Optimizing Innovation

Innovation is a beautiful and necessary thing to keep any business or organization relevant.But it has to be done right and at the opportune time. Otherwise, it can be a black hole that sucks the life out of your financial resources, your time, and your passion, with a negative impact on your consumer base.

It is crucial to find a healthy balance between that which is new and different, and that which is misunderstood or too far ‘out there’. Despite all the insight and advice I give to Fortune 100 and Fortune 500 companies as a keynote speaker, consultant and trainer, regarding the INNOVATION MINDSET, things like; take risks, be absurd in your thinking, the objective is always to optimize the success rate of creativity in the workplace.

Innovation Mindset Keynote

If something is TOO different, it will invite fear and resistance; alienation.

If it is not new enough, it will not inspire excitation; same ol’ same ol’.

Let’s talk Alienation

If an invention, a new product or an improved service is too extreme for the market to comprehend, it will alienate the consumer base. Why? Because those consumers won’t understand this new and different thing that you are proposing. Not to mention, humans, for the most part, don’t like change, let alone drastic or radical change. They panic: fight, flight or freeze. If you have enough time or money to educate your audience, then go for it. Patience and long-term planning pay dividends.

To avoid alienation, you’ll need to place your finger on your customers’ purchasing pulse. What are their needs, expectations and desires… and of course, pain points? If you make it too different, you’ve simply added a new pain point; steep learning curve. Anybody remember Microsoft’s Vista?

Next part of the equation is understanding how informed your base is? And maybe the most important questions is, are they ready for this new thing? Lets’ not forget the element of timing. Think of the movie industry who have to determine when to release a movie. In general, product launches are carefully mapped out following extensive marketing research. Release it too soon and people laugh or run. Release it too late, and you are now no longer first to market. You’re simply a follower jumping on the bandwagon; which sometimes works a treat because it allows you to improve on the innovation.

Really pay attention to the marketplace during your ideation and R&D. Invest in understanding people; socio-economic climate, financial climate, and most definitely… trends. Don’t you dare deny trends. Every now and again, something does come along that is radically different, goes against the trend grain, and is not initially understood, yet, it eventually takes over like wildfire. Think of companies like Cirque du Soleil, Tesla, Apple and Virgin. They were all first to market, they all revolutionized their industries. Though not without resistance. Again, time and money!

Let’s not forget the negative side of the innovation graph. Some inventions or creations that were innovative but didn’t really do the research fail miserably. Failure is not bad, btw. It’s costly when risks are careless. 

For those of you who are older than Millennials, you may remember the VHS / Betamax wars. Betamax, actually had the better technology; superior resolution (250 lines vs. 240 lines), better sound, and a more stable image. Why did they not dominate and kill VHS? They didn’t understand the market. Betamax.

The “quickie” version of this tale is, porn. Yep, porn video rentals at the back of the store where men discretely shopped. Some will say it was due to the length of sports games. Betamax tapes could only record 60 minutes. VHS, 120 minutes. The word on the street is that because Betamax didn’t allow porn on its platform, men got accustomed to VHS. True or not? Either way, the moral of the story is, know the market and consumer behaviors. Create and adapt accordingly.

Do a deeper dive into the INNOVATION MINDSET… buy the book today!

Let’s talk excitation

When innovation is on time, at the right price and correctly distributed, it will excite people. Excitement is based on experiencing something new, yet relatable… and keeping up with the trends (and the Jones’). Some traditional and established companies don’t push too much for innovation, though they won’t stay completely static either. Rolls Royce doesn’t exactly bring out a new model every couple of years. Yet they have remained relevant and significant. Unlike Harley Davidson, unfortunately. They have experienced 5 straight years of dropped sales of up to 5.2% - with shares falling 4.3% to $33.37.

Companies must think ahead in order to appeal to new generations, even if the brand wishes to remain traditional. Expectations change. Standard change. Styles change… therefore so must product, services and customer experience adapt.

Keeping your audience excited will inspire repeat business. Apple are geniuses at this, though we are all waiting for the next best thing since sliced bread or the iPod. Besides an investment from Microsoft, the Iphone is given credit for not only saving Apple, but for propelling it the first publicly traded $ trillion company on the planet (2018). It has since doubled that in 2020. In big part because they are continually striving to innovate and excite.

Sincerely,

Vital Germaine

PRESIDENT of ENGAGE Teams 360

Top-Selling Author: BUY THE BOOKS

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Innovation Mindset Keynote by Vital Germaine

Life lessons

There are many lessons I learned during my years at Cirque du Soleil... some of them I now use to inspire as a speaker because they relate and lend to the business world. Other lessons focus on who we are as individuals, as humans. All the lessons have helped me grow as a person and I gadly share them.

One of the biggest take aways from my 5 years in the company were the lesson learned about integrity and being authentic - being true to who we are and not being afraid of our individuality or expressing it; qualities Cirque thrived on and inspired us to be, encouraged us to do, including being CHILDLIKE and in the moment.

Here is an excerpt from the sequel to FLYING WITHOUT A NET (still yet unnamed and close to publication) - this little "tease" gives a hint as to one of those many lessons.

CHAPTER 13 ~ The Cirque Audition… continued ~

There I stood below the trapeze; confused—a part of me fearless, the other half trembling.

The first part of the Cirque du Soleil audition had been a whirlwind of exploration, discovery, some really crazy shit, and a sturdy reminder to let go of conformity, feel and express without inhibition. Debbie Brown’s creative insanity left me none the wiser, only more curious and eager to play, be silly and have fun at the expense of the clowns, midgets and sword-swallowers I thought lived at the back in trailers.

The coach, Pierre, and his quiet assistant whose name I don’t remember, placed me into a harness. It fit snug around the waist. It squeezed my inner thighs and everything in between. They attached the belt to the bungee cords by a clip that mountain climbers use.

Pierre began my crash course like he had done to the other dancers...

...Instead of dancing up there as the other dancers had done, I played like a child on Christmas day. I made up several silly spur of the moment moves: the suspended swimming frog, followed by the flying monkey, ending with the slow motion astronaut and the seventies aerial robot. I went from zero to genuine clown in under six seconds.

 “It’s fun, non?” asked Pierre.

Debbie and Pierre congratulated me.

I had apparently captured their attention, imagination and curiosity despite having no idea what I was doing. It sometimes pays to be vulnerable and authentic and just do without a plan or a sense of direction—to be spontaneous regardless of circumstance—to reconnect with one’s forgotten inner child and just be.

"It's not always easy to be in the moment, authentic and let go of your inhibitions to be free, to be vulnerable and childlike. But when I do, good things happen!"

Vital Germaine

Adaptability and $$$$ for your business

Every successful business needs innovation in order to grow and compete in todays faster than ever, changing business climate. Creativity provides a platform upon which to envision tomorrow'g great ideas – be it developing a new and memorable sensory experience for your clients, or identifying new markets, to implementing innovative marketing and sales strategies, or creating defining products that will separate you from your competitors.

The challenge with creativity is that people often claim to have none,  yet we are all creative! The common confusion is people are not artistic so they claim to not be creative. You don't need to be artistic in order to be creative. However, business needs creativity and a workforce invited to explore, experiment, fail, discover and eventually achieve new heights. 

According to Gallup, forward thinking companies that adapt to trends and implement new approaches, stimulating paradigm shifts, experience on average 20% higher profits.

Are you stimulating sales, broadening your business perspective and promoting growth by inspiring innovation and creativity as a part of your corporate culture?