3 Ways to Solve Common Innovation Inefficiencies

February 5, 2022

Navigating business innovations in a post-pandemic world can be challenging, but with problem-solving innovation tailored to your business’s specific needs, you can ensure your business innovation has a smooth transition between planning and execution.

Innovation and problem solving go hand in hand, and a good strategy is a way to proactively approach your innovation inefficiencies and handle them appropriately. These tips will give you a strategic approach to many common problems that arise during the planning stage of any business innovation, ensuring smooth implementation and maximization of benefit.

Determine What Innovative Strategy Is Right For You

First, you should determine which type of innovation strategy fits your needs. There are four main types of innovation strategies, sustaining, breakthrough, disruptive and basic research. Each offers their own unique approach so picking the right one is important.

Sustaining innovation should be used if you are looking to improve on your existing business model. This problem-solving technique is best used when you have a clear idea of what the problem is, and what skills are required to solve it. This is where the majority of innovations take place.
Breakthrough innovation, a type of open innovation that utilizes seemingly unrelated elements to solve a specific problem, can be used if unconventional means to solve a problem is required. Opening up the table to other skill domains can prove highly effective. This problem-solving technique is effective when up against a well-defined problem that is proving harder to solve than expected.
Disruptive innovation should be considered if you find your business is innovating, but not in areas that are relevant or profitable. A business that is constantly improving on services or products not in demand will find themselves losing money very quickly. This problem-solving technique will help redirect time and resources to more relevant parts of the business.
Basic research arms your business with all the knowledge required to make informed decisions when it comes to brainstorming new innovations. Before planning any new innovation, making sure the proper research has been done is very important. Learn as much as you can so you and your team can approach any new innovation confidently.

Identifying the area where innovation is necessary and approaching it with the right strategy in mind is key in getting on top of your innovational inefficiencies. It has become increasingly more important to implement relevant innovation to your business, especially in a post-pandemic world.

Define Innovations in a More Abstract Sense

The brainstorming phase of any innovation is where many common problems arise. When brainstorming innovations with your team members you should try to define “innovation” in an abstract way, encouraging ideas over physical products as a result. By defining it in this way you free up your team to get creative and throw out unique solutions using innovative problem-solving.

This type of original and “out of the box” innovation is more important than ever, as businesses adjust to the new climate left in the wake of COVID-19. Encouraging your team to experiment is the best way to set your path towards an innovation that sticks, while also discouraging consensus, which usually supports only the safest, most generic innovations.

Only Innovate in Areas That Can Benefit From It

When brainstorming innovations with your team it’s important to be realistic and prioritize what innovations you spend time and money on. Some ideas can sound good on paper, but when weighed against the reality and relevance of implementation, can fall apart quickly. Because of this, businesses should be diligent when implementing any innovations by comparing any pros and cons and considering the overall benefit of the innovation at the time of conception.

Smartly evaluating risk can be useful when considering customer feedback, another popular avenue for sparking innovative ideas. While useful, considering long-term needs and consequences is an important part of planning any business innovation. Consider customer feedback responsibly for the best results.

Be Flexible With Your Expectations

Lastly, the most important thing to consider when doing any innovative planning is the be flexible as the idea gets executed. The innovative concept is likely to undergo several changes during its implementation, and the final version might not be exactly what you planned to begin with. Be wise and know when it’s okay to let go of your original vision and adapt to the current working model as it makes its way to the completed stage.

Holding out for a past version of innovation can lead to losing money and time. Admitting that your innovation isn’t cutting it in its current form can be hard but seeing that idea through and committing yourself to the changes it needs is an important part of innovative problem-solving.

Strategic planning can help you avoid these issues when implementing your business innovation.

With these tips, you can approach common innovative inefficiencies smartly and proactively, to ensure the smooth implementation of any innovations that your business requires. After you decide which form of innovative problem solving is right for you, you can then approach your idea in a strategic way that encourages abstract ideas and solutions to real-world problems.

Remaining flexible and making smart decisions can ensure that your business succeeds in the new climate left in the wake of COVID-19. Innovation is in high demand as the economy recovers from the past two years, and it’s important that your business make its mark by filling any gaps with innovative solutions that benefit both you and your consumers.