Our leadership group at the Innovation Café has spent three years studying how innovation is used and diffused in various industries around the world. We learned early on that the hospital industry had no track record in developing innovation as a core competency for staff members. This lead us to non-health care companies as we continued to explore. After in-depth meetings with experts at companies such as Motorola, 3M, Dupont, Whirlpool, Microsoft and many others, we learned that building a workforce that is inspired by the projects they’re working on and a workforce that is experienced at developing new ways to solve problems is one of the most powerful ways to be ready for any business challenges that come your way… and ultimately to sustain a vital, successful organization. Although our original focus was on how this topic could impact the health care industry, the principles and tools we’ve identified apply to almost any business.

There are two key advantages to having an innovative-thinking team:

1- Ability to reduce risk
The development of new programs or products carries a certain amount of time, energy and funding risks. The use of R&D/innovation
tools such as rapid prototyping, deep dives, etc., allows opportunity for mistakes to be made early and at less expensive stages. Organizations that pay direct attention to reducing risk will have the ability to manage resources better and improve the chances for new business success.

2- Ability to differentiate
Most American businesses have been through the quality improvement skill building as well as the service improvement efforts that have had great impact on the ability to meet and exceed customer needs. These are crucial values needed for a successful operation. Quality and Service focus is about continually getting better at what you do. We feel there is a third equally important value and that is being different with what you do. Commoditization is a danger for many companies and a cure for this is having a workforce that has the ability to identify ways to differentiate your business from others. An organization that values innovation and offers staff the tools to work on innovative projects will be much better prepared to differentiate.
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