Myths can be damaging. They can get us stuck. The word innovation is surrounded by a few myths:
1. To be an innovation it has to be big. When most people think of the word innovation they think Apple-Computer-Level-Innovation. Innovation is relative to the person or organization. A innovation is something new to you. Does this release you from the pressure of having to launch a huge, scary, risky idea?
2. In order to get started we have to be pretty sure that this innovation is going to succeed. There’s no way to know if a innovation will succeed until you get it out there into the world. Market or member research will make you more sure but you will never know for sure until it is in the marketplace. If the risk of failure is too steep a price to pay find a smaller innovation to work on.
3. An innovation has to be technology driven. Actually for a better chance of success an innovation should be member driven. Free membership and one-on-one welcome calls with new members – these can also be innovations. Talk to your members more. They will tell you where you need to innovate.
Innovation is as crucial to the success of associations as it is to any organization. Innovations can be small, they can fail and they can be very un-techy. Now the word innovation doesn’t have to scare us. We can go ahead and make the changes and launch the new things that matter most to our members.