Everyday Innovation
Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on the Interns Expose Amway blog.
Jack Gray is an intern in the Business Innovations department.
Innovation.
This has become quite the fashionable term in the past few years with companies like Apple and Google launching products and services that are effectively blowing our minds (currently checking Google+ on my iPhone 4). These products or processes can sometimes be so groundbreaking, that as an intern I sometimes sit back and wonder how I could possibly be that innovative. After some observations with my team, I was able to come up with five things that I use to think big.
Communicate
- Speak your mind
- Keep an O P E N mind
- Spark thoughts in team-mates for overall success
- Think > Listen > Contribute
Know what they mean
- People don’t always express exactly what they mean
- Ask deeper questions around experiences to get the truth
- Position the conversation to get to the root of the problem
Build some empathy
- View the world though the other person’s eyes
- Make an effort to really understand their position
- Respect their position and learn from it
- Use tactics like “walk-a-mile” and “fly-on-the-wall” in combination with contextual inquiries
Make it visual
- Experiment with sticky-notes
- Write down thoughts (good & bad) throughout the day
- Post thoughts on the wall to start discussion
- Organize thoughts into common themes
- Information gathered on computers is tough to digest
- Open visuals encourage group participation and discussion
Have fun!
- Its all about finding the right “head-space”
- Sit on the ground
- Listen to music
- Skateboard around the office
- Play with toys
- Don’t let convention tell you how to work best
- Five or ten minutes every few hours of a fun mental break can really increase your overall productivity
So take these tips and make your job something more. If anybody gives you grief about these things, just tell them that you are “innovating” and that they should try it sometime! It might just bring a smile to their face…
Dig your style.
I’m pickin’ up what yer layin’ down, friend
Glad you shared,
Wm.