Innovation vs Problem Solving | Invisible Solutions by Stephen Shapiro

Language is so important. Language is so important. If I say the word innovation to somebody in a company, there are a number of different reactions. Some people are going to be like, I love innovation, want it, embrace it, support it. But there's a lot of people where the antibodies kick in. You know, we got quarterly earnings, we've got production, we've got everything else that we need to worry about. We don't have time to think about innovation. And that's where a word can disempower an organization. But if we think about it from the perspective of problem solving, problems, opportunities, challenges, issues, whatever you want to call them, every person, every department, every function, everywhere has an opportunity or problem. And so whether or not somebody's looking for innovation, everybody's looking for solutions to problems. And I think one of the mistakes that organizations make, that leaders make, and it's something which has been indoctrinated into the management ranks, is we always say, don't bring me problems, bring me solutions. Sure, bad advice, because when you ask people for their solutions, you get a lot of irrelevant, low value solutions. But if you say, bring me important problems, media problems, bigger problems, critical problems, using my term, differentiating problems, now all of a sudden we end up with an organization that's figuring out what matters and they get people rallying around solving problems as a group rather than just lots of little points of light which might have very little value. So to me, the key with all of this is to say if you think of a business as nothing more than a collection of problems and opportunities that will help you grow over the long term. The more you equip every person, the greater chance you have of staying relevant, competitive and adaptable. Pick up a copy today@invisiblesolutionsbook.com.