The Blue Ocean Company                  innovation - performance - values

Main Navigation

c r e a t i v i t y   &   i n n o v a t i o n









. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Challenging the
 status quo




"Though innovative thinking may be innate to some, it can also be developed and strengthened through practice.

The most important skill to practice is questioning. Ask questions that both impose and eliminate constraints; this will help you see a problem or opportunity from a different angle.

Try spending 15 to 30 minutes each day writing down questions that challenge the status quo in your company or industry."  


(Source: The Innovator's DNA, Harvard Business Review, December 2009) 
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Competive forces in business



"I have always loved the competitive forces in this business. You know I certainly have meetings where I spur people on by saying "hey, we do better than this", "how come we're not ahead on that?". That's what keeps my job one of the most interesting in the world."

- Bill Gates

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

One of the key motors for growth is to focus on making the transition from being an organisation that innovates towards an innovative organisation.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

What can we help you with?

  • Creating a climate for innovation through encouraging an 'Innovation-By-All' (IBA) attitude at all levels and functions
  • Managing the process of innovation so that you can systematically identify innovative opportunities 
  • Developing a pipeline of investable propositions and creating a new revenue stream for your organisation 
How do we do that?

  • Assessing how strong 'innovation' is as a value in your organisation today and establishing where the gaps are
  • Developing and strengthening key skills and behaviours that enable innovative and entrepreneurial thinking, such as associating, observing, questioning, problem solving, and openness to different perspectives
  • Implementing an innovation tournament so that embryonic ideas can be nurtured and turned into a portfolio of new products and services 
Please feel free to contact us to find out how we can meet your specific requirements. 
  
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  


Curiosity, Creativity and Innovation: Driving Retention, Productivity and Growth
WHITE PAPER




If you were able to unleash the full capacity of creativity and innovation that exists in your workforce, you might be pleasantly surprised at the results: useful ideas would come to surface, problems would be anticipated earlier and solved more quickly, and employees would be more engaged, resulting in increased productivity and a greater commitment towards achieving the strategic goals of your organisation.

What to know more? Download our white paper here. 

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Innovation-by-All (IBA)

Almost all organisations claim to innovate and most of them do. However, the majority of these organisations focus on product and production process innovation that is carried out by the R&D department, or outsourced, or a combination of both (exogenous innovation). 

Some of these organisations also focus on endogenous innovation, i.e. changing internal processes, structure and/or culture.

Although there is nothing wrong with either one of these approaches -- on the contrary: innovation is key for growth -- it does have one major drawback. It only leverages the capabilities of a limited number of employees in a limited way.





We have created a brand new approach called Innovation-By-All (IBA) which targets the capabilities of all employees. It helps to instill an innovative attitude across the organisation so that employees not only reflect on their own job efficiencies, but also on the organisation as a whole.

The benefits of implementing IBA are many:

- broaden employees' focus so that they will come up with solutions for problems outside their field
- detect ways to improve “the way things are done around here”, even if there is no apparent problem
- stimulate the creative competencies that we all  have
- generate new ideas for both exogenous and endogenous innovation

However, the benefits are not limited to innovation:

- increase employee engagement and job satisfaction, which makes it easier to retain those valuable to the organisation
- enable managers/leaders to detect potentially hidden talent


If you would like to know more about Innovation-By-All and how you can implement a tailored initiative in your own organisation, please contact us. 
 
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  

Content copyright . The Blue Ocean Company. All rights reserved.