Successful Innovation: How To Spark That “Ah Ha” Moment In Your Work

You don’t have to wear a white lab coat or be a programmer in Silicon Valley to create something innovative. Successful innovation starts with your mindset.

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“Successful innovation requires more than a good idea, more than the proverbial lightbulb going on in the head,” said Lorraine Marchand. Some ideas have a “eureka” moment. But “most are the result of a mindset of diligence, hard work and patience,” she said.

Marchand has co-founded four companies. She has also advised Fortune 500 companies and startups on the development and launch of new ideas.

Ignite successful innovations through solution-oriented thinking

According to Marchand, all successful innovations have in common that they start with a problem and end with a solution.

“I’m not sure people always feel that way about it,” she said. “The most successful innovations are those that provide a solution to a problem that customers are willing to pay for.”

Marchand wrote The Innovation Mindset: Eight Essential Steps to Transform Any Industry.

Be proactive in finding answers for successful innovation

Whether you’re an executive at a large company or starting a startup, continually evolve your problem-solving mindset, Marchand said. This includes observing, studying and interviewing.

When Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) was making its first tablet-sized computers, HP’s CTO, Phil McKinney, was visiting electronics retail stores across the country.

“By listening to real customers, he learned a lot about what HP’s tablets needed to address,” she said. “As a result, HP tablets served a sizeable chunk of the market for many years.”

Test your idea with 100 customers for successful innovations

“When we say tests with 100 customers, we mean 100 customers,” Marchand said. Talking to too few can end up validating your own bias.

Use polls, small groups, and one-on-one interviews. “Acknowledge that your innovation addresses a problem worth solving and that a customer is willing to pay for it,” she said.

A great successful innovation starts with at least three good solutions

One problem Marchand sees in many would-be innovators is the urge to immediately find a solution to the problem they’re solving before exploring all options.

“We need to think broadly, creatively and from multiple perspectives,” she said. Test and weigh these solutions against each other. “See how well they meet customer needs and get customer feedback during the selection process.”

Build a mastermind group

Too many founders focus on keeping as much equity for themselves as possible, rather than spreading that equity across many co-founders and executives, Elliot Bisnow has found.

Bisnow is one of four founders of Summit, which produces events. The four are also co-owners of Powder Mountain, one of the largest ski resorts in the US

Try to get employees into your company who have experience and contacts in areas that you do not have.

“You’re going to be much better off having a smaller chunk of a business that works than a large chunk of a business that doesn’t,” he said.

Don’t worry about people stealing your ideas

In general, share your ideas with as many potential key people as possible to build a network and spark collaborations, says Bisnow.

He is also the lead author of Make No Small Plans: Lessons on Thinking Big, Chasing Dreams, and Building Community.

If you embrace and hide the idea, people won’t know about it and won’t be able to help you, he adds. “Also, living in a state of paranoia just isn’t healthy,” he said.

“We were never afraid that someone would adopt our ideas,” he said. “We’ve learned that people are too busy with what they’re doing and chasing their own dreams to focus on yours.”

Keep the momentum going

Focus on getting the ball further forward and doing your best on a real timeline, says Bisnow.

Striving for perfection can take a lot of time and nerves, he adds.

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