Author Archives: Jim Estill
We all want to innovate better. Part of innovation is deciding to innovate. Wikipedia says “The goal of innovation is positive change”. This should be our goal. Can we decide to innovate? Absolutely. Knowing what you want to innovate around and defining the goal can be a great start. So start by defining success. Once you have your goal, it is time to get creative. Innovation can be improved with process and innovation can be improved with these ideas: Innovate during your most creative times. Most of us have daily cycles. Times when we are more alert and creative can be tracked. By learning when yours are, you can plan to innovate during those times. When I tracked my energy, I found I was energetic and creative early in the morning. When I discovered the, I stopped …
This is the first of several ‘Innovation Perspectives’ articles we will publish this week from multiple authors to get different perspectives on ‘Who should be responsible (if anyone) for trend-spotting and putting emerging behaviors and needs into context for a business?’. So to kick it off, here is Jim Estill’s perspective:by Jim EstillI believe that it is the leader’s role to be active in spotting trends in both the market and within the company. Of course in order to do this, they need to get the assistance and input from all of their people.A leader who believes in Trend Spotting and believes in capitalizing on emerging trends and technologies can set the example for staff to create an openness that new ideas and trends are brought forward.I found when I was leader of a 2 billion dollar organization that the bulk of the emerging trends were presented to me filtered … Continue reading
This is the third of several ‘Innovation Perspectives’ articles we will publish this week from multiple authors to get different perspectives on ‘What is the most dangerous current misconception in innovation?’. Now, here is Jim Estill’s perspective:by Jim EstillThe five most common misconceptions of innovation include:1.In order for an innovation to succeed, it must be dramatically different than any other products in the market. Wrong. In reality if something is dramatically different than what’s in the market, it can be very difficult for people to put a frame of reference on the product, so they won’t know what to do with it to start with. I sit on the board of Research In Motion and when RIM first came out with their Blackberry, they called it a two-way pager, because people in that area understood what pager was, but didn’t understand an e-mail device on their hip.2. Major innovation is … Continue reading
by Jim EstillCompanies need to be encouraging of failure. Too often people are disciplined for trying things that do not work. I advocate the opposite. Praise those who try – even if they fail.Fail OftenMuch of success is just a numbers game. Try more things and you are more likely to find a winner. Innovation is like sales – you never know which idea will be the winner until you try things. A big obstacle for anyone reluctant to try something new is being afraid to fail. Thomas Edison for example had to make thousands of attempts at the electric lightbulb before getting it right. Don’t give up after your first challenge. Our most successful leaders and entrepreneurs have often had to make at least a few attempts before they began to thrive.Fail FastOne challenge many companies are faced with is being slow. Using the Fail Fast approach the …
