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Managing Risk and Innovation

• Opposed Environments
Managing Risk Perception and Innovation.
This image is a great illustration of four states that businesses, teams and individual are often in when they are trying to innovate and manage the risks involved.
The two axis on the chart represents the potential of your activities to do harm and the perception of your activities to do harm. These two factors set up some pretty inter-
esting mindsets and can really have an impact on your capacity to innovate successfully.

Routine. This state perceives risk as low and in reality it is low. It’s routine, expected and safe. This is not a good state when you are trying to be creative, innovative and
forward looking. Bad for innovation.

Ostrich. This state perceives risk as low but in reality it is high. This can be very dangerous as you are not on the lookout for anything that could potentially damage the
business. You are too close to what you are doing with looking for potential problems. Bad for innovation.

Gambler. This state can be highly emotionally charged, exciting and feel great when a big win appears. However, without knowing the outcomes before hand it can be
extremely risky and go both ways, good and bad. Not good for innovation.

Experimenter - Creative Thinker. Done in the creative laboratory in the creative environment, the creative thinkers work together on brand new, exciting, dangerous and
potentially world-changing ideas. Ides that could change a little thing or have a massive positive impact on the company. Ideas that could get you fired or worse!! They
have their eyes on the future. This is all done in the safe, not yet real creative environment. Things made here don’t have an effect until they become operational and this
can be done slowly, carefully and with feedback to ensure risk is low and impact is high. Great for innovation.

Opposed Environments:
This image illustrates the relationship between two business environments, the operational environment and the creative environment. These worlds are often deeply sus-
picious of one another or even seen as opposed but in reality rely on each other to be able to keep the business running, find new customers, develop new products and
services and ensure that the business remains relevant in an ever changing business climate.

When you are trying to innovate, solve problems, develop new ideas, look for new opportunities or streamline a process your mind will be in one of these environments, or
jumping between the two. The people that you are with will also be in one or both of these environments at the same time and when you are looking at something from
these opposing environments that is when conflict occurs, ideas die and the business and its teams, loose out.

The solution is to know that both environments exist and are conceptual frameworks. If you want to run a creative thinking session for innovation you need to ensure that
everybody is in the same environment mentally and emotionally.
Also having a process to navigate this environment is very important. This will ensure there is less conflict between people, better and significantly more initial ideas and
more positive energy. Anything that comes out of the meeting can be tested and developed and then it is brought into the operational environment and becomes your
innovation.

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Managing Risk Perception and Innovation