Without innovation, there is nothing new. Without anything new, there is no progress. An increasing trend in customer expectations means new ideas, devices and methods must be created to accommodate these changes. The focus should not be on optimising existing technologies, but instead creating an entirely new way of doing something.
By familiarising yourself with the psychological characteristics that are common of innovative businesses and individuals, it becomes clear how these ideas come to life.
So, what is the psychology behind innovation?
HAVE A PURPOSE
Innovation starts from having a problem to solve or a creative idea and identifying a clear purpose behind achieving the outcome. The most effective examples of innovation are simple solutions to complex problems. After a young man named Garrett Camp and his friends spent $800 on a private driver, he figured he would rather a simple and inexpensive service for personal transport. He then founded Uber.
CREATE EFFICIENCY
Why waste your valuable time on a pointless task when you would rather do something more important? Innovators solve these problems. They find problems some didn’t even know they had and create solutions to them. Why search and scroll through your phone to find next Thursday’s weather when you can just ask Siri?
WELCOME FAILURE
No new idea has been successful without failure. As Henry Ford said, “Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.” We don’t learn to walk without falling over a few times. We don’t learn to write without getting it wrong a lot. Becoming comfortable and even welcoming failure in yourself and your team is essential to enabling innovation.
TAKE ACTION
Having an innovative idea is all well and good, but without action, the idea has no result. Belief and execution of your idea is what matters most, since it allows you and those utilising your idea to realise their potential.
Stagnation occurs when changing customer expectations are not met by new technologies. Most businesses prefer continuing with the devil they know instead of implementing new and innovative tools to navigate through their tasks. This only widens the gap for disruptors to step in and introduce new and more productive approaches.
THE CONTACT CENTRE INDUSTRY
Contact centres are often perfect examples of this concept of stagnation. Although powerful and complex technologies such as AI are becoming readily available, many leading organisations are still hesitant to introduce them. Fear of change is the primary adversary of progress. Learning how to foster a forward-thinking culture will allow a business to better respond to their customers’ changing demands and thereby gain a significant advantage over their competitors.
At Athena, we are committed to helping our clients pioneer change. This process can be challenging, particularly in an industry where customer expectations are constantly changing. That is why our Contact Centre Workshops are designed to teach your team the skills to foster an innovation mindset that is necessary to create meaningful change in your business.
When you foster an innovative mindset, you will see a fundamental change in the way your contact centre operates. With innovation your employees will be empowered to drive changes that will take your business to the next level.
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About the Author
Lea-Anne Warren is a highly regarded change and communications management specialist.
With 16 years experience working within the contact centre industry, she has helped large banking and utilities organisations design, implement and adopt highly complex change initiatives. Whether improving business operations or driving large scale cultural change, her passion and commitment to excellence is unwavering.
Lea-Anne’s strengths lie in balancing the needs of the people with the needs of the business, and creating a change framework that provides the flexibility needed to make great things happen.
She is a dedicated mother, a master multi-tasker, and a tenacious perfectionist who never backs down from a challenge.