Explore Forever to Be a Better Innovator
Innovation is a buzzword. Everyone is talking about it. I definitely need it, right?
Maybe...so how do we get started? Is it sufficient if I just run my business better?
If you want to stand out and have your voice heard (no matter what you are talking about: your product, your event, your world-changing cause), you need to be different and better. That is innovation. Easy to say; much harder to do.
So, how do we get started?
Let’s build an Explore Forever mindset into our everyday thinking. Here are a few ways to get started:
1. Be creative - Everyone can be more creative, this isn’t some special talent reserved for famous artists, Steve Jobs, or Elon Musk. If you develop your and your team’s creativity, you will see problems differently and you will develop better and more effective solutions. Don’t bind yourself to what is expected, allow yourself to imagine, “What if?”, for any situation you (or your customer) is facing.
2. Experiment Fast - As soon as a “What if?” question pops into your head, do something--anything--to test the assumptions related to that What-if, related to a person, their problems, or what they are seeking for solutions.
Let’s be clear:
“As soon as” = “Now!”
Our human minds automatically generate a burst of excitement around every What-if, a very powerful, but very fleeting, burst. Act immediately, before you (or your friends, or someone else) begins to convince you that your What-if is stupid.
An immediate experiment--no matter how small--prolongs the excitement. It builds momentum. It gets a conversation going with a potential customer. And it is fun!
3. Learn from others - There are hundreds or even thousands of people doing something similar to yours. Before you join the herd, learn from others: their successes, their failures, how they pivoted to survive. Get your team together and do Internet Exploration, to find out what has been done already. Copy, combine, extend, delete, until you have something better for the people you are working with.
4. Keep practicing - Iteration is an entrepreneur’s superpower. Explore, experiment, try, test, communicate, and learn...over and over and over. The winners in any human endeavor are the ones who keep at it until they succeed.