When you find yourself spinning in the squirrel cage of internal thinking, try searching outside the same circle of management for new ideas.
I’ve long held the belief that real innovation rarely comes from inside the bank. The “Big Brains around the Table” method is way past the point of diminishing returns.
Looking outside the bank, on the other hand, is a method that is inexhaustible. There’s always something happening out there that can provide the new perspectives necessary for breakthrough.
An article in today’s WSJ has this to say about truly innovative ideas:
“They are typically at the edge of a company’s radar screen, and sometimes a bit beyond: trends in peripheral industries, unserved needs in foreign markets, activities that aren’t part of the company’s core business. To be truly innovative, companies sometimes have to change their frames of reference, extend their search space. New ways of thinking and organization can be required as well.”
The article goes on to describe nine techniques for hunting the wild idea:
- Build Scenarios – Use teams of diverse writers to create detailed scenarios
- Spin the Web – Create a website to serve as a marketplace of ideas
- Enlist Lead Users – Ask early adopters to suggest better tools and services
- Deep Dive – Use anthropological-like research to learn how others are solving problems similar to yours
- Probe and Learn – Study and experiment with opportunities in unexplored markets
- Mobilize the Staff – Engage more workers in the search for innovative ideas
- Cater to Entrepreneurs – Grant entrepreneurial employees time and resources to explore their own ideas
- Start a Conversation – Create a format that encourages different departments to work together
- Breed Diversity – Establish new partnerships or hire from outside your industry to shake up old ways of doing things
These aren’t off-the-wall exercises for stimulating creativity; they are business-based techniques that even conservative bankers can employ with relative comfort.
Welcome to Outside-In Banking, a blog for bank marketers and anyone else involved in financial services. I believe that many banks are way too internally focused for their own good, so I try to provide an outside-in perspective. Expect a lot of opinions, raves, rants, and unsolicited advice. I hope to get the same from you. 
