George Satula's TEC Blog: Seven Keys to Business Innovation: How ...

Peter Diamandis, founder of the X-Prize Foundation, is the very definition of a change agent. His foundation organizes high-profile contests designed to spur technology development around what he calls ?humanity?s grand challenges?. The initial X-Prize was a $10 million purse famously awarded in 2004 for the first private spacecraft to reach the edge of space twice in two weeks.

Possessed of inspired vision, unflagging energy, and a dedication to leadership, he has been responsible for more real-world innovation than most people dream of in a lifetime.? According to Diamandis, ?If you?re an entrepreneur, it?s about making it happen through the force of your will and vision.?

Move up Move dHere, then, are Diamandis? top principles for innovation-minded companies:

? Incentivize the change you want to see: Prizes offer an extraordinarily efficient incentive system. This is what drove Lindbergh to cross the Atlantic. Within your own organization, you can create a framework that will drive people to work toward your priorities. The incentive doesn?t need to be large.
? Tolerate failure: People don?t like to take risks, but breakthroughs require people to step outside their comfort zone. Your organization must encourage crazy ideas with no risk to the thinker?s reputation, compensation, or opportunities. Fail early, fail often. If something works, do more of it. This is one of the keys to Silicon Valley?s extraordinary success.
? Attract the best and the brightest: The Internet, social networking, and mobile communications put the talent of the world at your fingertips. There?s no reason why you can?t have set the best talent in the world to work on your problem. Open-source collaboration and crowdsourcing are potent tools.
? Establish constraints: Any creative process requires [certain] boundaries. Otherwise, people do things in the habitual way. Set tight limits on the innovative process ? time, money, materials ? and you?ll force people to think outside the box [and only utilize available resources ? think about the near tragedy of Apollo 13, which was averted through creative thinking and some ?duct tape?].
? Establish credibility: People are skeptical of radical change, so you need to make the change you seek as credible as possible. When the first X-Prize was announced, neither prize money nor contestants existed. But at its debut, on a highly public stage, 20 astronauts, the head of NASA, and members of the Lindbergh family, were present in its support. No one asked where the money would come from or who would compete.
? Leverage your investment: Create a structure that encourages potential innovators [and strategic alliance partners] to spend more than you can invest yourself.
? Encourage youth: Young people don?t have fixed ideas of what?s possible and, more to the point, what?s not. You need an attitude that anything can happen. The engineers who put Apollo on the moon were in their 20s. So were the entrepreneurs who created the dot-com revolution. Make sure your organization allows young people to lead the way to the future.
Excerpted article from Forbes.

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