1. Treasure-Phobia - Every organization is full of buried treasure, thousands of ideas hidden inside the minds of customers, employees, vendors, community leaders and the families of each group. Each person offers unique perspectives and ideas which can help the organization be more innovative. Yet many trainers are strangely afraid
of or negligent in finding them. Golden treasure is waiting to be discovered, usually for the low cost of simply ASKING for ideas.
2. Risk Resistance - It's human nature to resist pain. Yet in business (and in life), there's a BIG difference between Avoiding risk and Engaging risk. Sticking with the same 'ol training programs, like computer skills, sexual harassment prevention, even safety ? really aren't THAT "safe" if your people don't have the skills to creatively solve ALL types of problems. Innovation happens when people engage risk, brainstorm ideas, make their best calculations, hash it out, step back, re-group, develop a plan and FORGE AHEAD! When failures happen, they embrace the pain, learn from their mistakes, climb out of the ditch, clean up and get back to work! Innovation is MESSY, yet the end results produce tangible treasure. 3. Thin Thinking ? The 'buzz' over Lean Manufacturing, Lean Office, etc. is interesting. Lean Schmean. Oh, certainly there's value in looking for ways to minimize costs and reduce inefficiencies. Yet a cut, cut, cut focus can lead to thin thinking. BIG IDEAS drive Industry Revolutions. FAT is where it's at! FAT innovation is what ultimately makes your company's offerings not just palatable, but delectable! Fat ideas = Fat bottom lines. 4. Innovation Dehydration - Innovative trainers are always on the lookout for resources to pour into their organizations. Yet many companies are thirsty for new ideas, methods, input, and training. Look at what bottled water companies have done to create a phenomenally profitable industry selling ? water. Take a swig of insight
into how they've successfully differentiated H?O from tap water. If they can generate creative ideas about this basic liquid, think about what you and your team can brainstorm! 5. Stellar Expectations on Bottle Rocket Budgets ? Most executives expect their training staff to reach the stars of efficiency and success. Yet, many only allocate a "pop-bottle rocket budget" for training in strategic thinking and
creative problem-solving or investing in innovation resources and catalytic systems. Nearly everyone wants to succeed at work. Yet many team members don't have the critical thinking skills to generate new revenue streams, identify cost-saving breakthroughs or create ideas that are beyond the box of industry paradigms. How will you grow without investing in innovation training? 6. Sand-Head Syndrome ? Many trainers still live by the "if it isn't thought of here, it doesn't exist" mentality (aka "I don't want to hear other people's ideas"). They are closed up like a box turtle in its shell?trapped in their hard mental "boxes" and unwilling to engage resource people who have a win/win mindset. Often, their mental orifices are clogged with sand from too many years in their industry's private beach. That's why outsiders with fresh perspective can provide a Return on Investment that quickly pays for itself. There are other resources who can help harvest your sand-induced pearls of wisdom (and profits). 7. Pseudo-Systems - With such a plethora of ideas, you'd think there would be cutting-edge systems for capturing these money-making, budget-saving ideas. Yet, most organizations make pitiful attempts to harvest the ideas of their interested parties. They not only forget to ASK, they lack easy-to-access, easy-to-evaluate infrastructures to allow for critical evaluation and action. Millions of dollars in profit are left untapped ? all for the lack of "idea-harvesting" events and systems. So, what's your plan to escape these Seven Deadly Innovation Mistakes? ? 2005 John Storm  John Storm is known as The BrainStorm Expert? whose mission is to bring Your ideas to LIFE! His expertise focuses on helping people discover, evaluate and implement their ideas. For more innovation resources, contact him at:
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or call (405) 321-6262. |
