Innovation in Uncertain Times

In times of significant disruption, it can feel like you are on a roller coaster ride. It is exciting to be on the cusp of new opportunities. But at the same time, you know that much about your world will need to change. It is the liminal space between your current world and those new opportunities that creates the uncertainty. Will your distinctive contribution translate into something people value in the face of so much change? How will your organization pivot and change to be relevant to people’s needs in a new day?

The story of the sack clothing illustrates an interesting insight about the role of innovation in these cycles. Because innovation is the process of developing "fresh ideas that create value" (Richard Lyons), innovation tends to follow the problem. Difficult times unearth these problems and make solving them a matter of survival. So it stands to reason that many of our most enduring innovations are birthed out of difficult times. They go on to become product or service superstars during the good years when people have adopted them and have money to spend. But it wasn't the good years that made them possible. Instead it took the bad years to push us to solve a pressing problem that then could thrive and flourish in the good years.

I've noticed a strange thing happening as I work alongside AI tools. I am feeling two very different emotions at the same time and struggling to harmonize them. On one hand I see the immediate benefits of using the AI tools now at my disposal and feel a growing FoMO (Fear of Mission Out) that I might fall behind if I do not master every new wave of capabilities that AI brings to my work. 

On the other hand, I feel a growing anxiety over the significant professional, privacy, societal and personal implications of what AI is now able to do. In the same moment I'm drawn to the latest tool like a moth to a flame, but when I get to close I flutter away as my wings get singed. 

Recently Cheryl Strauss Einhorn published an article in the Harvard Business Review called "In Uncertain Times, Ask These questions Before Making a Decision." In it she provides four excellent questions for us to consider. I am specifically interested in helping innovators to apply these questions as we practice disciplined innovation.

Our innovation efforts need to take on this scrappy, resourceful, frugal, opportunistic tone. We need to celebrate how much experimentation we can do with the least money. We need to promote those who explore their ideas with an hour or two of time. We need to honor those who work together with others to maximize investments in the innovation process.