Discover How Better Technology Leadership Increases Innovation
Module 4 of the leadership program looks at technology innovation. Innovation isn’t just about big ideas. It is about new ideas, doing things in different and better ways.
Successful innovators know that small, medium, and large ideas are all vital to success. And no one else is better qualified than IT to lead the way. In the new digital age, IT managers must lead innovation. Although innovation should transcend the whole organization, IT is uniquely placed to lead it. Innovation is everywhere, but rarely does it happen without technology. And we need lots of ideas to keep the fire burning.
Technology leadership and innovation
The module looks at the process of innovation, how to create a culture of innovation and some fascinating insights on the creative mindset. We draw on the findings of a number of recent research findings on how to innovate successfully and generate new ideas for solving business problems.
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The module on Technology and innovation covers the following topics:
Technology & innovation leadership
IT leaders need to be at the forefront of technical innovation. Day 4 takes delegates through the technology innovation process, with techniques for fostering creativity, developing ideas and plotting technology vision.
- The process of innovation
- Creating the conditions and urgency for innovation
- The creative mindset
- The innovation workshop — fostering innovation
- Identifying problems and creating ideas
- The importance of technology in innovation
- Selecting the best innovation ideas
- Creating technology vision – lighting up the future
- Case study ‘Innovating in industry’
Click to find out more about dates for our IT Leadership courses.
Some thoughts on technology and innovation
Although innovation should transcend the whole organization and is not just the responsibility of senior management, IT is uniquely placed to lead it. Innovation is everywhere, but rarely does it happen without technology. And we need lots of ideas to keep the fire burning. Ideas to do the following:
- Support marketing, build new clients, and improve customer loyalty
- Improve the working relationships with users, and make life easier for customers
- Improve the processes embedded in applications, productivity, and working conditions
- Make better information available in better ways for employees, customers, and shareholders
- Use new technologies in ways that have not been thought of
Innovation is nothing new to IT managers. IT has for a long time had a pioneering culture and method for small, incremental type enhancements; we call it continual service improvement. And over twenty years ago, we were at the heart of large-scale IT innovation called business process reengineering—the radical redesign of processes, pioneered by Michael Hammer in the 1990s.
Very few real innovations in business happen without technology. And technology innovation is the responsibility of the senior IT leadership team. There are many innovation leadership opportunities for the savvy IT professional – setting up the framework for innovation, build innovation communities, provide wide-ranging sources of technology ideas, and drive the quest to do more and do it better.
Although the search for new ideas can be a source of inspiration, it can also provoke fear and anxiety. That should come as no surprise. At its heart, innovation is about finding something new, something new that, by its nature, does not exist today.
If you are interested in this topic, why not request a complementary download of the chapter on “Technology & innovation” from “Excellent IT Leadership” by David McKean, published by Amazon’s Createspace, 2014 – the one on which the course is based.
In addition, here are some of our favourite references. Always keen to learn more, let us know if you have any papers or books on these subjects you could recommend.
‘The Creativity Tool Box’ by Elspeth McFadzean
This is probably out of print and is quite hard to find, but it contains some ideas for brainstorming different ideas.
‘A whack on the side of the head’ by von Oech
This is actually a pack of cards, but is brilliant for suggesting new ways to think of solutions to problems.
‘How to have kick-ass Ideas’ by Chris Barez-Brown
A whacky look at how to fire up creativity in an organization. The book is easy to read, with a lot of practical examples.