老九品茶

Hardly a day goes by without UK businesses being told they must innovate.

But how do you become more innovative, when the day-to-day business pressures never go away?

鈥淥f course you keep your eye on business today, otherwise there won鈥檛 be a tomorrow,鈥� says Paul Mason from Innovate UK.

鈥淏ut you must make some conscious and intelligent effort towards the future.鈥�

So what could that effort look like?

Here are four tips from entrepreneurs, inventors and experts.

1.聽Love your problem

Chakshu Saharan grew up in Delhi. 鈥淭he threat of sexual violence was an everyday affair for Indian girls and women,鈥� she recalls.

Now she鈥檚 harnessing the Internet of Things to make cheap, connected personal safety devices for women in cities like Delhi.

Saharan, like many innovators, has found a problem she just can鈥檛 walk away from.

鈥淔rankly we can鈥檛 wait 50 or 60 years for men鈥檚 attitudes to change鈥�, she says.

鈥淚n the meantime technology can help make cities safe for 50 per cent of the population.鈥�

Danny Manu is preparing to launch his Mymanu earbud headphones that can rapidly translate conversations in any of 37 languages.

鈥淔ind a problem, find what people want, what they need. If there鈥檚 not a solution available, make one,鈥� he says.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 how you start to innovate.鈥�

2.聽Technology helps innovation

Asif Moghal is the manufacturing industry manager at Autodesk and says technology removes the barrier to innovation.

鈥淵ou can capture ideas, visualise or simulate them and answer your 鈥榳hat if?鈥� questions before committing,鈥� he says.

Chakshu Saharan is a self-confessed non-techie and says technology is an enabler rather than the end game.

鈥淚f you want a new dress you go out and buy it, you don鈥檛 make it yourself,鈥� he explains.

鈥淚f technology is part of your product, go out and talk to technologists. They are usually willing to help鈥�

3.聽Leadership and culture

Most companies are full of problem solvers, according to John Pelton, who led innovation at the multi-billion pound Crossrail project.

鈥淚t is extraordinary how many good ideas people in a company will have,鈥� he says.

鈥淚t鈥檚 equally extraordinary how often you hear 鈥榥obody listened鈥�.鈥澛� For Pelton, it鈥檚 about leadership.

Dick Elsy, from Innovate UK鈥檚 Catapult programme, says it鈥檚 not rocket science.

鈥淕ive people a light-touch environment, devoid of politics and heavy-handed management, and they鈥檒l naturally collaborate.鈥�

Paul Mason adds: 鈥淧ut the best people in your team on innovation. Give it really senior support. And make it a regular agenda item at your management meetings.鈥�

If your workforce is not very diverse, do something about it, says McKinsey expert Tera Allas, who is a visiting fellow at the McKinsey Global Institute.

鈥淲hen you put people together from different backgrounds they come up with better solutions,鈥� she says.

She cites evidence that firms with more diverse workforces are 70 per cent more likely to enter new markets.

鈥淒iversity creates dissent but dissent is necessary for a business to survive.鈥�

4.聽Fear of failure

Fear can stop people trying something new. What seems to unite the innovators in Manchester is their fear of missing out is stronger than their fear of messing up.

One entrepreneur – who鈥檇 sold his house to raise capital – told me it鈥檚 better to lie awake at night worrying about the future of your business than lie there fuming over the frustrations of corporate life.

鈥淚 didn鈥檛 want to reach 50 and look back regretting what I didn鈥檛 try鈥�, he confided.

鈥淐ome in to a Catapult centre,鈥� enthuses Dick Elsy. 鈥淭ry something, don鈥檛 be embarrassed.

鈥淥ther people around you are wrestling with technology and failing too. We give you permission to fail behind closed doors, then emerge with the right solution.鈥�

Autodesk鈥檚 Asif Moghal is blunt when I ask about the fear that something new might fail:聽 鈥淒o you want to be in business in three years鈥� time? If the answer鈥檚 yes, there鈥檚 only one way – innovate.鈥