As We Adapt To The New Normal, Why Is Innovation So Crucial?
By Dr Somdutta Singh
Crisis generates a lot of energy that, if harnessed constructively, can be a great source of innovation. The COVID-19 response is producing inspiring innovative responses proving that, indeed, necessity is the mother of invention. What has emerged already and during previous crises provide lessons for our near-term response, but also highlight the underlying and more critical long-term need to better resource and institutionalize strategic innovation. New patterns of consumer and worker behavior and expectations have emerged during the first weeks of the crisis.
In the heart of the Ebola outbreak, for example, CII and international experts reviewed over 1,500 ideas and quickly supported the development of 14. Twelve of these innovations have been tested in West Africa, and over half are in use today.
How should we think about the role of innovation in the midst of the current global crisis?
Firstly, innovation is so much more than just developing new widgets. Global innovation can be defined across four categories: 1. Offering, 2. delivery, 3. Finance and 4. process. We are seeing urgent COVID-19 innovation needs across all these categories, such as behavior change to support social distancing and supply chain solutions, to name a few.
Second, innovation platforms that address immediate needs should also keep sustainability in mind. Sourcing innovation, whether through open competitions, prizes, or otherwise, can have immediate impact but should be shaped with long-term sustainability in mind.
Companies like Assiduus Global began to come together to work openly at an unprecedented level, putting the ability to create value before the opportunity to make a buck. Collaboration can obviously save human lives, but it can also produce huge benefits for companies — even though it’s often overlooked in normal circumstances.
The recent burst of open innovation, however, reminds us of the massive potential that open innovation comes with — whether you’re in a crisis or not. Open innovation has the potential to widen the space for value creation: It allows for many more ways to create value, be it through new partners with complementary skills or by unlocking hidden potential in long-lasting relationships. In a crisis, open innovation can help organizations find new ways to solve pressing problems and at the same time build a positive reputation. Most importantly it can serve as a foundation for future collaborations.
Final thoughts…
Innovation allows businesses and private individuals alike to solve new problems with innovative solutions as well as offering new business opportunities and avenues, both in the midst of a crisis and beyond. Some innovations are simple: offering new online solutions for customers, for example. Others are more complex.
In some industries, people are looking for new ways to bring in income throughout the pandemic. Companies may turn to new, even unique profit-generating methods to help them achieve their goals in spite of current restrictions and demands.
Through innovation, you will not just keep your organization up and running throughout a crisis. You will also provide your business with greater flexibility and adaptability that can help carry you well beyond a challenge.
