MODERN BUSINESS
Making innovation practical
- a no-fluff guide to driving
innovation in your team
By Amantha Imber
I
nnovation is a term that is
surrounded by fluff. Many people
will offer opinions on how to
innovate more effectively, but few
actually base this advice on any
sound evidence. As is often the case,
the voice of popular culture and fadridden management books wins out
over the voice of scientific research.
However, the scientific research
into how to drive innovation is both
plentiful and precise. Let’s explore
some of the methods that have been
40 ModernBusiness
November 2016
scientifically proven to improve your
innovation efforts.
1
Why brainstorming is
bollocks – and what to do
about it
How many times do you hear
someone utter the phrase “Let’s have
a brainstorm” in an average month
at work? If you work in a department
where creative problem solving
is critical (which is arguably any
department), then you probably hear
this phrase quite frequently.
There are actually several big
problems that come hand in hand
with brainstorming. For example,
a lot of us don’t generate our best
ideas most effectively in a group
- but rather, when we have time
to think about it on our own for
a bit. Likewise, brainstorms suit
highly extraverted people who are
comfortable putting their thoughts
on the table, but less extraverted