Even when business is booming, it’s essential to keep innovating and foster a culture that embraces change and creativity. Processes that work just fine can become obsolete almost overnight due to competitive disruption.
Aim to be the disruptor, not the disrupted!
ABI Research reported that 56 billion apps would be downloaded in 2013, presenting a very interesting curve ball in the gaming industry. Even more surprisingly the research showed that 58% of smartphone apps downloaded were Android and only 33% were Apple IOS, proving that even the disruptors can be disrupted. Women in particular have a vital role to play in innovation because as the Harvard Business Review states, “women represent a growth market as big as India and China combined, control $20 trillion in global consumer spending, own or operate 25-33% of all private businesses and earn an estimated $13 trillion with expectations that it will swell to $18 trillion by the end of 2014.” Innovation is about finding creative solutions. In business, it’s about improving the way we do things in a meaningful and effective way. Technology is put to best use when it facilitates innovation for businesses and for people. You don’t have to be in the ICT industry to be innovative, but it is critical that you understand how technology can help you to stay relevant and turn business problems into opportunities for growth! Here’s a good example of how Australian female tech innovators are having a direct impact on the way that mentoring works.
With broad combined knowledge and expertise in human resources, Naomi Kimberlin and Danielle Fletcher recognised a need to improve the experiences that women were having with mentoring and facilitate better outcomes. They joined forces to co-found PropellHer, which is a cloud based software platform that matches mentors and mentees not just by skills and expertise but also by personality type.
So how can you use the same kind of innovative thinking in your business? Here’s a rough mud map you might like to try.
4 Steps to Innovative Thinking
- Examine the processes in your business. Visual mapping is a really effective way of doing this. It stimulates contextual thinking and also provides a framework for collaborative conversation and contribution.
- Consider carefully the underlying human needs and desires of the people who are involved in both the internal and external environments of your business. What are they really asking for? Where are their pain points?
- Explore creative solutions. If anything were possible, what would the best outcome look like? Better technical solutions are developed when you focus on the impact of outcomes and then work backwards to understand how they can be achieved.
- Investigate how technology can be employed to facilitate faster, more efficient solutions. Mobile devices, cloud storage and advanced data handling are changing the way we share and manage information and this presents some very exciting opportunities for innovation!
Nominate Now for an Innovation Award! Every year the Australian ICT industry recognises and celebrates innovation achievements across the industry at the prestigious #iAwards. This year PropellHer has been nominated in the Startup iAward category and there are another 24 categories including the brand new Hills Young Innovator of the Year in the Pioneer Domain, which is specifically aimed at innovative thinkers under 25. Nominations are now open across all categories and getting involved is the perfect opportunity to showcase your innovation on a national and international stage!
Who could you tap on the shoulder to step up as a leader in technology innovation and benefit from this valuable opportunity? Serial Entrepreneur and Innovation Consultant, Danielle Neale is the Founder and CEO of Bespoke, Non-Executive Director for Women in Technology and the Lead Judge for the Hills Young Innovator Award. Her company, Bespoke assists organisations to ‘drive productivity through innovation’ and ‘create alignment between core business objectives and the right ICT solutions’.
