VI. Look at the following list of xXth century innovations.

A. In your opinion, which is:

• the most important?

• the most useful?

• the most controversial?

• the most unpopular?

1900 - the escalator

1901 - the vacuum cleaner

1923 - the traffic signal

1950 - the heart pacemaker

1956 - TV remote control

1973 - cars with airbags

1974 - the Post-it note

1979 - personal stereo

1986 - laptop computer

1987 - disposable contact lenses

1994 - GM (genetically-modified) tomatoes

1997 - dolly the sheep (The first mammal cloned from an adult cell.)

B. Which of the following adjectives can be used to described these innovations?

brilliant beneficial silly life-saving

pointless ridiculous time-saving annoying

wasteful life-changing practical money-saving

revolutionary space-saving ground-breaking

C. What other innovations would you add to the list?

VII. Discuss these questions.

1. What are the signs that distinguish a truly innovative organization?

2. Are there any ways to increase the staff creativity?

Read the text and answer the questions:

1. What kind of strategic goals are most of company directors aimed at?

2. Why can an organization get an edge over the competition by innovating?

3. Why was the creative idea suggested at Kinko’s so fast approved and implemented?

4. Comment on the above key elements of innovative organizations. Why are they important?

Innovation: Creating the best practices of tomorrow

By Paul Sloane

Directors constantly strive to increase efficiency, implement best practice and deliver increased shareholder value. They seek to improve cash flow through efficiencies of scale and cost reductions. But there are limits to cost saving. In a global economy your competitors in lower-cost countries can beat you at that game. The best way to create value is to innovate your way ahead of the competition. You need to create temporary monopolies where yours is the only show in town. You can do this by harnessing the creative power of your greatest asset, your people. The goal is to turn them into entrepreneurs who are constantly looking for new ways of doing business.

A copy-machine operator at Kinko's, a major chain of outlets providing copying and document services, noticed that customer demand for copying dropped off in December. People were too pre-occupied with Christmas presents to do much copying for the office. So he came up with a creative idea. Why not allow customers to use Kinko's color copying and binding facilities to create their own customized calendars using their personal photos for each of the months? He prototyped the idea in the store and it proved popular -- people could create personalized gifts of calendars featuring favorite family photos. The operator phoned the founder and CEO of Kinko's, Paul Orfalea, and explained the idea. Orfalea was so excited by it that he rushed it out as a service in all outlets. It was very successful and a new product -- custom calendars -- and a new revenue stream were created.

This kind of creative energy should be the goal for every organization. How can you make all your staff into creative entrepreneurs like the operator in Kinko's? How can you energize people to see problems not as obstacles to success but as opportunities for innovation?

To build a truly innovative organization you need to have a vision, a culture and a process of innovation.

The key elements of creating a truly innovative and entrepreneurial organization can be summarized in the following eight steps: