How Real Innovation Can Be Achieved

Effectively driving innovation

There is still very little knowledge about the real possibilities of today. Liz’s company, TheCurrent, is focused on making innovation tangible and real.

At TheCurrent, Liz and her team identify specific areas in the business where companies should innovating, and they also share how they should do it and who they should do it with.

If we look at the way innovation is designed in most corporations, it’s either driven by PR (managers want their company to be associated with the value of being innovative) or if it’s indeed caused by a deep commitment, corporate leaders believe that they can do it on their own, without external help. Liz’s mission is to prove them wrong.

Distinguish yourself

In a sense, TheCurrent is to startups what CAA agents are to actors or other artists. What startups need today are not conferences, they need agents to actively propel their growth.

If you know what you’re about as a startup and you believe in innovation, if you know what makes you unique in this ocean of tech and what you can win with against other companies, then Liz and her team are the perfect partners for you.

Many great startups that know what’s special about them go to accelerator programs looking for growth, and they end up with no deals.

Synchronize the analogue and the digital

Companies nowadays really dig deep into “why we are doing this” before they do something. Part of the why should also include a deep understanding of the target audience.

“It’s becoming more and more obvious that sustainable practices actually bring in profit and growth.”

What’s Liz’s long term solution for businesses? Make sure your team is not all internal. This really helps to get everything moving, regardless of your size. It will create a new dynamic in your team and will up the quality of the work, if you choose the right partner.

Liz also believes that businesses should be prepared to cater to both analogue and digital, past and future. Our society will be highly digitalized, but at the same time, as humans, we constantly experience nostalgia for the past. Therefore analogue will always be a part of life.

You need to believe in yourself

If she had all resources available, what would Liz innovate or change? She would start with a data plan for companies. Many corporations are still stuck in getting their data organized and they also don’t have a strategy in place to use all of this data.

Another thing she would change is to make the purchase journey a little bit more supple. There is unnecessary friction that can disturb the customer and these problems are not that hard to tackle.

What would she advise leaders? Think about what are your three main challenges. If they are consumer-facing challenges, who is your consumer? Be more proactive. Don’t wait for the newsline to hit, be strategic and creative. Act, don’t react.

Remember that you should never help the world bring yourself down. Wake up every day with the notion that you are powerful. Finally, be your best cheerleader because no one else will be that for you.

If the talk resonates with you, we’d recommend you listen to this episode too: Nathalie Molina Niño