How To Use Data To Encourage Innovation

Data analysis is not the most glamorous part of leadership. However, one of our main jobs as leaders is to look at all of the facts and make the best decisions possible.

Data can help you do a lot of things. You can get an idea of what is happening in your organization at a glance. You can see if past performance met the goals you set. Sometimes, you can even predict what will happen next by looking at trends and using some of your practical experience.

Enable and Optimize Your Remote and Decentralized Innovation Teams

Innovation is about building things. It is a targeted type of invention focused on producing profitable techniques, services, and technologies.

Because you have a focus, you can set goals. Because you have goals, you can track progress towards them. That tracking is the key to using data to encourage innovation across your organization. 

Let's say you have several think tanks working in different parts of the world — or even in different parts of your facility. They all work independently, completely focused on their own projects. But here's the important part: You have an idea of which ones are progressing more quickly.

The key is not to make assumptions. Teams outpace each other for various reasons. Some reasons create opportunities: when one group has unique (but shareable) approaches and ideas, for example.

Raw information might not tell you exactly what's happening, but it can give you a clue as to which types of leadership actions might move your entire organization forward.

Improvise On and Reimagine Existing Resources and Technologies

Another way that you can use data to encourage innovation in the workplace is to use everything your organization has. Some of the best ideas in history have come when people reimagine away to use a resource — and it's usually something that's just sitting around.

There's a catch. Revealing hidden value takes exposure. In other words, people need to know that the resource exists before they can think about ways to use it.

As a leader with a high-level view of your entire organization, you're in a unique position to facilitate this type of discovery. You can deliver the information and resources your teams need to invent, iterate and innovate.

Catalyze Innovation Teams with Complex Collaboratory Groups

Innovative teams are usually already relatively diverse. This leads to plenty of opportunities for complex collaboration.

However, there's always room for improvement. Imagine a situation in which you could almost guarantee that every important perspective was being considered on your innovation team. That is what is possible with high-level, detailed data.

Analyzing the collaborators on a project can show you which skills you need to jump-start a creative atmosphere. From there, you can look at your organization to bring the right people in, encouraging innovation and promoting an overall company culture in one simple gesture.

Leading With Information

Data can give you insight into your progress towards innovation, the opportunities of your current resources, and even the ideas of the people on your teams. For most of us, it takes some practice getting comfortable reading the numbers and identifying actions to take. Stick with it, and you'll be able to propel your organization forward when the competition is still stuck at the drawing board.

What data/information will you start utilizing today?