I believe that the outsourcing of innovative thinking, talent and processes is a huge mistake that ultimately costs organizations tremendous time and money. This has been the subject of multiple articles and conversations recently. Most of them say the opposite. Bring in external thinking while decreasing internal costs. Stay lean and focused by outsourcing innovation, a cost-center for most companies.
For someone like me that argument sounds fantastic. In fact, I’ve made a lot of money building new pipelines, product extensions and brands for companies. But, I don’t agree with the statement I just made. Let me tell you a story that crystallized my perspective.
I was presenting new product ideas to a well-know Fortune 100 company whose products sit on the shelves of almost every grocery and mass outlet store across the globe. Around the room were heads of departments, the boss’s boss, sales, marketing and every intimidating person that would ultimately have a say in moving the ideas forward. There I was at the podium, slide after slide, presenting one great idea after another. As I continued on I could hear Moustache man (can’t remember his name but will always remember his face) whispering to the person next to him, my direct client. His whispers went something like this, “didn’t we try that in 1998?”, “haven’t we looked at that before?”, “don’t we have something close to that?”
As you can imagine, it was a long plane ride home. I was angry. But, the truth is, he was right. So, why did this company spend over a quarter of a million dollars on consultants to only get back what they’ve already thought of? And how much money have they spent over the years regurgiting ideas, both in marketing and in new products? Math is not my strong point but I’m guessing its way into the millions if not billions
Given my history as an innovation consultant, you might be asking why I am shooting myself in the foot? The answer is simple? I believe there is a better way. Let me tell you what I’ve learned.
While each organization has its own challenges, they all have one common roadblock when it comes to innovation and innovative thinking – the people. We suddenly expect blue skies innovation from people that can’t see past their left brains. We’ve trained our people through job responsibilities, reward structures and education to put their creative side in a drawer to collect dust. This sets everyone up for failure. I’ve seen more ideas than I can count set aside because the people in the company are looking at the world with the right side of their brain being silenced. Hence, they can’t see a great idea. As a result, time and money is spent over and over again and idea after idea are put in the closet and big presentations are used as paper weights on the desks of many. This is not because any of these people are stupid, in fact they are all quit smart, but they have not been trained or allowed to harness their creative potential, allowing them to think more innovatively. Often great ideas are presented to us in a half baked fashion and we need to use our imaginative side to take them to the finish line. That’s hard to do if you are only looking for obvious, close-in ideas that fit into a already constructed template. Most brilliance requires a little bit of vision and creativity.
If I were to invest innovation dollars anywhere it would be here, helping my people unlock their creative potential and think more innovatively every day.
Ultimately, it is up to the heads of companies to reconsider their innovation resources. I encourage us to consider training our people in imaginative thinking as a necessary part of the innovation budget. Train them in the art and science of innovation, to think more imaginatively and creatively. They’ll be able to do more with less, work smart versus hard, see and create more ideas and opportunities and dream big again. So, instead of wasting a quarter of a million dollars to outsource all your innovation to people like me, consider developing your internal resources.
I’m not saying you shouldn’t ever bring in outside thinking or resources, you should. However, I am saying that part of those innovation dollars should also be dedicated to you best assets. Instead of hiring people like me to create your new products and hand them to you on a platter, train your people to see and create the best ideas and opportunities possible.
I bet if you shook the walls of your organization you’d find a few great ideas waiting to be discovered.
Tamara Kleinberg is the Chief Imaginator of Imaginibbles and the creator of the 7 Building Blocks to Imaginative Thinking™, harnessing right brain superpowers and unlocking creative potential for individuals and organizations. She is an author, speaker, entrepreneur and idea tinkerer. You can find her at www.imaginibbles.com.
Filed under: Tamara's Musings | Tagged: creativity in organizations, innovative thinking, new products and innovation, outsourcing innovation, right brain exercises
