Most innovation projects are guilty of coming up with some pre-requisites, which stifle it right from the beginning. These are the main ones that I have come across:
1. Aiming too small
2. Defining too many boundaries
3. Eliminating unconventional thinking
So why do enterprises do this? We could have a huge debate on this topic but it usually boils down to 2 big reasons:
1. Fear of Failure
2. Fear of change
So how do we overcome these obstacles and take the innovation forward? The only way, I believe, is to define huge goals and plan big. Why? Since when we define huge goals, it becomes difficult to set normal boundaries and force people to think in conventional means.
As an added benefit, people are generally not scared of failure at huge projects (As an example - Man took quite a long time before he could walk on Moon but while the feat was celebrated as a huge event, nobody prior to that felt like a failure since they could not achieve that goal).
The final point is about successes. When you have a huge success, that by itself makes all the failures and disappointments earlier worthwhile and motivates you to continue pursuing more success again.
So the next time, you define goals for your innovation project, check again!!!
Aim big and achieve more!!
