on the health of next quarter’s results, while an innovation mindset looks long-term.
Traditional and ancestral business problem solving defines problems, recognizes solutions, examines the options carefully, and then decides which one to use.
On the other hand, an innovative problem solver insists that you first deeply understand a problem using deep analysis and employing understanding, which can seem confusing when comparing each methodology side by side.
Modulate your Points of view
When in a leadership position, it is imperative that you be flexible and can employ a conventional or innovative approach in management and decision-making processes.
A conventional approach will continue to work for a number of problems, and you can apply a conventional solution in those cases. However, an innovative approach to problem solving should be used in cases where the problem or challenge tends to be poorly defined and, in practical terms, is a complex problem with a high score.
By using an innovative mindset, you will inevitably discover insights that will radically change your perspective on available solutions as you tackle possible solutions.
While the conventional and business mindsets seem very different, innovation can largely be managed in predictable ways.
Treat innovation like any other part of your business. In other words, break down and set specific goals, objectives, and a workable process to achieve them that you can follow. Then appoint someone to be in charge and hold that person accountable.
When setting goals, remember that the emphasis of goals is on inputs, not outputs, as outputs are unpredictable in nature. The process will require you to manage your team with the intention of achieving results effectively.
The conclusion is as follows:
Both conventional and innovative leadership practices can and do coexist. By adapting this approach, you can help build a truly exciting and prosperous future for your organization.