"Execution pays your salary.
Innovation pays your pension."
I love this recent quote from Steve Blank who wrote *the* book on modern day entrepreneurship. I'd like to add a third line to the mix:
Impact makes you immortal.
Innovation is the thing that gives our business a future, but it is not a goal in itself. It's a "how" and the current mentality of innovating for "bigger better faster more" is no longer enough to justify the existence of our business beyond profiteering.
If we're going to be doing new things, because that's all innovation really is, we also need to do them in new ways, and there's one perfect combination:
Innovation with the goal of being a force for good.
Unlike most that exist today, companies who get this right, will become immortal - there will be no logical reason for them to stop.
So if it's that easy, why aren't we all doing it already?
No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it - Albert Einstein
Today our businesses are still mostly focussed on short term financials. This means that there is only space for innovation cases that optimise for lowest cost versus highest profit outcomes.
As humans, we mostly love to live and work within our zone of comfort, and the edge of that zone is guarded by the fears of judgement, cynicism and failure.
If we want to change our future trajectory, we need to upgrade out consciousness, by re-calibrating and upgrading our Mindset, Skillset and Toolset.