When you’re an independent innovator, a lone creative in charge of a project, or you’re travelling so often that you feel completely alone, it can be hard to light that organic spark that happens when people are easily able to bounce ideas off of each other.
Being independent isn’t all bad news for innovation, mind you. For some, being autonomous is actually efficient because you’re able to make quick decisions and move fast. It also means you have to hold yourself to account for innovation – or not.
If you work independently or alone, you’re likely to be deliberate about adjusting your work day and your targets in a way that best suits you. This also means you can set aside time to focus on your innovation by getting out there and seeking inspiration and connections to fuel those ideas.
Einstein said “we cannot solve our problems with the same thinking that created them”. Independent innovators and nimble organisations are more able to quickly make connections to seek insight and inspiration from outside their own bubble.
Another benefit to being on your own or a small, independent operation versus a large, faceless organisation is that you’re a real person – and not a representative of your large corporation. People like to collaborate with and help other real people.
For example, if you’re struggling with an aspect of your business where someone else has succeeded, you can just pick up the phone and get in touch with them – you don’t have to seek permission which is more often the case in larger organisations. If the organisation is not a competitor there is every chance they would talk to you.
Someone else will have solved your problem already
Looking beyond your own industry for innovative business ideas is a good way to unlock new ideas.
When the doctors at Great Ormond Street Hospital wanted to work faster as a team when taking babies from the ward to intensive care, they asked the Formula 1 team (who turn cars around in the pit stop in seconds) for advice.
The teams at Great Ormond Street and Formula 1 worked together to apply the pit stop teamwork principles to the teams responsible for the transportation of seriously ill babies.
The changes that they made resulted in more people being gathered round the beds when the babies were moved. To ensure that because more people involved in the process didn’t mean that they tripped up over each other, the team at Great Ormond Street turned to another unlikely place for help.
They consulted and learned from dance choreographers.
The changes streamlined the process and reportedly reduced technical and information communication errors by 40%.
Three fundamental questions to help you innovate alone
It all starts with a shift in perspective. Be childlike in your exploration, ask “why?” and throw out the obvious or the “way that things have always been done here” solution.
Three things to do if you’re stuck:
- Ask other people who are not close to the work you are doing for a fresh perspective on your problem-solving.
- Seek answers to your questions in an industry or culture you’ve never looked at before.
- Look for where your problem has been solved by someone else.
Sometimes, the people least ‘likely’ to help you innovate actually will, if you just take a moment to reach out and ask them.
Image source via Creative Commons.