George R.R. Martin describes two kinds of writers: architects (who plan) and gardeners (who see what emerges). These ideas apply to innovators too. However, instead of embracing one approach over the other, we need to build the skills require to integrate them.
I just started writing for Harvard Business Review Blogs. Here is the story of how I almost blew that opportunity, and how I finally made it work by doing what I already know works: experimenting.
We learn through trial and error. That’s how everyone figures out how to ride a bike. We need to use trial and error more in business – it is a core tool for building an innovation culture.
The most important phrase in innovation is “this might not work.” If there isn’t a risk, we’re not innovating.
Experimenting is a core innovation skill. Scott Berkun’s book The Year Without Pants outlines the approach that Automattic uses to foster experiments at WordPress.com. It’s a great approach, which you can adapt to fit your organisation too.
My goal here is to help people that are trying to build a better world. I want to help make work more interesting. I hope that we can work together to do that. This is why we need to think of innovation as a discipline.
Most organisations have more than enough ideas, but many struggle to choose the best ideas to pursue. Here are ten methods you can use to improve your idea selection.
“They made fun of Galileo, and he was right. They make fun of me, therefore I am right.” That’s a logical fallacy. One way to avoid it is to actually test out our ideas – you can prove people wrong by making your ideas work. This is part of why innovation requires a bias towards action.
