6 Ways to become more Innovative and create Exceptional Products

“What Matters Now” by Gary Hamel is a wonderful book on management and leadership. He is one of the most effective thought leaders in the world. In his book he identified the reason for Apples success. I believe if we follow these principles we can become better innovators. Here are the 6 ways to become more innovative with my take on each.

Be Passionate – Unless you are passionate about what you do there is no way you can be innovative. You need to have total belief in your product and that passion will result in better market share. Wear your passion on your sleeve.

Lead Don’t Follow – If you want to be talked about then you need to really lead and not follow. This doesn’t mean you are always original. Apple didn’t invent the mp3 player but they led with the greatest design which stunned everyone. Even the staircases in apple stores are designed with finesse.

Be unreasonable – Of course to do something out of the ordinary you need to be unreasonable. Don’t limit your vision in any way and always keep trying something new. Also aim to surprise your customers with new packaging and delivery.

Innovate incessantly and pervasively – I would say the best way to achieve this is to make sure you involve everyone in the organization in innovation. Everyone should be encouraged to contribute ideas. This will imbibe an innovation culture in your organization.

Sweat the details – I think the best example is Steve Jobs even worried about how the inside of the chips looked. When asked that no one would see it he said we will. That is the type of attention to detail that is needed to innovate and stand out from your competition.

Think like an Engineer Feel like an Artist  – Everyone should understand that we are all in the business of creating art. The world has flattened and the only things that will stand in the customers mind is an artist who produces exceptional products.

There you have it the 6 ways to become more creative and produce exceptional products. This is one book you don’t want to miss.

The views expressed here are my own and do not represent my organization.