Many people wrote me about the Mark Parker interview and asked me how they might create a more innovative environment in their business. Here is the first part from a list of tools I included in SPARK:
- Create SWAT Teams – Does your company use hothouses or SWAT teams currently? If not, consider assembling a diverse team around a specific innovation issue. The key is to insulate them from the day-to-day demands of the business.
- Think About Team Chemistry – Mark has a real talent for understanding how to put together a dynamic team. When constructing your teams, bring together a group of personalities that work well together. They will probably outperform a team with one or two big egos.
- Create Organic Teams – When you need to tap into innovation quickly, put together the kind of team that makes sense for the situation. Sometimes it can be one person charged with figuring out a problem through getting out into the marketplace and exploring options. Other times it takes a highly skilled team. Constantly experiment with the kind of teams you assemble to innovate.
- Find the Balance Between Structure and Creativity – To stay innovative, it is critical to constantly seek out balance between structure and chaos, especially for the teams trying to innovate. Change things up if necessary to keep people focused on the main goal of co-creating innovation.
