Innovation Thinking is the process of thinking of new ideas and solutions to solve problems. This method of thinking aims to break from convention, challenge the status quo, and be unique to create breakthroughs that will help your company stand out from the rest of the field and make you more successful. Let’s look at some basic Innovation Thinking concepts and how they can be applied in real-life situations by the modern entrepreneur.

What is Innovation?

Innovation can mean different things to different people, but a simple definition is innovation is anything new. More specifically, a brand new idea, product, service or process. To innovate means trying something new, and innovative ideas don’t just happen accidentally. It requires effort, dedication and more than a few mistakes. In an increasingly competitive business landscape where it’s tough to stand out from your competitor’s innovation, thinking methods are essential for staying ahead of your competition by being truly innovative in everything you do.

Role of Innovation play in your Business Today

Innovation plays a significant role in helping all types of businesses grow. When you think about innovation, you might conjure up images of Steve Jobs and his impact on Apple. However, innovation can come from all aspects of a business—from product development to hiring practices and product packaging to IT services.

It would be best if you focused on thinking innovatively to stay ahead of your competitors and succeed in today’s marketplace. At its most basic level, innovation is an idea that solves a problem or fills a need. While these ideas are often created out of thin air, some experts say there are specific ways to think innovatively and bring those innovations into reality. Here are some essential things to know about innovation and how it applies today…

How can you Innovate in your market?

Innovation is all about changing your perspective to challenge traditional assumptions. But before you can innovate, you must think innovatively—which isn’t always easy. To develop an innovative mindset, feel like an innovator. The process isn’t as hard as you might think. If you want to become a more creative thinker and experiment with new ideas, try one or more of these eight methods for developing innovative thinking skills and get started today!

Where to Start When Innovating

Trying to understand innovation can be overwhelming since there are so many innovative minds out there. There’s no shortage of publications, TED Talks, and startup books that can help you innovate like a pro. However, figuring out which methods work best for your business isn’t always so simple.

Before choosing how to get from point A to point B, consider these innovative approaches. I recommend taking at least two approaches to innovation and mixing them for optimal results. If done correctly, these methods will lead your business straight down an innovation path that could change everything about your industry as we know it today!

5 Methods for Innovation You Should Try With Your Team

1. Brainstorming

Good old-fashioned brainstorming is an excellent innovative thinking method. It’s effective because it gets you to think of as many ideas as possible in a short amount of time. This is not a casual discussion where you toss out any random idea that comes to mind, but rather an exercise where you focus on one topic (and only one) and generate as many opinions about that topic as possible.

Once you have some solid ideas, then what? You might choose to use another innovative thinking method or devise ways to improve upon your original idea. Brainstorming sessions should be open-ended and unstructured so everyone involved feels comfortable contributing new, wild and crazy thoughts without being ridiculed by other team members or under pressure from their superiors.

2. Empathy Mapping

 Empathy maps are a great way to identify how customers feel about your product or service. This tool allows you to map out how your audience sees each component of your product or service. It can also help you see holes and shortcomings that need to be addressed as you begin planning new features and functionality. Empathy maps are a simple yet highly effective way of understanding what customers want from your product or service. With an empathetic approach, you’re bound to find ways to innovate solutions that will genuinely resonate with users.

3. Belbin Characters

The Belbin team-building model uses four behavioral traits to categorize team members into nine teams. According to Belbin, people who take on any of these roles in a group tend to behave and think about things in a certain way. While many project managers don’t work within a traditional business structure, you can use them to get inside other team members’ heads when it comes time to brainstorm innovative solutions.

If you’re struggling with how your users will interact with your latest innovation, it may be helpful—and fun—to assign team members specific Belbin roles. Once everyone knows which type they are supposed to embody, try having each person speak up about how their personality type would best use that particular product or service.

4. Remember the Future

Innovation technology is all about making what hasn’t been created before. That’s a tall order, so to help, ask yourself how you might improve upon your abilities and skills if you were given tomorrow’s technologies today. The answer may look like a time machine that enables you to bring all of today’s knowledge plus all of tomorrow’s technological discoveries.

By blending current techniques and tools with new ones and using them in new ways or on completely new tasks, innovative thinking can help your business grow or expand into entirely unexplored territories. Keep Your Creativity Juiced: Innovation technology demands tremendous creativity from its inventors so much so that many people think it would be impossible without a supernatural boost.

5. A Day in the Life

Innovation happens when you ask better questions, and a simple way to get started is by taking a field trip. Get into your car or jump on a plane and visit other companies, universities, or government agencies. You can learn much from visiting places like Google’s garage, MIT’s Media Lab, a local maker space, or an old-fashioned industrial factory.

Field trips are great tools to spark conversation and uncover new angles. When you get back home (or back in your office), take some time to reflect on what you saw and think about how it could fit into what you do—and then visit another place!

FAQS

What Is Innovation Thinking?

Innovation thinking is a method of problem-solving that values individuality and creativity. It focuses on the innovation process rather than predetermined solutions and encourages a healthy exchange between staff members to develop fresh ideas. To promote innovation mindsets in your business, consider implementing some of these methods into your daily routine.

What Is Innovation Design Thinking?

Various situations can benefit from innovation design thinking, which is a method of solving problems and innovating products. It differs from typical problem-solving techniques in that it doesn’t just apply logic to a solution but instead uses logic, creativity, and analytical thinking to arrive at an answer. Entrepreneurs, business leaders, and students trying to solve everyday problems can use innovative design thinking to solve problems.

How do design thinking and innovation relate?

Innovation and design thinking are two great-sounding words often spoken in a room, but what does innovation mean to designers? A dictionary defines innovation as the creation of new things. The key word there is unknown. The key to innovation is to make it unused and different rather than unique or original. On the other hand, design thinking is more than just an opinion or thought process.

What Is Strategic Thinking And Innovation?

The concept of innovation refers to the development of new ideas or methods that are creative. However, innovation is more than simply adding some pizzazz to your business. Innovation is about combining all of your ideas into one unified plan to help you build your product and services based on actual consumer and market feedback. And, of course, innovation isn’t restricted to big companies – any entrepreneur can use it at any stage in their business planning and marketing process.

What Is Creative innovation thinking?

Creative innovation thinking is a holistic approach to innovation that considers all aspects of the process. Creative, innovative thinking is not just about generating ideas but also understanding and being open to opportunities. In today’s fast-paced business environment, it’s not enough to think creatively; your organization has to learn how to turn creative, innovative thinking into a process that can be used in every aspect of your operations.

Conclusion

Innovation is one of those words that gets thrown around a lot, but many people don’t have a clear idea of what it means. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines innovation as the act or process of introducing new things, devices, etc., through invention. Innovation thinking isn’t about new and shiny; it’s about using existing resources to make better decisions. Using problem framing or discovery-driven planning will help you focus on results rather than process—those are precisely how most entrepreneurs should approach innovation. It takes an innovative mind to identify opportunities for improvement in any business environment.