TAKE ACTION!

            1.    Establish your innovation brand.

                       I’ll bet you’re careful about the image of your brand in the marketplace. You want to stand for quality, value, and a great customer experience. Make sure you’re just as dedicated to your innovation brand! Be known as the place where great ideas originate. It’s like putting money in the bank.

            2.    Cultivate employee innovation.

                       How do you encourage your employees to be engaged and willing to go the extra mile for the organization? Not by treating them like cogs in a wheel, but by cultivating their natural desire to solve problems and find new solutions.

            3.    Make sure your company attracts the top performers.

                       The competition for the best employees is fierce and increasingly global. A good candidate for a key position in your company may be weighing multiple job offers from across the street or from another continent. By positioning your organization as an innovation leader, in the battle for top talent you’ll help tip the scales in your favor.

            4.    Keep your investors happy.

                       When the next Warren Buffett is scanning the investment landscape looking for a company that shows value, he or she doesn’t want to see lackluster performance and a ho-hum attitude toward innovation. They’re looking for dynamism and growth, and those are fueled by just one thing: a steady and predictable stream of new ideas. Keep your company on the A list for investors by showing them your commitment to innovation.