Challenges organisations face today outstrip the tools of the past. Consider managing innovation and growth strategy in an uncertain world. War, inflation, pandemics, inequality, climate change, a commodity crisis, and political polarisation.
Value Your Constraints to Innovation
In the last article I explored why noncustomers are the fountainhead of the plausible impossible. Yet we must navigate deeper. What makes great innovators great is their ability to connect insights hidden in plain sight. Steve Jobs described this process best when he famously said, innovation is just connecting the dots. Similarly, Richard Branson uses the mantra of "A-B-C-D" - Always Be Connecting the Dots.
The Power of Noncustomers
Your noncustomers may not be thinking of you, but you should be thinking of your noncustomers. So often the most obvious, important and profound realities are the ones that are hardest to see. Today, the ability to spot, decode and connect the little things that customers and competitors take for granted are the overwhelming driver of competitive advantage.