Building a Culture of Innovation Requires a Future-Focused Mindset

Innovation shouldn’t be left up to the Googles, Apples and Facebooks of the world, but, lately, it seems that only companies of their size and scope have the resources (money and time) to really do anything with new ideas.

For that reason, the word “innovation” has a tendency to make IT managers’ eyes glaze over since it’s thought of more as a buzzword than anything that can be successfully put into practice. But, unfortunately, that kind of anti-innovation thinking can stifle growth in your organization, which is why it’s so important to get everyone on board with any kind of innovation initiative.

In “Think Like a Futurist: Know What Changes, What Doesn’t and What Comes Next,” futurist Cecily Sommers offers insights into creating a future-focused mindset in your organization, one that spurs not only innovation, but, most importantly, solid and measurable growth.

An excerpt from the book, which is available here in the IT Downloads library, follows two people from the Consumer Insights division at General Mills as they develop and implement an innovation program. The author lays out their key objectives, steps and expected outcomes. It’s a great resource if you’re in the process of getting your own innovation project up and running.

And to help you in your endeavor, below are a few more innovation-centered book excerpts from the IT Downloads library:

‘The Digital Innovation Playbook’ Excerpt: Gathering new product and market ideas from communities that care about them seems like a no-brainer. But successfully mining and cultivating social networks requires companies to play by a new set of rules that include openness and a willingness to experiment.

‘Jugaad Innovation’ Excerpt: Authors Navi Radjou, Jaideep Prabhu and Simone Ahuja articulate the six principles of jugaad (from Hindi, meaning an “improvised solution born from ingenuity and cleverness”) innovation and show these principles in action.

‘Little Black Book of Innovation’ Excerpt: Scott Anthony uses the Seven Deadly Sins — pride, sloth, gluttony, lust, envy, wrath and greed — as a framework to highlight the innovator’s most common mistakes.