Strategic Idea Development

New idea development is not about working hard at creating random, pop up, wow ideas that do not fit within the corporate culture. At the same time it cannot be expected that organizations will naturally bubble up and give life to new products or ideas. 

It is this balance between sparked creativity and defined discipline that builds the right spirit at a company allowing new things to come forward and succeed.

The more upfront leg work, planning and defining that is done the better the chances that new ideas and development will be embraced and accepted, vs. looked at as a pain point. 

Again, this upfront work requires time with the leadership of a company to be aligned with the vision, direction and goals otherwise each “new” effort is more about a roll of the dice on how it will be seen or supported/not supported.

What Is Needed For A New Thinking Culture?

Once your thinking becomes focused on creating a change-accepting environment, you can start to walk a new path — one that is less about preserving the past and more about controlling the future. 

Self determination and control of your destiny are grounded in change and a new thinking way of business.

In order to create a change accepting culture:

• Companies need champions of change (change agents)

• They need to support these champions

• Change acceptance MUST start at the top

• Change must be all about relationships, awareness & expectation building

• There must be a predetermined & agreed upon processes for new thinking

• Companies must shift from reactionary to proactive and continual new thinking & improvement

• A culture of change acceptance must be considered a key element of sustainable success

• Utilize the corporate “right brains” for vision and spirit

• Focus on the future without attacking the past

• Share information, insights and thoughts — the more you give, the more people will start to think differently & accept your ideas

• Remember the strategic value of it all — not the nuts & bolts of it all

• Most importantly — focus on strategic thinking

Once change-accepting environments begin to take shape, new ideas and new ways will come into view.

“We all have big changes in our lives that are more or less a second chance.”

— Harrison Ford

Our Business Structure Is Still Circa 1900’s

While technology has forever changed the way business people work, power structures, decision making and direction setting in most businesses hasn’t changed dramatically in the past 100 years.

Many utilize the “duck & cover” style of management, focused on the path of least resistance or change. Most do not come to work every day asking, “So how do I eliminate my power, my job, and my livelihood?”

New thinking will challenge all status quo power structures — and create a feeling like the world is destabilizing. New thinking requires more brain effort than maintaining the status quo.

If you undertake the creation of a change-accepting environment or develop something new, be aware that the “corporate white blood cells” will come to life and do everything in their power to destroy the effort.

Make sure you are up to the challenge!

“I’m a company of one. I have no team, no power; I share people with other projects. I can’t tell people what to do — but I can convince them by appealing to their agenda” – Primal Leadership, p52

New Thinking Dies Because People Fear Change

People want a manageable work life with consistent expectations. They want to maintain what they have; they operate in a “day-to-day survival” mode.

This kind of thinking begins with a WIIFM (“What’s in it for me?”) attitude. Employees do not always have the company’s best interests at heart and instead they approach any kind of change with a WIIFM attitude.

The more difficult the change and the wider its impact, the greater the motivation needs to be — both to the organization and to its individuals. Building incentives, dealing with fear and the threat of loss, and identifying opportunities for advancement are just some of the issues that need to be addressed. The key to success is communicating that change is a good thing.

What Made You Great In the Past Will Not Make You Great In The Future

Many businesses emphasize preserving the past, when in reality, past-thinking is a killer. How many times have you heard, but that’s not how we do it? Challenging the status quo can often crush the life out of new thinking.

If you walk into a company whose lobby is loaded with pictures of past presidents and dead guys, or they spend more time explaining history than vision, you are walking the halls of a beast that is craving a return to the past, and who feels the present is more challenging and less fun. I'm not saying change for change sake, instead a realization that nothing remains the same. 

New thinking companies have a forward view, fueled by past success. When their people look at better ways to do things or want to dissect something to see if it could be done better, these companies respond with, “Great!” instead of “Why?”

Steps to Building a Change-Accepting Environment

When Is New Thinking Called Upon?

In most businesses, the majority of new ideas and solutions evolve from reactions to specific situations, in a domino effect. New thinking is not a built-in, defined part of the company culture, or a key element of the business structure — like accounting or HR — but rather, it is pulled out when needed. New thinking is seen as a cure to a problem, instead of systemic and integrated into the culture of a company. New thinking is typically sought for:

• New Products or Services, New Markets, New Sales

• Old Product, Services or Market Revitalization

• Product or Market Issues/Problems

• New Management and/or Management Changes

• Partnering/Joint Ventures/Mergers

• Competitive Situations

• Performance Issues

• New Technologies

• Personal Health or Crises

• Career Changes or Stall-outs

• Government Actions

What Hinders New Thinking?

If a company’s culture is conflict averse, or even worse, hostile to outsiders, new thinking can be greatly impacted. Things that often negatively impact new thinking include:

• Past Success

• Current Success

• Looking Backward

• Emotions

• Poor Understanding

• Lack of Communications

• Culture of the Organization

• Strong Personalities

• Pack Mentality / Cliques

• Leadership (Lack Of Or Too Strong)

• Group Think

• Not Broke Why Fix It

• Power Struggle Issues

• Too Much Internal Competition

Anyone attempting to develop a business culture that accepts new thinking, new ideas and new people must be honest with themselves and the leadership of their organization. Change acceptance is grounded in candor and openness. Nothing kills change acceptance faster than defensiveness or fear of honest dialogue.

Moreover, change should be attempted when and where it is appropriate and strategic. Too much too soon, or wholesale change, can cause problems. It overloads the organization and 

creates a sense of lack of control. There is a thing called “change fatigue” and it starts the moment change is underway.

Start with something and gain a small win, then move on to the next. In time the wins will add up and the business leadership will think, “Hey, this is just a part of how we operate.” This is why it is so important to start with a planned, endorsed and proactive change.

“People resist it on every level in all sorts of ways, and leaders can be the most resistant of all.” — John Kotter, Harvard Business School