Fall in Love with the Problem

28.05.17 11:38 AM

Innovation, disruption and change are the buzz words in the community sector at the moment and a number of leaders I have spoken are starting to become a little bit tired of the concepts. This is both great news and bad news. It’s positive that the need to innovate and change is at the centre of our attention, yet the normalisation of these words into our everyday business dictionary also means that there are a number of myths emerging about what innovation actually is. 
While we all know that innovation creates value for our clients, one myth is that innovation is all about creating new products or programs. The other is that innovation is something we do outside of our normal day-to-day operations. And the last is that innovation is about improving what we already do. 
It’s understandable that these myths are emerging. In a sector that is so focused on delivering positive outcomes for clients with little access to resources, we find it easier to swallow up concepts into our typical understanding rather than really striving to change our way of thinking. So I’d like to challenge you to take a minute and shift the way you think about innovation. 
Yes, brand new shiny products and programs are seen as innovation.  But in a sector limited by budgets and time, brand new and shiny is not always a possibility. There is hope for you though. There are a number of ways to disrupt the market and create value for clients other than with a new product. Have you thought about changing your business model? Have you thought about changing the function of a team? Sound too difficult? It doesn’t have to be. Being innovative with how you “do things” is a great way to create value and the shifts can be small over a long period of time.  Toyota’s CEO, Akio Toyoda, once said that Toyota made small changes to their thinking over many years and eventually those all added up to big innovations. But note, I said “being innovative” in your process and functions. Don’t get caught up in the myth of innovation being about process improvement. Often, organisations will make improvements to their quality or make efficiencies within their business model. This is not innovation. Keeping something the same but only done in a better or more efficient way is not innovation. 
This brings me to how innovation is seen as something that happens outside of our day-day-day business or operations. We create our business plans and then set up an innovation team on the side of that to think up new solutions for our problems. We then take those ideas and spend time trying to align those solutions to our strategy. But innovation needs to be at the centre of the way your organisation does things, not on the side of it. Innovation is not something special that only talented or genius people create. It is something that can be routine and methodical. By creating a culture of innovation, you can take advantage of all the capabilities of every single person in your organisation. Struggling to find innovative and creative ideas is not a reason for the lack of innovation in your organisation, it is an excuse. Innovative ideas can come from your marketing team about a new way to position yourselves. Or in your finance team, who can innovate in the way you help your clients manage their payments with you. Or with your reception staff who can innovate on your customer service. Innovation is not your leadership. Innovation is not your front line staff. Innovation is everybody and can be found on the fringes of what you do. It can involve more people and can be manageable and routine within your organisation. 
How?
Well, I’ll leave you with a final comment on innovation being the solution. Innovation is not the solution. As leaders, we all become enamoured with the “answer” and the “solution we have come up with”. We become focused on implementing those solutions quickly so that we can capture market share. But as Uri Levine said, “Fall in Love with the Problem”. Challenge yourself and your people to fall in love with the puzzles you are trying to solve, not the solutions for them. Innovation comes when you and your team stay focused on solving problems rather than loving a solution. That’s when innovation really comes alive in your organisation.