The Keys to Innovation: Dialogue & Diversity

While companies are getting better at identifying and bringing forth innovations, how they approach the task is flawed. To bring new products (and services) to market, most companies rely on some type of New Product Development process and while following a structured process is always good practice, what I have observed is that few companies are "doing" innovation well. For example, most companies traditionally think of innovations as either a "product or service" thing, but instead, we should greatly expand the breadth and depth of our innovative practices to include all of an organization's activities, with the greatest emphasis on its core processes (i.e, the key value chains that deliver value to its customers).

Only when we broaden our horizons to encompass ALL of a company's operations as potential for innovations does a company have a legitimate opportunity to create a competitive advantage in the marketplace. But expanding the scope of what we innovate (or where we look for innovations) represents only part of the story. For greater opportunity awaits us when we approach all innovation work leveraging the dialogic method while fully embracing our diversity.

What is dialogue? Dialogue is a type of conversation that reflects a different spirit about it or field of energy, as the practice embodies deep listening, emphasizing creating shared understandings, and this, in turn, leads to articulating shared intentions and later shared actions. Such conversations are radically different from what we typically see in a corporate environment where the dominant forms of conversation are either advocate-driven discussion or outright debate.

Please know, neither of these two conversational patterns will lead to you or your company generating your best ideas; profound innovations. Such things are ONLY possible through engaging staff in a heartfelt dialogue with others.

But dialogue, while necessary, is not sufficient to ignite your organic growth engine as what is also required is to fully embrace your diversity such that ALL relevant perspectives/views (related to the particular context) are represented during the dialogue. How this manifests practically is that internally you send invites to a highly diverse mix of people representing different departments and units, varying levels of seniority and professional experience, different locations or geographies, different ages, sexes, and ethnicities, and different life experiences. Externally, diversity manifests as invites to key suppliers/partners, researchers, NGOs, academics, key influencers, and of course your customers.

To ignite your greatest innovative potential you must leverage a diverse mix of both internal and external resources. Together, then, practicing dialogue and embracing your diversity represent a potent 1-2 punch to bring forth your best, most impactful ideas. And this, combined with an expanded scope of where you look for innovations across your enterprise opens the door to unlocking and catalyzing significant previously dormant potential. Happy innovating!

Related Reading

• What Diversity Offers

• Dialogue: The Key to Innovation & Cultural Transformation

• The Genius of the 'And': Optimize, Integrate & Innovate

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