Colorado is on the map for its innovative, entrepreneurial culture. With a smart workforce, a strong pipeline from our universities and one of the most vibrant start-up communities in the country, the pieces are in place, but innovation doesn’t happen just by geographic location. So how can you create a culture for innovation at your organization?
Brett Peterson and Joseph Troutman know a thing or two about what it takes to innovate. Peterson is director of ventures at the University of Colorado Innovations office, where they connect health care industry members, entrepreneurs and investors to solve challenges in improve health and quality of life. Troutman is senior manager space and munition systems for EnerSys Advanced Systems, the world leader in batteries for space travel and exploration. And, he can see the road to Mars – and working to ensure it goes through Longmont. Or, at least, that Longmont companies are powering that road, from those batteries to spacesuits, launch systems and more.
They’ll join fellow innovation hub leader Bill Farris of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory on a panel as part of the Denver Metro Chamber and Denver Metro Small Business Development Center’s State of Small Business on Nov. 9.
To get your creative juices flowing at your organization, Peterson and Troutman offers these tips:
People are your greatest asset. For Peterson, that means having a team in place that doesn’t like to do things the way they’ve always been done – and sometimes that may mean looking for support outside your organization: “Look within the organization for the outside-the-box thinkers that are regularly contributing unique, sometimes off-the-wall ideas, and anoint them with new roles and responsibilities that align with the strategic innovative vision for the organization,” he said. “Just one or two creative individuals that bring fresh perspective can have an astonishingly infectious effect on the rest of the personnel.”
Start with a blank slate. Troutman says not to underestimate the power of a good, old-fashioned brainstorm: “I find getting individuals in a room with a blank white board where they can propose and create new concepts, have discussions on pros and cons of ideas (and) fill the white board up with cartoon drawings of their innovative ideas always leads to a new approach on advancing a project or technology.”
Don’t forget process. In many ways, you may be changing the culture of your organization, so how you focus on innovation matters. Peterson says it’s important to have clear buy-in from your leadership team and set clear goals and measurements: “Process is key to achieve the efficiencies requisite for innovation to work well,” he said. “Make sure that the team feels safe taking risks by incentivizing working on new projects, and killing projects quickly that are not displaying signs of viability. Failure should be rewarded.”
Perspective is a powerful motivator. “Implementing lessons learned on how things have been done can move one into a new direction on making things better and opening doors to new ideas and inventions,” Troutman said. “There can always be a better plane, a more capable satellite, a longer flying drone. Companies of all sizes need to look at putting parts together in a different way, improving the way systems operate and be open to new possibilities and ideas leaving nothing off the table.”
Build off your momentum. Remember, this is also a learning process. As scholar and speaker Brené Brown says, “There is no innovation and creativity without failure. Period.” So, you may not hit it out of the park on your first swing, but keep at it. Because, Troutman says, once you do, “innovation drives success and success then drives further innovation.”
Hear more about Colorado’s innovative businesses – and get insight into hot topics in the region’s small business community – by joining the Chamber and the Denver Metro SBDC at State of Small Business.
Sara Crocker is the communications manager for the Denver Metro Chamber.