Because structure and analysis spur innovation
Analytical Thinking Actually Spurs Innovation
“Wait, isn’t that skill itself a contradiction, an oxymoron?”
Innovation by definition is the process of bringing to life new ideas, methods, products, services or solutions that create significant positive impact and value. And for innovation to happen there must be unconstrained, free flow thinking. Where does analytical thought come into this?
While that’s true, we shouldn’t forget that innovation must always be a workable idea. For this, it has to pass a three-attribute test. According to business strategy textbooks, for an idea to be accepted as an innovation, it must be:
- Novel
- Useful
- Successfully implementable
It is sound analysis that helps conversion of ideas into concrete proposals or prototypes which can then be implemented. Brilliant ideas are of no value if they are not commercially implementable. As Peter Drucker reminds us – “Ideas are cheap and abundant; what is of value is the effective placement of those ideas into situations that develop into action” This is where an analytical thinking becomes valuable
Free thinking without an analytical framework, we face the “curse of the blank page,” not knowing where to start. Or we suffer the “Einstellung effect.” This cognitive bias results in familiar being solutions recalled first, blocking all new thinking.
Structure and analysis, interestingly, spur innovation. They don’t stifle it. Surprising truth is that a lot of ingenious thinking comes from structure. Says MIT Professor Steven Eppinger: "You just have to get comfortable overlaying a little structure, a little process, over your creative activities.“
How Analytical Thinking helps Innovation in Sales
Thinking analytically can be especially useful in innovating new approaches to markets, Customers and transactions in sales. Analysing data often yields insights that can help us become innovative in creating solutions for Customers.
Research by Harvard Business School found that constraints promote analytical thinking leading to better innovations in 3 ways:
- Constraints force a need for analysis
- Analytical thinking brings structure to innovation
- Analysis draws up contours within which workable innovation can flourish
Two Analytical Thinking Tools for Innovation
- Data Powered Innovation
- Bounded Innovation & Relative Importance Testing
Analysing data can reveal trends, patterns and stories. And when such analysis is undertaken after defining boundaries, it can speed up innovation within the bounded space. This prevents wastage of time and enables quicker implementation of innovative ideas and strategies
Example of Analytical thinking for Innovation exercised with an Anticipatory mindset
Descriptive and predictive analysis of data can show up outliers among Customers and territories. This in turn facilitates anticipation of purchase trends, creating scope for innovation. Seasonal variations picked up by data analysis help anticipate ebbs and spates in demand that can be leveraged through innovative sales campaigns. Similarly micro trends buried in aggregate numbers also carry seeds for innovation provided they are spotted through analysis and anticipation. Imagine being able to help your Prospects make better sense of the data they are working with, to anticipate possibilities they may not have recognised yet! That’s value creation through anticipation!
Author Stephen M Shapiro calls the use of analytical thinking to innovate as the “left brained approach to innovation” And that can be a perfect recipe for using innovation to power sales activity!
"Think of digital transformation less as a technology project to be finished than as a state of perpetual agility, always ready to evolve for whatever customers want next, and you’ll be pointed down the right path."
— Amit Zavery
Welcome to the 'New Mercuri Mail'.. The India Journal of Mercuri International!
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