What is “Ruthless Innovation”
Dictionary meaning of
Ruthless   : – adjective 1. without pity or mercy
Innovation : – noun 1. something new or different introduced 2. the act of innovating; introduction of new things or methods
As we see it Ruthless innovation means “Without Pity or mercy creating something new or different”
There are many world leaders who are “Ruthless Innovators” in multiple fields. For example, Gandhi was a Ruthless Innovator. So is Steve jobs or Mark Zuckerberg in tech field. You can count Lady Gaga as yet another example of Ruthless innovator (click here to see her >>>>>>>”all meat dress” ??
Or Richard Branson who went around the world in an air balloon.
And when we look at any sport you will see legions of exemplary leaders like Mike Jordan or Sachin Tendulkar or even Tiger woods who have repeatedly displayed all the traits of Ruthless innovators.
Then how do you achieve a superior Ruthless Innovation model?
Step1 – “Accept” It starts with a clear acceptance of the need to innovate differently. Throw away your pre FaceBook or Twitter generation innovation models. Understand that your 6 year old kid can do faster, better with her little fingers on an iPad than you and your team out together. So, to innovate for that generation, you can not use models and processes of pre 2005 era. It’s over …..u need something new
Step 2 – “Globalize” you gotta build a global team. A team comprising of all same type men/ women of same religion / language is a disaster recipe for innovation. Have a diverse team with people from Uruguay, Mysore, Palo Alto and Taiwan . This kinda team has a better chance of building a cool break through product.
Step 3 – “iterate” . RiP water fall model. You can not afford to design a process which needs a document to be reviewed by 7 people and the “boss” has to approve. If you are the “boss” and wanna succeed, fire yourself out of the innovation. Allow the team to work smoothly. Iterate every few hours. Bring your prospective customers into the loop.. Did you know word press does thousands of “releases” every month??
Step 4 – “ Learn“. Make sure you and your team learn every day every hour. Fire the members who refuse to learn fast enough. Learn about the changes in market, competition, new ideas, changing customer behavior everything. Share it with everyone. Even if you are a one man army…..this applies.
Step 5 – “Execute“. Have you heard the song des’ree you gotta be tough??. Ruthless innovation is all about executing your idea In a methodical precision at high speed. Imagine a surgeon at a hospital performing a complex surgery. You can’t wait for 3 weeks or 3 months. You MUST do it faster. Or the patient is dead. You need to move fast. Ignore that old adage “slow and steady wins the race”. Now it’s “Fast and accuracy wins the RACE”
So with this 5 Step “AGILE” Accept, Globalize, Iterate, Learn and Execute loop, you are bound to build break through innovations!!
More on the Ruthless Innovation model to follow……..
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