5 ways to use technology to foster innovation

Technology innovation thrives most when human ingenuity is
uninhibited to deliver intrinsic value for unmet needs.
Becoming a technology consultant more than a decade ago was
a huge wake up call for me. I’d just left a position as a customer
asking others to design new technology solutions or improve
existing ones. Not too long after that, I found myself on the
opposite side of this equation, where people relied on me for
answers.
Terms like “agility” and “innovation” took on a different
meaning. As Steve Jobs eloquently once said, “You can’t
connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them
looking backwards.” I see many parallels between my experience
back then and the ambitions of today’s junior technology
consultants and teams. These same lessons that helped me
succeed in the past still apply.
Here are five tools that can help foster innovation with
technology solutions:
1. Don’t kill a mosquito with a shotgun. In design, simple is
beautiful.
Remember, we’re here to solve business problems–not
complicate them. Business challenges are already complex and
involved enough. Attack design challenges aggressively, but
tackle them with an eye on any impact to the user experience
and/or overall user community. Take into account all facets of
the user lifecycle to gauge risks and rewards.
Technology can be a tricky business because many layers of our
product or solution may be out of our control. This is critical if
we want to manage the perception, which often dictates reality.
The best teams don’t lose sight of how they need to balance
risks and rewards when it comes to designing a consistently
superior user experience.
2. Paint the big picture for everyone. It matters when executing
your strategy.
Having a clear picture is critical for everyone. All members of
your extended teams–and even sometimes your customers (or
end users)–should understand what the technology solution will
achieve. When your teams understand the big picture, they’ll be
more motivated to seize and execute the details of your strategy.
Your customers must be able to discern quickly what your end
product does and what’s in it for them. They need to connect
with it at some emotional level. When users have a choice, they
usually adopt the solution that they like or hate for that product.
It’s a basic notion, but a surprising number of teams miss this.
3. Transparency promotes collaboration and collective insight.
Create an environment where your teams (and I mean, all teams)
feel safe to share openly and collaborate freely. Encourage a
holistic view of the entire user experience, and look at all parts of
your technology solution objectively. This is something we often
promote in design thinking .
This begins with speaking openly about the challenges or
problems you’re facing. The trick is to extend this collaboration
beyond the core teams–from development to support through
communication and operations.
And it all starts with leadership. Leading is not limited to one’s
role, responsibility, and title . Shared ownership encourages every
team member to contribute to–and be critical in–the collective
outcome born out of collective insight.
4. Use a safety net to encourage innovation.
There’s a tremendous opportunity to innovate whenever a new
solution is rapidly expanding–both in functionality and in reach.
But, innovation and cultural change can be challenging within
traditional business models that are now forced to support
increasingly mobile workforces and not suited for fast-paced,
ever-evolving requirements with digital footprints.
Don’t be discouraged if you find yourself in this situation. People
tend to be creative and productive when they feel secure enough
to take risks. Build safety nets that will allow them to
experiment. However, do so without disruption to growth and
profitability.
5. Encourage diversity of opinion to allow the best idea to
always win.
Innovation is toughest when there’s a lot of ego involved. Don’t
bring your ego to the design table. Seek ways to put distance
between individuals and their work.
Discourage what I refer to as “ single-click consulting ” so that
questions can ignite the critical-thinking process, which is a
prerequisite to asking the right questions with data to support
arguments, not arguments to support data .
When we promote passionately that the best idea always wins,
we’re much more likely to solicit constructive feedback and
spark ideas that would have been otherwise suppressed or never
discovered.
What do you think? What other tools do you use that foster
technology innovation?
This article is published in collaboration with SAP Community
Network.