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May 2009
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 I was recently invited to explain the importance of innovation to a group of people
who worked for a large retail chain. To get them started, I asked them to rank a range of business skills including innovation,
customer focus, project management skills, communication skills, performance management,
attention to detail and presentation skills, in order of their importance. (I can
be nasty like that).
Why not try this yourself now, before reading the rest of this entry?
Perhaps unsurprisingly, whilst the group claimed to recognise the importance of
innovation, they saw it very
much as a “nice to have” or an “additional tool for
the toolbox”, rather than something that was fundamental to their organisation’s
future success. Consequently innovation was very nearly at the bottom of everyone’s
list.
Here’s my personal take on that list of ‘skills’. For me, two on that list – innovation
(of course) and customer focus – actually rise above the others because they describe
an organisation’s cultural behaviours rather than the internal skills its people
have. They’re the end result – the combination of skills, shared values and personal
attitudes. More importantly, they’re what the customer sees (or not, as the case
may be).
Whilst undoubtedly important, the other skills on the list are usually going to
be invisible to your customers (though they’ll soon notice if they’re missing!)
and in themselves won’t set your organisation apart from its competitors. (They
will however, help you deliver your organisation's cultural behaviours).
Innovation and customer focus on the other hand can, and will, make a real difference
to your customer’s experience. And that is one key reason why two of our core passions
are Customer Focus and Innovation rather than, say, Business Writing and Decision
Making.
As always, I welcome my thinking being challenged so have your say by emailing me on rod.webb@glasstap.com. The best response will be included in our next newsletter.
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