When it comes to sharing innovative ideas, there are two ways the response could go.
On one side, there’s the lean forward. The audience collectively shifts their shoulders forward, their eyes widen, they reposition themselves – they get ready to engage. On the other side of the spectrum, is the eye roll. Listeners lean back and quickly begin to focus elsewhere, dismissing whatever they’re being told.
You’ve likely heard of the innovator’s dilemma, a term coined by Clayton Christensen. Established companies have a strong disincentive to innovate because it threatens the status quo of their growth. Less talked about, but possibly more prevalent because it affects any innovator regardless of company size, is the challenge that innovators face when sharing their new ideas. While most know the response they want from their audience, they don’t know how to get it. And the most discouraging part is that our ideas aren’t the problem. It’s how we communicate them.
We’ve seen it time and again in our focus industries (although it extends to any innovative area): Sustainability leaders losing their audience immediately because their future vision is not in touch with the current reality. Healthcare marketing executives told that their aspirations for digital patient experience are not a priority. Product teams within B2B organizations that can’t get enough funding for their B2C initiatives.
