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Scream for success
It is a novel technique to find innovative solutions that boost productivity
THE new mantra of today's successful organisation is to innovate or die. Competition is rife and if your organisation is going to survive and thrive, you will need a lot of innovative and workable ideas.
The Scream technique can help you to direct your organisation in coming up with innovative solutions that will work effectively and boost productivity.
To be innovative, the first thing to do is to find areas in your work environment that provide opportunities to innovate. This can range from customer relationship management, new processes, new services, improving your workflow, developing new products, improving the quality of your current product, and more.
Once you find an area that can benefit from innovation, the next step is for you to identify and frame the opportunity.
Create an action plan on how you are going to drive this innovation. You will have to study your existing situation and do some serious thinking to determine the direction ahead. You will have to gather relevant data that will eventually allow you to come up with a workable solution.
Once you have done this, you need to implement the solution to see whether it works and, if necessary, rework the concept.
Think of Scream as a useful framework to plan the route ahead:
SUBSTITUTE A PROBLEM
Through substitution, you can find opportunities for new ideas. Look at what works well, what does not and how a more efficient system can be put in place.
For example, some babies are born with a condition called lactose intolerance.
This means that they are unable to drink milk, as they do not produce the enzyme lactase that helps break down the protein in milk.
This was a very serious problem in the past because milk was the only source of nutrients in a new-born's early life.
Nutritionists and scientists achieved a medical breakthrough when they developed a substitute containing fortified vitamins and other ingredients - soymilk - to nourish these lactose-intolerant infants.
COMBINE IDEAS
On paper, your idea may look perfect but when put to the test, it might prove unfeasible and unreliable. This is where you can combine your idea with someone else's to see whether you can come up with something unique and workable.
Think about shampoo and conditioner. From two separate products, the pharmaceutical industry came up with a third - a conditioning shampoo.
To differentiate their products from so many others, pharmaceutical and cosmetics companies are constantly innovating.
There are some products that are now categorised as "nutraceuticals and these claim not only to perform practical functions like cleanse the skin but nourish it as well.
REVERSE AND REARRANGE
Innovative solutions sometimes can come about through reversing the existing situation and rearranging the facts.
Henry Ford asked a simple question: What if, instead of the worker going to his work, the work came to him instead?
With a little bit of strategic thinking, Ford came up with the concept of the assembly line - a key feature of the manufacturing industry today.
ELIMINATE THE UNNECESSARY
Ermal Fraze wondered whether there was a better way to open a can than using the can opener. With a bit of creative insight, the pop-up can was born.
Ask yourself whether there are features of your work that can be eliminated to make you more productive, efficient and effective without compromising on quality, safety and ethical issues.
ADAPT AND MODIFY
The art of innovation is the ability to adapt what exists and use it in a new way. Italian inventor Guglielmo Marconi, who is often credited with inventing the radio, promoted its potential for ship-to-ship and ship-to-shore communication.
In 1906, Canadian inventor Reginald Fessenden - who performed pioneering experiments in the transmission of radio waves - possibly carried out the first radio broadcast of voice and music, an event that revolutionised entertainment and the delivery of information.
So go ahead, Scream and innovate.
