Learning how to make innovative decisions

Everyone in the business world is always looking for ways to improve their companies.One of the more challenging, but often more successful, way of improve your company is learning how to make innovative decisions.It can be difficult at times and may even involve a certain amount of risk.But if you're willing to put yourself out there and try, there's a high probability of success.So let's talk about it. Let's learn how to make innovative decision s in your business, and in turn yield much higher profit and rates of success.

You may be thinking to yourself that your business is surely profitable enough on it own-maybe you think you don't need innovations to get ahead.Well, I'm afraid that you're wrong.Our economy that used to be based purely on smarts is now evolving into the "Creativity Economy."And companies that don't evolve into this right-brained era will find themselves forced to ship their corporations off to lower-paid, highly trained Chinese and Indians.

One of the biggest challenges for all your managers out there is making the leap from a Six Sigma way of thought to this new way of thinking: design strategy.It centers on raising your company's innovation success rate.I'm sure you're thinking that this is all just propaganda to try to persuade you to invest in some complicated training program that will force you to spend a lot of money.Wrong.This is not just another fad.According to a BCG survey, executives said that increasing top-line revenues through innovation has become essential to success in every industry.

Luckily for you, there is a whole new generation of innovation fiends.These people focus on micro-innovation=teaching companies how to connect with their customers' emotions, linking research and development labs to consumer needs, recalibrating employee incentives to emphasize creativity and constructing maps showing opportunities for innovations.Think of Apple, Target, JetBlue Airways, and Starbucks. These are companies that have and use innovative strategies.

But how exactly do you learn to make these innovative decisions?How can you learn to increase your chances of success by thinking outside the box?The basics are simple.First, start with observation.Go out and watch customers shop in the mall, families eating in restaurants, patients being treated at the dentist's office or mothers milling around the grocery store.For example, Gap Inc. found that social shopping is the current trend (meaning shopping in twos or threes) and so Gap is making their dressing rooms bigger to accommodate more people.Second, remember to tell a story.Designers have found that putting a new potential product along with an emotional story that connects the customers to the product increases the chances of success.Third, you need to design a strategy that will build an organizational process that can do these things at the same time.This may be difficult for your company (not to mention quite a transition), but you will reap the benefits.

If you're still not sold on this idea, consider trying it out for a while.Don't let the fear of taking risks prevent you from unearthing a potentially fantastic opportunity for your company.Taking risks is an essential part of your success.And just think: if this crazy idea of innovative decision making does end up working out, you'll get all the credit for being brilliant.Your company will have great success.Your employees will be happy.Your customers will be thrilled.And your paycheck might even grow just a bit.So don't be afraid.Try it out.You'll find that it will be worth it.