Product and service innovation

Progressive organizations instinctively know that in order to survive and grow they must not only change with the times but invent their own future. At TCC, we say it this way:

"Innovate or Evaporate."

TCC's hands-on experience and education in consulting and training in CHANGE and INNOVATION is extensive spanning 27 plus years. This is clearly one of our strength areas. We custom design and effectively implement GUIDED INNOVATION that enhances or creates new products or services. This often entails focused improvement on business processes. TCC takes a rich and robust yet no-nonsense approach to developing and tapping innovative talent within an organization. The key is to focus on workplace results that achieve one or more of the following:

1. Catching your competition off guard
2. WOWING your customers
3. Developing KILLER APPLICATIONS
4. Molding changes in your field/industry to your liking
5. Attacking complacency
6. Inventing your future TCC's hands-on...

Five steps

I. IDENTIFY...

Business opportunities to seize and problems to resolve...strategic/tactical/day-to-day. This includes exploring how the NEW GAME of business is/will impact your specific organization in four broad pressure points:

1. Technology
2. Customer Expectations
3. Employee Expectations
4. Intersecting and Overlapping Product and Service Boundaries by Industry and Country

These four pressure points lead to THE LOGIC driving the new game which goes like this. Higher customer expectations requires continuous improvement which to occur means something must change in your organization's system. For change to happen creative and innovative thinking must be used and for that to likely take place the organization's culture must cultivate this type of thinking.

II. ASSESS...

For current innovate skill competency within the organization at the individual or group/team level .

ASSESSMENT TOOL

TCC has developed its own 60 item INNOVATIVE/CREATIVITY SELF-ASSESSMENT tool that pinpoints relative strength and weakness tendencies.The instrument contains these seven categories:

	Category	Number of Items
1.	Acquisition and Use of Knowledge	9
2.	Disciplined Thought	9
3.	Motivation and Problem Sensitivity	8
4.	Self Confidence and Tolerance of Isolation	8
5.	Trust of Subconscious Mind and Uncertainty	9
6.	Idea Flexibility and Fluency	8
7.	Imagination-Playfulness-Originality	9

 

III. TRAIN...

• Key staff about creativity and innovation...what it is AND is not
• Individuals and teams to use their innovative capabilities made up of the following 19 characteristics/abilities (listed alphabetically):
  • Analyze and Synthesize
  • Anticipation of Productive Periods
  • Creative Memory
  • Curiosity
  • Discernment and Selectivity
  • Expanded Background of Fundamental Knowledge
  • Flexibilty
  • Fluency of Ideas
  • High Motivation
  • Incubation
  • Openness to Feelings and the Subconscious
  • Originality
  • Persistency and Concentration
  • Self-confidence and Freedom from Fear of Failure
  • Sensitivity to Problems
  • Think in Images
  • Tolerate Ambiguity
  • Tolerate Isolation
  • Toy with Ideas
• TCC helps you MOW THESE DOWN
• Assessment data from Step 2 is key in determining which of these 19 areas to target for training. TCC has virtually hundreds of innovative thinking tools and exercises that serve to develop staff and which correlate with each of the 19 characteristics. When these characteristics/abilities are developed and used the six inhibitors ( AKA- blocks) to creativity are overcome. The six inhibitors are:
  • Cultural
  • Perceptual
  • Emotional
  • Expressive
  • Environmental
  • Intellectual

IV. APPLY...

A simple yet powerful process that channels and capitalizes upon innovative skills against the organization need/opportunity/problem.

 

V. SUSTAIN...

• Growth, confidence, competitiveness, enthusiasm, through additional applications.
• Institutionalize and reuse the process.
• Communicate and promote your successes to customers, employees, suppliers and communities.