Online and off line media is full of articles describing the demise of innovation as businesses of all sizes cut back. We’re hearing that there is no money for R&D, processes tightened, and projects prioritized.

But will innovation really stop? I don’t think so. In fact I think that the current state is simply a catalyst for us to innovate in different ways.

If we think about the conditions the current crisis is creating, then we see:

• Constraints in money, time, and other resources.
• Organisations focusing on core business.
• And an urgent need to find new or better ways to do things.

How are these conditions forcing us to behave differently? First of all we need to:

• Do only what is necessary.
• Find ways to do more with less.

So what do we need to do differently to make the best of the new environment?

• Work with people and organisations that we may not have worked with before.
• Seeking out opportunities to share the effort and/or cost.
• Innovate in less formal, or ad-hoc, or even accidental ways.

At a personal level what actions can we take?

• Be open! There’s often many ways to do and think about things. Challenge you own thinking.
• Observe! What’s happening around you, what are other people and businesses doing? But don’t just do things that others are doing. It’s often the contratian approach that wins out.
• Introduce yourself to someone you don’t know at an event, on your commute, in a store. Great connections can be made in the most unlikely places.
• Read a magazine or book on a subject you normally wouldn’t. You never know what you might learn, and what you can apply yourself.
• Collect and review ideas. See this earlier post on why this is such an effective tactic.
• Read some biographies from people who prospered in the 1930′s. What made the difference for them? What principles can you utilize.

Hopefully you can see that there are opportunities out there.

“There are always opportunities through which businessmen can profit handsomely if they will only recognize and seize them.” John Paul Getty

Related Posts:

• 10 Actions for better design
• Two words to boost creativity
• becoming a better thinker

Tags: collaboration, opportunity, Problem Solving, Sharing, Thinking