In today’s fast changing environment, even holding your own in the marketplace takes innovation. In fact, according to Professor Richard Foster from Yale University, the average lifespan of a leading brand has decreased to just 15 years so it seems Mark Zuckergberg was right when he said “the biggest risk is not taking any risk. In a world that’s changing really quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks” as companies literally need to innovate or face certain death.

But just how do you lead a culture of innovation, find solutions that your competitors haven’t and look beyond the things that are holding you back? There are genuine barriers that prevent exploration and creativity, like not having enough money to invest in new research and development or an organisational architecture that is not suited to agility.

If you’re struggling to get traction on your product development or need to truly disrupt your marketplace, a great place to start is a quick read of the book Beautiful Constraints by Adam Morgan. Morgan encourages readers to look beyond their current business constraints to find innovation, the kind of thinking that enabled Uber to not only enter a market with huge cost barriers to entry but to quickly take the lead, or Airbnb to become a hotel chain without buying a single hotel.

But getting on top of the next big break through idea is only part of your innovation journey, you’ve also got to make sure everyone inside and outside of your organisation knows you’re leading the way on change! Check out our latest case study to see how we helped Thomson Environmental Consultants refresh their brand positioning and set the pulse for innovation in the environmental industry.

Want to make some waves in your industry? Have a chat with us to see how we could help you.