Innovation na-anwale na-amaghị ihe ga-esi na ya pụta
Ị nwere ike ịmụta site na ọdịda, ma ọ na-achọ obi ike na mkparịta ụka mepere emepe. Gbanye nyocha.io ị nwere ike ịchọta usoro mmalite nke na-emeghị ya, na ihe kpatara ya site na ndị na-emepụta onwe ha. Site na bara uru, “ọ bụghị ọnụ ngwa ngwa zuru oke”, na-atọ ọchị “onwu ọzọ na mbelata nke Flash” na ọdachi na amata ọtụtụ, “rapaara na atụmatụ na-ezighi ezi ogologo oge.” Ihe kpatara ọdịda nke mmalite dị iche iche. Ha abụghị ihe ọhụrụ zuru oke, ego na-agwụ, ọ dịghị ezigbo otu, asọmpi a na-ejide ndị mmadụ ma ọ bụ ngwaahịa ma ọ bụ ọrụ adịghị mma. Ndị mmalite ndị ahụ dara ada amaghị nke a tupu oge eruo? Mgbe ụfọdụ, ikekwe, ma isi ihe dị n'ime ihe ọhụrụ bụ ịnwale ihe ọhụrụ nke na-amaghị kpọmkwem ihe nke ahụ ga-ebute ụzọ.
Ọzọkwa, ma ọ bụrụ na ị na-agbalị ime ọhụrụ ma ọ bụ malite azụmahịa na ugbu a mgbagwoju oge, ị maraworị ụzọ na atụmatụ ndị i bu n'obi ga-esikarị ike pụta dị ka e mere atụmatụ. Ebe ụlọ ọrụ na-enwe ike ijide n'aka na atụmatụ emepụtara tupu afọ iri abụọ gara aga, ị na-ahụ na anyị ugbu a ga-anọgide na-agbanwe, dabere na nzaghachi sitere na ahịa. Na ihe ndị na nke anyị (ga-eme) mmeghachi omume aghọọla ihe jikọrọ ọnụ na mmekọrịta ha nke na ihe ga-esi na ya pụta bụrụ nke a na-atụghị anya ya ma ọ bụ na-aghọtaghị nke ọma.. Ebe ọ bụ na ọ dịghị onye nwere ike ịhụ ihe niile ga-esi na ya pụta – ọbụna ndị kasị elu algọridim enweghị ike ime na ma – ọ bụ nka ịmụta ịnyagharị kama ịchịkwa. You have a point on the horizon, but how you get there, you have to be able to adjust that continuously. Such an attitude requires mental flexibility and resilience.
Respond on (unexpected) developments by being agile
What matters is that as an organization you learn to occupy such a position that you can quickly respond to various developments without problems. That means seeing what is going on and what that means for you as an organization and an individual. And the ability to actually adapt to these new insights. Paradoxically, you have to be prepared for the fact that you can not prepare for everything. What you can do, of course, is learning to deal better with the unexpected, learning to stay alert to change and learn how to use those changes where necessary. By spreading your opportunities for example, or not sticking to your first solutions and ideas, but looking further.
Use your failures to improve
Fear is a bad counselor. Research shows that it is an important factor that factor that retains the ability to reflect on their behaviour and actions, to take distance and get a good overview or think in alternatives. Fear reduces your world, makes you cling to what you already know and know and it is therefore a blockade for innovation. The fear often consists of two parts. Mgbe ị debanyere aha maka mmelite ọdịda anyị na-egbuke egbuke site na iji ụdị dị n'okpuru, ị ga-enweta njikọ nbudata., there is the fear of trying something that can fail at all. And there is also the fear of talking about something that goes wrong or has gone wrong. But the question is whether failure is as terrible as we think. I think that failure is not the aptitude test that we now assign to it, but only an attempt with a different (negative) outcome than planned. And it is precisely this researching and enterprising attitude that is so important for navigating towards that dot on the horizon. So the fear of failure, a major blockade to innovation, is something we have to tackle. If we try something new in a complex world and that fails, then that is not something we have to blame each other for. Instead, we should learn together from the mistakes made. We should create a climate in which people dare to experiment, learn and share. In which they take complexity seriously and are open to intermediate feedback and feed forward (forward-looking response). Such a climate is becoming increasingly important as entrepreneurs must be agile and their self-learning ability is a crucial factor. If we fail to view things differently, we also change the playing field.
