Six Steps to Fostering Innovation
As anyone who has experienced summer heat knows, the cool period of early morning is a precious time. I take a 30 minute walk every morning to stay healthy, but when temperatures rise, I find that I need to wake up a little earlier to keep my morning ritual comfortable. From the outside, changing the setting on my alarm clock might seem like an insignificant detail, but the impact it’s had on my life has been profound.
Interestingly, when a person begins their day’s activities early, the way they spend the rest of their day begins to change as well. I used to spend my nights channel-surfing in the living room, but since I shifted my schedule toward the morning, I’ve come to recognize those evening hours as a waste of energy and intellectual resources.
Every innovation begins with a small step.
In Tokyo, a public morning activity called Marunouchi Morning University is inspiring people to begin their days earlier and increase productivity. This “university” is not an incorporated educational institution, but a public, adult education facility operated by NPOs and city planning associations with the intent to create a community outside of the corporate culture of Marunouchi, a busy business district. When it was created in 2009, it attracted about 1000 participants in the span of two weeks. Five years later, the number has grown to 10,000.
Before Marunouchi Morning University, the city hosted numerous study groups and seminars, but most of them began after 18:30. Like most business people, I have little control over my evening schedule due to work, meetings, special assignments, family, and social obligations, so I was forced to miss many seminars that I would have liked to attend. Furthermore, many seminars took place at the same time, so even when I had a free evening, I was faced with a difficult choice.
True innovation recognizes an unsatisfied need as an opportunity in disguise.
Mr. Hima Furuta, producer of Marunouchi Morning University, realized that most people with full-time jobs have their only free time in the morning hours. He utilized the positive images and feeling associated with the start of the day to inspire people, but furthermore, he designed Marunouchi Morning University to change a person’s perception of an existing element by placing a focus on specific details.
Instead of using a generic phrase like “Waking up early is good for your health,” Mr. Furuta emphasized statements like “You can do yoga, go running, or study in style in the morning,” “Breakfast tastes better than ever,” and “Utilizing the morning hours sounds fantastic!” Through attention to detail and positive imagery, he changed the perception of morning activities and won the interest of many people. Marunouchi Morning University started small, gradually gathering participants and using their wisdom to enhance the program and power its growth.
By planting a new concept into a familiar element, Mr. Furuta created a new value.
The example of Marunouchi Morning University may not be a case study of a typical corporation, but Mr. Furuta’s success relies on ideas that can foster innovation in any setting. He offers six suggestions to any institution looking to start something new, which we’ve summarized below.
- “Whisper” Your Idea. Don’t announce your ideas to the entire world. Instead, “whisper” them to others while in a comfortable environment. This invites discussion and makes the people you approach feel personally invested.
- Make Allies. Gradually reach out to people who show interest in your idea, and utilize their unique skills and abilities to enhance your central concept.
- Planning. As you spread information about your idea, frame it as an established fact. When people are presented with the image of a successful venture, their belief in its success becomes self-fulfilling.
- Adjust Trajectory. If you begin by writing a plan, you risk locking yourself into pre-established ideas, decreasing flexibility and limiting your ability to adapt. Make and adjust your concepts based on hints and suggestions from multiple sources.
- Implement Your First Initiative. Begin small, and build upon your success. A large fire is started by striking a single match.
- Make a Budget, Give Notice, and Execute. No plan is perfect from the start, and making good judgments about new ideas can be difficult. You can’t reach step six without first completing steps one through five.
Innovation in a company begins with the passionate idea of a single person: a small spark, but a vital one. What begins as one individual’s passion gradually gathers supporters, and an informal network begins to form. This organic growth pattern gives an idea strength, and ensures that each person involved in the innovation is committed to its success.
The organization as a whole must provide an environment that will not crush and destroy the growth of such an idea, passion or network. Efficiency is important, but it is also crucial to keep the playful spirit alive and display tolerance in the face of new ideas.
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