Today, companies of all kinds are expected not only to meet and adapt to the needs of their customers but also to constantly develop through innovation and creativity. It is inevitably the managers who have to create the breeding ground for this; after all, they are the helmsmen of the boat that represents their company in the sea of competition. Thus, Promoting Company Innovation is highly required.
There are several approaches to this. You can boost innovation with an MVP, for example. Because innovation always requires diversity. This comes not least from the employees, who each make their own small contribution to the big picture.
Digital transformation of small and medium-sized companies
Today, small and medium-sized companies in particular are dependent on adapting to the digital conditions of today’s modern business world and adapting accordingly. The best way to promote innovative ideas and creativity in this area is to provide appropriate so-called mindsets.
A mindset is generally defined as the general basic attitude, including attitudes and assumptions of a person, but also of an organization. A mindset is conditioned by the fact that thinking and acting are essentially determined by the employees of a company, therefore it is relatively stable and at the same time very changeable. How stable or fluid exactly the mindset is, depends on the context of the respective circumstances.
For this reason, it is essential to look for mindsets that benefit an innovative basic attitude. To this end, certain principles of priority should be observed, which have always been the hallmark of German business and industry in particular. These include, for example: Efficiency before exploration, freedom from errors before early availability, reliability before speed and technical optimization before customer needs are satisfied.
However, since the markets have also become more dynamic, there should also be a balance between technical perfection and customer-oriented innovation.
Start-Up – how does an MVP help?
Especially new and young companies nowadays do not necessarily see themselves as companies that exclusively offer finished concepts, products or services. Partly, unfinished ideas are also offered by considering the trust in the unfinished as the first meaningful basis for discussions as an advantage. Even products that are offered in minimal versions at an early stage, so-called MVPs (Minimal Viable Products) can be tested on the market very well and provide plenty to talk about at trade fairs or conferences, for example.
It is not uncommon for new employees to be hired who bring fresh ideas and concepts based on the MVPs that the company has previously presented. In this way, unfinished products can be optimally worked out and improved, so that a finished product can ultimately emerge from them.
Learning to love mistakes
One of the most important mindsets of today’s time is certainly also the greeting of occurring errors. If you understand mistakes as a setback or something generally negative, you have not yet arrived in today’s working world. Mistakes are nothing more than quite natural factors in a collective learning process. If a small part of a company, for example, an employee, makes a mistake, this should always be a reason to be happy, because one can always learn from mistakes and thus be better prepared for future processes.
Connection and exchange
Another essential mindset in modern companies is the insight that teamwork is more important than ever. Only when employees and innovative minds exchange ideas with each other can a company benefit from it. Silently working on things on their own quickly leads people into thought dead ends from which they do not always find their way out on their own. For this reason, it makes sense to always have as many brains as possible working on a problem or an unfinished concept.
The right approach of the management to their employees
Managers have always played a very special role in companies. Nowadays it is more important than ever that they see themselves as signposts, not as commanders. Not only can a commanding tone from above dampen the motivation of many employees, but it can also cool down the working atmosphere considerably and prevent innovation and creativity from unfolding in all their glory – among other things because they are afraid of harsh words.
