Sometimes, while innovating without a specific challenge as guide, I use a strategy that tends to be very powerful and produce very good results.
I write down on a whiteboard, 5 absolute and indubitable truths on a specific topic and then I write the opposite to find challenges that can be overcome.
Here are some examples:
Truth 1 – A good brainstorm is when we put everybody in the same room and start sharing and building on top of ideas;
Truth 2 – A smart office aims to enable facilities management teams to optimize consumption and the use of available space;
Truth 3 -Remote work is a good way to, from times to times, break the work routine of employees;
Truth 4 – When an employee gets sick, he stays at home;
Truth 5 – Team meetings and collaboration events are paramount for company culture and spirit.
Now would be the time to challenge this truths, COVID-19 did this for us 3 months ago, a pandemic event that was able to change this a so many other unshakable truths. Only innovation can deal with this.
Life will get back to normal, a new normal for sure, but a normal that will need new rules, new processes, new tools and new ways to work, engage with others and live.
The New Normal
Transforming the 5 items in new concepts, focused on what should be the new normal at work is my advice to companies to prepare for:
The new 1 – Use platforms state-of-the Art to enable innovation processes (it’s not only a good video call platform);
The new 2 – Transform smart offices from dashboards to be used by facility management teams into smart apps that can be used by all employees to retrieve information about usage and availability;
The new 3 – Enable platforms for tasks and collaboration management capable to support teams in multiple locations and environments;
The new 4 – Create or use contact tracing solutions in order to, in case of infection, track and inform all employees that had contact to check health conditions;
The new 5 – Use communication and digital and remote engagement to improve and disseminate culture through all employees. A company without a strong culture, is a company without a future.
All tough times in history had a huge impact on disrupting humankind skills and behaviors, we will get stronger as humans and as companies from this pandemic event too.
by Pedro Pinto, Head of Corporate Innovation