How to build your innovation muscle?

In the book “The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons in Creative Leadership from 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company, former CEO of Disney”, Rober Iger speaks about the mantra “innovate or die”.

We often associate innovation with huge moves. Create a new product, a new process, a new business model. But innovation is also in the small things that we create with our day-to-day decisions.
How to build your innovation muscle? Train yourself in your everyday life and you will find at least two benefits:

1. It improves your daily life.
2. It prepares you for more significant changes.

I’m lucky to live in a place surrounded by mountains and lakes.

When the weather is beautiful, we like to enjoy the lake. As creatures of habit, we mostly go to the same place.
It’s convenient (10 minutes by car) and an excellent site for parents and children.

The last time we decided to go to the lake, my wife proposed to the family to test a new one.

My first inner thought. We can go to it by bike. From the outside, the lake is smaller. The place looks less pretty than the one we used to go to. The water seems a bit too green. So I suspect it is full of algae. I don’t like it 🙂

So guess what? My first reaction was no.
Let’s stick to the other one. Trying to convince the family, I was resisting to a small change, without even realizing it.

Finally, my wife convinced me to try the new experience. I’m lucky to have her.
Was it good? It was great.
We enjoyed a family trip by bike. The lake was less crowded and the water was clear and warmer. There is a specific place for young children.

We enjoyed it. And we found a new option that opens new territories for us.

Most of the time, new things bring us joy, ideas, and opportunities.
Become a “Yes Man” to other innovative thoughts and recognize yours.

What if you were creating small innovations in your daily life?

• Developing yourself: Create and adapt a new morning routine. Go to sleep earlier. Test a new productivity trip…
• Innovate in your career growth: Test new software, change the way you manage your one-to-one, your team meetings, adapt your governance model…
• Innovate on managing your money: Challenge your broker, discover a new influencer, read a new book, build a family budget…

Don’t wait for the big bang innovation. Train yourself to innovate daily, enjoy the advantages and prepare yourself for your next big option to grow.

What are your next small innovations?

Mr OTG