Money Week ran an article recently on the West’s only hope – economically – against the East. It’s called innovation – apparently, we are very good at it and we need to do more if we are to thrive.
That comes as no surprise to Motivational Maps Ltd – we are a company that depends on innovation for our survival. There are too many consultants and coaches out there to be comfortable; one has to differentiate one self, and not be a ‘me-too’ business. In any case, just how tedious is it doing the – wow, that’s a great product – let me rip it off and sell it for £1 less?
There is a story of a town in Dorset which had in the town centre a One Pound Store – everything in the store could be bought for £1 or less. Amazing. Alas, it has gone out of business: some smart aleck opened up across the road with a 99p Store – everything for sale for 99p or less, and customers of the £1 Store deserted in droves!
We need innovation – for our products, our services, our systems, our processes and even our customers. What? Yes, even our customers need to innovate for us.
One of my best clients – for nearly 15 years – and a friend of mine is Philip Warr, the MD of the highly successful practice, PH Warr PLC: www.phwarr.com . Philip is currently innovating himself – penetrating new international markets. Good on him – long may he prosper.
I was a bit surprised, though, when he innovated with my product – the Motivational Map! Over 5000 Maps have been completed worldwide, and we claim that the Map is 99.9% accurate: there have been two queries about the results that we have been made aware of in that number.
Philip seems satisfied with his latest Map, but it is how he did it that is ‘innovative’. Whilst he was hands-free driving to his next network meeting, his PA posed the questions on the mobile, and he gave the answer, which she entered on- line. Bingo! He has an accurate result.
Thank you Philip. I don’t recommend this method, especially, but it does give you pause for thought: suppose we could create voice recognition software for the Maps? How cool would that be?
So again, thanks – from your ingenious attempt to maximise your use of ‘idle’ time we have a fully-fledged new idea that might in future just run. You see, it’s all about innovation!
James
The Mapping Motivation Series 