Many teams impede innovation because they center innovation on ideas and not problems.
Ideas make people rush to solutions—problems make people identify with them and commiserate. Ideas are easier to kill; problems aren’t.
When you anchor a proposal in a truly great problem, you’ll find that colleagues are more likely to build on it rather than attempt to destroy it. Problems promote listening and building reciprocal trust.
Idea for Impact: Innovation should be centered on problems, not ideas.
Encourage everyone to pitch problems, not firm proposals.
Sell the problem, and you’ll get less resistance.
As I’ve mentioned previously, the best marketing minds work on creating a customer—previously unaware of a problem, the customer becomes interested in considering the opportunity and finally acts upon it.