Avere successo nell'innovazione? Evitare gli estremi!

Scott Antony, oltre a essere partner di una famosa società di consulenza in USA, è anche uno dei contributori con maggior credito per quanto riguarda l’innovazione legata alla strategia. Un suo recente studio – sfociato poi in un libro: “the first mile” – mette in guardia dalle azioni eccessive quando si tratta di innovare. Anche all’innovazione va applicato il buon senso e l’equilibrio prima di prendere le decisioni: non si deve innovare ad ogni costo, non ci si deve lasciar guidare solo dal mercato e si deve avere soprattutto l’umiltà di “correggere il tiro” quando ci si accorge di aver sbagliato.

 

(..) innovation itself is so commonplace (at least as an aspiration) that it is no longer a differentiator. (…)

Top among his observations are the importance of realising that conventional business plans set down on paper as all would-be entrepreneurs are advised “are not worth very much”, of seeing the limitations of market research – because people “tell you things that aren’t true” – and of learning that it is possible to have too much capital, for the simple reason that it makes you risk-averse.

Among the other lessons in The First Mile is the importance of balancing confidence with humility. (..) “every idea is partially true and partially wrong”. So, while innovators – whether within large organizations or in start-ups – need to have the confidence to take on established assumptions and ways of doing things, they also need sufficient humility to be prepared to adapt. (…)

 Urging innovators to “avoid extremes”, he says that “over-analysis is dangerous, but doing without thinking is possibly even more dangerous”. The “lean start-up” concept, which is currently much in vogue, has a lot to recommend it but it should not be taken too far.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/rogertrapp/2014/04/23/to-succeed-in-innovation-avoid-extremes/