Innovation stagnation and no new ideas?

Everyone knows it - during the further development of one's own products, no new ideas emerge that allow the business to grow further and secure the future. Rather, everything remains the same. There is optimization, but no innovation. The product cycle is at its peak, and the only next step - sooner or later - will be the downturn.

Continuous, thoughtful innovations ensure long-term survival. But how are such ideas generated?

My clients often talk about when a product is "ready." But quite honestly, when a product is done, it's only because it's already in the downturn towards the "end of life" - apart from that, digital products are not "done". Rather, it's important to engage in continuous development. This is not just about optimization, but about innovation and thus tapping into new customer groups.

"Finished" products, are in a downturn towards "end of life."

Optimization vs. product innovation

Often I hear the question: "What should be done even better?" This shows me that too many people are stuck in optimization thinking and lack ideas. What is needed at this point is a mental shift in the direction of "What product innovation can I still offer my customers (and new customers)? What services do they need? What problems do they have?". New customer groups can be generated through business development, such as vertical integration. This involves integrating upstream steps. Horizontally, similar products can be bought up to expand customer reach. Even better, however, is to create new products that customers don't even know they need yet.

But this is precisely where many companies lack an innovation culture. This means that employees and customers do not have the feeling that they can contribute to improving the product at any time and do not have the opportunity to express their wishes and suggestions. To boost the innovation culture, internal incentives such as competitions can be created. It also makes sense to set up a customer portal. There, wishes can be expressed and confirmed by other customers (upvoting). But beware: customers often want optimization, rarely innovation.

"If there is no innovation culture, ideas are lost or do not even emerge."

Solution to the innovation bottleneck

Innovation is not, as is generally assumed, due to chance or the famous flash of inspiration. Nor can it be forced. Rather, innovation is a process that can be initiated and for which a lot can be done. If, for example, you start with a two-day offsite workshop and continue to think about the resulting ideas regularly and promptly with follow-ups, you will promote the creative process enormously. In the process, new ideas are generated in droves.

It is important to keep checking the brainstorming sessions: Has anything changed? In the situation? In the facts? External perspectives from experienced moderators should also be included. My Advisory, for example, is a great support in the innovation process. In the next step, or even in parallel, communication with customers should take place. Are the innovations under discussion even wanted? If so, a prototype is quickly created, tested, further developed and tested again. Also, whether customers are willing to pay for it. This is how products are created that customers love and that represent an innovation. In the process of creating new products, failures sometimes occur. For innovation to be possible, companies need a culture of error that also allows for such failures. After all, there can be no innovation without mistakes. Many developers and inventors have learned from their mistakes and created innovative products. It is simply a matter of identifying the errors at an early stage in order to prevent expensive undesirable developments and to get to the home straight more quickly.

"Ideas that have been developed should always be reviewed and thought through further."

Conclusion: Innovation is a plannable process

Innovation cannot be taken for granted, but it is essential for survival and a key driver for growth. It takes time and resources to innovate and get out of the optimization loop. Innovation needs the right culture, targeted support and communication with the end customer to emerge and be plannable. Because it is not a "coincidence", not a "flash of inspiration", not an "idea", but a process that needs to be organized.

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