What is Coca-Cola's secret?
What is Coca-Cola’s secret? What does Coca-Cola know that others don’t? What does Coca- Cola do that others don’t? What has kept them relevant since 1892?
I am sure I am not first nor will I be the last to ask this question about this and other brands that have been part of our households and indeed lives for generations.
In my humble opinion, the answer is INNOVATION.
Let me explain.
In a dynamic and ever-changing market, innovation is at the heart of every successful organization and idea. This is something that high-impact organisations must embrace as a mantra, a core value and a life source if you may.
To explain it better, innovation for companies involves the reconceptualization, redesigning or reworking of an idea or a company’s services to better position them to continue to meet the needs of the evolving market.
Needs met = Value
Continuously met needs over time = Relevance
Relevance = Sustainability
This is what has happened in the Coca-Cola company.
Understanding the psychology of innovative approach and being genuinely sold out to the idea is one of the best things that a company can do to secure its place in the market.
Indeed for organisations and teams, innovation also suggests driving change as a response to the challenges and opportunities presented by a VUCA context. It is not to be considered insignificant. As a matter of fact, I do not see any company thriving in the long run if they fail to run a flexible system that allows innovation when necessary.
Now when people hear the word Innovation, they think of technology. This is far from accurate.
Here are the 4Ps of Innovation that I hope will help you understand the term better.
Generally referred to as the 4Ps of innovation, the first on the list is Process.
Process: One major focus of innovation is that it seeks to improve the process(channel) through which products are conceived and delivered. It seeks to reconstruct the powerhouse of delivery.
Position: Innovation also involves the repositioning of previously established methods. I mean to say that innovation at this level brings flexibility and the embracing of new ideas to achieve desired goals. A proper example of this would be to be creative with old models of market strategy to reach a larger audience and meet already set standard.
Paradigm: This level of innovation addresses the mental models responsible for the type of system an organization practices. It helps to redefine the reasons that frame the structure of an organization which ultimately affects the kinds of results that will be gotten. Embracing innovation at this level shapes the culture of an organization and brings to light the news things and people that can be embraced to maintain relevance.
Product: This is the most relatable and common form of innovation. This generally spells the rebranding of a finished product.
Just as nothing built to last comes easy, the process of innovation isn’t always an easy task. There are challenges that threaten to suffocate the idea of innovative leadership. These are present in almost every organization. I’ll list a few of them below so we can all be on high alert.
● Zero or little motivation for employees to innovate.
● A stifling environment that provides no freedom for employees to innovate.
● Lack of collaboration
● Poorly measure innovation.
● Limited funding and short time frame
● Steep learning curves
Take a few minutes to digest these list and reflect on your organisation.
So how do you as a leader lead an innovative organisation?
How can we think and influence others to create ‘new and better’ ideas that will move our organisations and ideas forward?
As innovative leaders, we need to constantly remind ourselves of the element of this leadership style. It is the ability to think and influence others to create ‘new and better’ ideas to move towards positive results. It captures the ability to think differently, create something from the act of reasoning and influence others to do the same.
Thinking of how best to practice innovation leadership? These tips will help.
1. Establish psychological safety within the workplace: Employees who feel psychologically safe are inclined to sharing more ideas for productivity and results. Since employees are important stakeholder within a team, it is important that they air their opinion and thoughts on how best to arrive at a desired goal.
2. Reduce the barriers to experimentation: The onus lies on us as team leads to make it easy for our players to try out new concepts. It is important that we provide them with idea challenges and allow them to try out their ideas, even if it is on a small scale.
3. Create an effective communication system: Communication plays a vital role in innovation. To ensure that all instructions, strategies, and expectations are properly disseminated, we need to ensure that all communication channels are opened.
4. Foster an environment of diversity: This particular tip cannot be over emphasized because we need to encourage people to work well with one another inspite of their differences. If it is true that disparate perspectives can significantly contribute to solving challenges and ensuring great outcomes, then we must encourage diversity at all levels.
5. Finally, place emphasis on the value of teamwork: A lot can be done when we work together with a central goal. Imbibing this mindset helps to wisely address difference and conflicts within the workplace and keep everyone on their toes to achieve desired results.
Okay, let us stop for now.
What are your thoughts?
If any of these resonates with you, I would like to know. I look forward to writing to you again.
See you soon!
DAO.