LO2. Discuss and Develop Ideas with Others

Information Sheet 2.1: Positive Impacts and Challenges in Innovation

Use innovation to start or grow your business

Advantages of innovation

Innovation can deliver significant benefits. It is one of the critical skills for achieving success in any business. It can help you solve problems, generate profit, increase your market share and edge out competitors.

Advantages of innovation in business

Some of the key practical benefits of innovation are:

  • improved productivity
  • reduced costs
  • increased competitiveness
  • improved brand recognition and value
  • new partnerships and relationships
  • increased turnover and improved profitability

Innovation enables problem-solving and provides creative insight that allows you to look at things from a different perspective, regardless of whether you are developing a new product, refreshing strategy or finding an original way to stay ahead of the competition.

How you approach innovation will depend on your business. Typically, it can be an enhancement to your existing product or service, an expansion to your business or a complete change of direction – see common approaches to innovation.

Risks of not innovating

Doing something new, untested or unproven may seem risky. However, the biggest risk of all for a modern business may in fact be not innovating.

Reluctance or inability to improve your products or services may leave your business unable to compete, diversify or simply operate. Businesses that fail to innovate run the risk of:

  • losing market share to competitors
  • falling productivity and efficiency
  • losing key staff
  • reduced margins and profit
  • going out of business

Challenges of Innovation

  • Very costly and time consuming
  • Businesses can run out of money if they invest too much and don’t get products to market quickly enough
  • End up wasting resources by developing something that doesn’t sell
  • Businesses not able to produce new product on large scale at low enough cost – no guaranteed return on investment
  • Businesses risk ruining reputation if new product is poor quality

Innovation can be precarious but the potential benefits can be vital to the continuing success of your business.

Information Sheet 2.2: Seven Habits of Highly Effective People

7 Habits of Highly Effective People Summary

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey is a self-improvement book. It is written on Covey’s belief that the way we see the world is entirely based on our own perceptions. In order to change a given situation, we must change ourselves, and in order to change ourselves, we must be able to change our perceptions.

Principles

  • Covey defines principles as fundamental truths that must be lived and internalized to achieve lasting success.
  • Covey identifies several principles that he believes are essential for personal effectiveness, including:
    • Integrity.
    • Courage.
    • Patience.
    • Persistence.
    • Humility.
    • Empathy.
    • Synergy.
    • Continuous Learning.

7 Habits of Highly Effective People

1. Be Proactive

Proactive people take the initiative. They act instead of being acted upon. Being proactive means taking radical responsibility for your problems instead of giving energy to circumstances and things beyond your control.

  • Take responsibility for your life and decisions, and focus on what you can control.
  • Proactive people choose how to respond to a given situation.
  • Reactive people focus on the things they cannot control and cultivate a narrative of victimhood.
  • Practice proactivity by making commitments to yourself and sticking to them.

2. Begin with the End in Mind

Beginning with the end in mind means clarifying our goals and values to guide our actions. Covey invites us to imagine our funeral. How do you want to be remembered? What would you like your friends and family to say about you?

  • Develop a personal mission statement — a set of values and principles towards which you will direct your actions.
  • Ensure that your actions don’t contradict the guiding principles that you hold.

3. Put First Things First

Putting first things first is the practical execution of habits one and two. You must be proactive and use your guiding principles to determine the most important activities in front of you and execute them accordingly.

Be disciplined and manage your time. Determine important tasks and execute them, and prioritize important tasks over urgent but less important ones.

4. Think Win-Win

You should seek mutually beneficial outcomes in all your interactions.

Covey explains that there are six paradigms of human interaction:

  • Win-Win. This paradigm is based on the belief that mutual benefit is the best approach to achieve a satisfactory outcome for all parties involved.
  • Win-Lose. This paradigm is based on the belief that one person’s gain is another person’s loss. It is a competitive approach to human interaction where one party wins and the other loses.
  • Lose-Win. This paradigm is based on the belief that putting the needs and desires of others before your own is the best way to achieve a satisfactory outcome.
  • Lose-Lose. This paradigm is based on the belief that when two or more parties disagree, no one wins, and everyone loses.
  • Win. This paradigm is based on the belief that achieving personal success without considering the needs and desires of others is the best way to approach human interaction.
  • Win-Win or No Deal. This paradigm believes that if you cannot achieve a mutually satisfactory outcome, it is better to have no deal. It promotes finding a solution that benefits all parties involved or walking away.

Strive for Win-Win Situations

  • In win-lose and lose-win scenarios, one person gets what they want at the expense of another. These types of outcomes result in poor relationship health.
  • Win-win or no deal is a backup. Having the option to walk away prevents us from manipulating others to achieve our goals.

In solving for Win-Win, we must consider two factors: consideration and courage. First, take a look at the following chart:

5. Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood

Habit 5 means that you must listen actively and empathetically before communicating your own views. Listen with the intent to understand, not to respond. In doing so, you can cultivate trust and respect with others.

6. Synergize

The synergize habit emphasizes the power of collaboration and encourages us to look for opportunities to work together to create outcomes greater than the sum of their parts.

Key to synergy and collaboration is valuing people’s differences and seeking ways to combine strengths to reach more significant outcomes than one could achieve alone.

7. Sharpen the Saw

Sharpening the saw means continually honing our personal development through deliberate actions that renew and recharge our energy. The result is a happy, holistically healthy, and effective individual.

It’s easy to get caught up in our work and responsibilities and neglect to prioritize ourselves. Covey posits that we must take the time to “sharpen our saw” to remain effective. Essentially, we must prioritize self-care. After all, if we aren’t healthy and happy, we won’t be able to help others.