Rather than waiting for problems to arise before devising new solutions, innovation leaders and their teams may be far more successful if they proactively seek out problems and innovate accordingly.
In an op-ed for CEOWorld, David Banger, a former CIO and founder of digital consultancy Change Lead, describes five aspects of an organization's operations in which innovation teams should go "problem hunting":
1. Simplify tasks: "Consider high-volume, non-complex tasks first for automation," Mr. Banger wrote.
2. Processes: Standardizing processes across an organization can increase efficiency and cut costs generated by more siloed departments.
3. Intelligent data: Organizations typically capture a wealth of data from consumers; analyzing this data can reveal gaps and poorly performing areas of the organization.
4. Digital basics: Problem hunting in the first three areas on the list can also help determine which of an organization's operations should be digitized, creating "opportunities of greater customer intimacy," per Mr. Banger.
5. Partners: Rather than scrambling to match the capabilities of existing technology companies — often, without their budgets and know-how — partner with them to apply their expertise to your digital transformation efforts.
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How Kindred Innovations has found success in an 'atypical' model of looking inward to branch out