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Two Key Differentiators For Success Of Any Enterprise

There are many enterprises with similar missions. Those missions expressed differently but still the same. The reason you have many restaurants, making similar food, for instance, is that there are equally many people who love the same food done somewhat differently.

key differentiators for success of enterprise

The existence of many organisations is evidence there are many people who need to be served. Not only that, people want to be served a particular way. A way which not every enterprise can. For every quirky person or people, is a quirky organisation.

There are differentiators that every enterprise must always be aware of. They are important because they decide, to a great extent, who they will attract and serve. Thus, to an extent, success depends on every enterprise’s complete understanding and unique expression of their identity.

So, here are the three key differentiators, when it comes to what organisations can do internally for success:

Who They Are

Any organisation that will be successful needs to fully understand who they are. Identity is about what you do as well as what you don’t do. Successful organisations are clear on what they do.

With that, they know not to get embroiled in things that compromise their focus, and later their success.

Leader, you must be clear on who you are and be able to express that to the rest of your enterprise.

Expression Of Identity

Any enterprise that misrepresents its mission will attract the wrong ‘clients’ [Click to Tweet]

Attracting the wrong clients will cripple your ability to serve them satisfactorily. Partially served and unhappy ‘customers’ mean a tainted reputation or credibility. Wounded credibility, in turn, means an inability to be taken seriously into the future.

A wrong expression of identity means you also repel the people who should be on your team. I need not overemphasize the importance of having the right people on your team for success of your mission.

Wrong expression of identity means you also repel the people who should be on your team [Click to Tweet]

These are two key differentiators for the success of any enterprise…

Building A Culture Of Innovation | TOGETHER

building innovation culture | together

Ideas are innovation currency. Where they are not esteemed or given room to be explored there is no innovation. I wrote about this in the first post of the series.

In that post it is apparent that leaders must be open to hearing out those they lead when it comes to ideas. Another dynamic is team. A culture of innovation cannot be leader-centric.

Even great innovators like Steve Jobs worked with a team. In fact, one of the things he did on every project he worked on was assemble a team around it. He was careful and picky about who he took on. He had a core team on each project and would, sometimes, ignore hierarchy.

Leaders who think they need to have all the answers, all the ideas are mistaken and will never lead innovative organizations. Building a culture of innovation starts with team.

Great leaders realize that their mission is too important to have them become the center. A culture of innovation cannot in an individual-focused environment. Innovation will not happen if ideas are only supposed to come from one person or quarter.

To build a culture of innovation ‘together’ must be embraced. It is an effort of the entire team and organization. You cannot build a culture of innovation if innovation is ‘department confined’. I’m not suggesting everyone has a say in everything.

I’m saying everyone must understand what it is that you strive for. It must be communicated in more than a set of values on the wall. It must be obvious in every regard. Everyone must understand and see their role as contributing to challenging the status quo within and beyond the walls of the enterprise.

Innovation can also only be sustained through the efforts of all. Everyone understands his or her part. Everyone acts his or her part. Leaders understand that they don’t have all the answers. They see that it is their job to build and sustain a culture of innovation.

Leaders, stop trying to be the one stop shop. You are the team leader and not the team. Learn to play well with others. Teams, realize that innovation is not something to restricted to a select few but seek to understand your contribution. Be bold. Be /ˈherətik/.

[photo credit: fdecomite]

Building A Culture Of Innovation | IDEAS

‘Leaders’ aren’t leading when there is nothing new as a result of their leadership. When they’re at this point, they’re mere status quo managers.

A leader that doesn’t have innovation and ‘new’ at the core of his values doesn’t deserve the position. Innovation must not only be a value, but a culture of organizations that will thrive into the future.

Building a culture of innovation may not be easy, but the starting place isn’t complicated. Heretic leaders start with a disdain for the status quo.

building a culture of innovation

Besides that:

Ideas

A culture of innovation must be built on an appreciation of ideas. Every great thing once started as an idea. For leaders to build a culture of innovation they must give room to their teams to table and explore ideas.

Ideas are innovation currency [Click to Tweet]

Leader, when your team brings ideas, don’t attack them. Make it clear that it is ideas you’re about. You can kill innovation by mistaking people for ideas.

Attack the idea while appreciating the people who bring it. When you attack people and not the product of their thinking you make they shy away from bring things up in the future.

Give ideas room to breathe. Don’t be too quick to dismiss ideas because they aren’t your style as the leader.

To borrow a phrase from John Hunt, ideas enable “the pursuit of unexpected relevance”. You only discover the relevance of ideas when you pursue of engage on the possibilities they could be bringing.

A culture of innovation is a culture of loving, appreciating, shutting down and pursuing ideas [Click to Tweet]

Give attention to ideas and don’t be afraid not to pursue them. Innovation is not synonymous with pursuit of every idea that you may come up with or your team may present.

Innovation is built on willingness to entertain ideas & courage to drop them if wanting [Click to Tweet]

 Love ideas, encourage them, explore them, abandon if they’re irrelevant. Pursue them if they are what you need where you are. Bank them if they are good but not for now. If you’re going to be innovative, don’t ignore them. Be bold. Be /ˈherətik/.

[Photo Credit: Julián Santacruz]