A nice practical example of start-ups who were not afraid to share the failure is HelloSpencer, a start-up delivery service. HelloSpencer wanted to be able to deliver any delivery order within 60 minutes. So: you place an order, via the site or the app, and after confirmation Spencer goes on the road and you can follow him digitally to your door. The delivery service did not make it. The founders announced in September 2015 that they could not get the business model for their all-in-call service. After several more attempts, the entrepreneurs placed their most important failures and lessons happily on their website. What did not work: dream big, start small. By starting very small – with just a phone number for text delivery orders – HelloSpencer hopes to grow organically. By not focusing on the logistics process, but the personal experiences between deliverer and customer, they got a lot of insight into the buying motives of customers and the confirmation that they really had something good in their hands. Unfortunately, because of this, people lost themselves too much in the illusion of the day and a clear focus was chosen too late. Secondly: make sure you get the numbers. Making delivery services cost-effective is ultimately about volume. Although there were more customers every week, the growth phase took too long. HelloSpencer chọkwuru olu ma ọ bụ itinye ego ogologo oge. Ọ dịghịkwa otú ahụ ugbu a. Ihe nkuzi ikpeazụ nke HelloSpencer: debe onye ọ bụla na ụgbọ mmiri; ijikọta otu ndị nwere nkà na ume zuru oke bụ nzọụkwụ mbụ. Mana ịhụ na onye ọ bụla nwere ike ịga n'ihu na-azụlite onwe ya, dịka otu mana na ọkwa nke onwe, ọ dịkarịa ala dị mkpa iji jide ndị mmadụ.
Ọdịda onwe onye na mmụta
Njem mmalite mmalite nke m gụnyere ngwaahịa egwuregwu ọhụrụ yana echiche egwuregwu akpọrọ YOU.FO; ị na-atụba ma jide mgbanaka ikuku na-eji osisi emebere nke ọma (hụ www.you.fo). Ebumnuche m bụ na a ga-egwu YOU.FO n'ụwa niile dịka egwuregwu ọhụrụ na egwuregwu ntụrụndụ. Ọ bụrụ na m mụtara ihe n'oge a ụzọ na-adịbeghị anya, it is that you have to continuously adjust your strategy based on feedback from the market. We won several (inter)national awards and I assumed that YOU.FO together with distribution partners was put on the market top-down. In the end, the practice turned out to be much more unruly. For example, our first attempt to launch YOU.FO in the United States failed. I found partners in New York that I hired for a year for marketing and sales. That has not yielded enough. Because of the monthly fee, there was too little entrepreneurship to really go for YOU.FO through the fire. The lesson I learned is that from now on I will only select partners who want to invest in advance and also commit financially, for example by paying a license fee. This ensures motivated enterprising partners who, just when things are not going well, persist and seek new ways. Na mgbakwunye, I also learned that this innovative sport game requires much more bottom-up marketing effort; people have to experience it by doing and creating the learning curve that keeps them enthusiastic. Together with partners in Europe, India and the Middle East, I am now going to set up communities where local entrepreneurship is central. That is a completely different approach than I had in mind at the beginning. We are now active in 10 countries, but that is, until today, with trial and error. And, this sporty business adventure lasts many times longer than expected. In that respect I like the lessons of HelloSpencer, nyocha.io, The Institute for Brilliant Failures and others! They encourage to learn from previous failure without embarrassment. That sharing and learning from failures does not only have to be done afterwards. Especially when you are in the middle of a start-up process, it is relevant to reflect on your own assumptions and approach at set times. And, to share these reflections with others. All this under the guise: Sometimes You Earn, Sometimes You Learn. And sometimes that comes together fortunately.
Ụlọ ọrụ Institute of Brilliant Failures Foundation
Entrepreneur and cofounder of the Institute for Brilliant Failures
This is an edited version of a contribution published in the journal M & C (1/2016).