One of the more exciting things Dan and I now face, free from AIIM’s more narrow approach to ECM, is our ability to spend more time on the cutting edge of ECM – on issues such as Innovation Management.
Innovation: being creative, doing more with less, and better leveraging the resources you already have – this is a business practice that organizations cannot afford to ignore in the current economy. While no one would argue that innovation is ALWAYS good for an organization, it is true even more so when the economy is in the dumps.
More importantly, Innovation does not just have to happen (serendipity). Nor does it have to be relegated to a select few. Innovation can be managed as a process and an asset. When you manage innovation, you are likely to find creative ways to leverage things, people, process, content and technology, - all around you – already “paid for”.
It is shocking how many times we go into organization and find that 90%+ of what they need to innovate, increase profits and simplify processes is already there. (You may recall that in my last post I discussed how most organizations ignore the BI contained in their search logs, for example.)
Just how far can innovation go, fueled only by existing resources, common things around you every day? Here is an interesting site to consider when pondering that question.
This individual created a set of working speakers for his iPod, using nothing more than plastic drinking cups and toothpicks. Check it out – and try it out. You never know what creative thoughts it may spur in you. – So what’s in your corporate cupboard?
