Innovation for success: keeping up with the time

By;   Nofisat Raheems

"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man." - George Bernard Shaw

Let's be honest: the quickest way to fall behind in this incredibly fast-paced, intensely competitive world of business is to remain motionless. You are aware of it. That uneasy sensation in the pit of your stomach that arises when a rival introduces something novel and daring compared to your previous offering? It's the market's way of saying that innovation is essential and not a choice.

§  The Fear of Being Overlooked

I'm speaking to you directly because you bear the responsibility for the future of your business. You put your all into your work, yet the world is always expecting more. It's exhausting, right? A decline in quarterly sales isn't the true threat; rather, it's the crippling fear of being obsolete. Having an eager upstart take your attention as your passion project gradually fades into the background.

The secret sauce is that comfort is the enemy of innovation. You need to create a culture where failure is just a costly lesson, not a career-ender, and where your team feels safe enough to be unreasonable—to challenge the status quo that made you successful in the first place. This goes beyond simply iterating on product specifications. 

§  The Bravery to Break Things

Consider your greatest achievements. They weren't the result of carefully dipping a toe into the water. They came from a moment of sheer courage, a decision to plunge in, knowing you might absolutely wipe out.

Your task is to aggressively seek out the messy ideas that cause your seasoned engineers to raise an eyebrow. You cannot wait for a flawless, low-risk idea to fall on your desk.

Actively creating the curve itself is necessary to stay ahead of the curve.

It means:

• Listening to the whispers: Your customers' dissatisfied sighs, the intern's supposedly "outlandish" suggestions, and the gaps your competitors are purposefully ignoring are the real insights—not the loud, obvious market reports.

• Accepting the Scrappy Phase: Give up over-engineering the Minimum Viable Product (MVP). A true MVP should be a little embarrassing, something you can quickly release to record actual user opinion, and your initial version should educate you more than any lab testing could.

• Becoming a Benevolent Dictator of Change: You have to be the force that breaks through the inertia. When the voices of comfort say, "But we've always done it this way," it is your responsibility to react with a defiant "Exactly."

§  The Greatest Prize: Future Ownership

Ownership of the future is a deeper reward when you genuinely commit to leading through innovation, rather than merely increasing income.

The thrill of being the trailblazer, the one whose actions the rest of the industry is frantically trying to imitate, is the victory. Imagine the confidence that comes from knowing you haven't just adapted to the market—you've reshaped it. You haven't just reacted to customer needs—you've anticipated them and created desires they didn't even realize they had.

Keep your destiny from being stolen by complacency. Act irrationally. Be fearless. Become the trailblazer your sector will be talking about for years to come. Now is the moment to disrupt yourself, before someone else does it for you.

 

Nofisat Raheems