Innovation software tools are now everywhere, and they are used in numerous different trends. Indeed, they are found in housing options, business forums, brand development, and more. It seems, however, that all these different types of industries and sectors focus on the same things, which is also why they all use innovation software tools. Let’s take a look at those specific trends.
Trends in Which Innovation Software Tools Are Used
- Disruptive innovation
Corporate innovation isn’t new anymore, and the goal is to create incremental improvements. This, managers believe, creates momentum because it is easier to have rapid and regular successes. However, the marketplace is constantly disrupted, competition is fierce, and some major innovation investments have gone sour. The result is that there is now a greater focus on exponential and disruptive ideas instead.
- Staying on the edge
Furthermore, it seems that the focus is on how to manage and support innovation, something that should have really been sorted by now. However, it seems that organizations are divided into one of two schools of thought, being:
- To connect directly with startups by investing in them and learning from them.
- To set up teams of individuals that focus particularly on disruptive opportunities.
Both these camps operate on the fringe of the core business, however, which is interesting.
- The focus is on execution
No longer do organizations focus solely on generating ideas, they focus on executing them as well. This is something that the CEO of Kantar, Eric Salama was pushing for in particular. In fact, he says that unless the focus is on execution, investments will start o fail.
- The role of chief innovation officer is now real
More and more businesses now hire a CInO (Chief Innovation Officer), and they have very clearly defined roles. They are also more supported by their leaders. Their role, mainly, is about:
- Executing ideas.
- Finding resources to execute ideas.
- Improving team working and collaboration between teams.
- Focusing on how their own career is developing.
- Employee engagement continues to be vital
Employee engagement was a major buzzword recently, as was innovation. Both, it now seems, have proven themselves to be more than fads, instead being completely necessary for the overall success of an organization. Without employee engagement in the innovation process, the process may as well not happen at all. Hence, organizations still have to improve how well they listen to employees.
- Data is no longer totally reliable
Last but not least, it seems the focus is moving away from data. For too long, organizations have collected increasingly large amounts of data, drawing conclusions on this for consumer behavior, market trends, and more. It seems that, finally, organizations are understanding that sociology is actually a science, but not an exact one, and that it takes very special skills to be able to draw suggested trends using data. Instead, therefore, businesses are trying to engage employees and customers to improve their methods.
