When we think about innovation we often think of big changes such as airbags in cars, convection ovens, or smart phones. At TSC we are no strangers to innovation ourselves. In September we told you about TSC Brazil and their Covid innovations and this article from November shows the exciting innovation of GoLab from TSC Argentina. Innovations that take the industry or even the world by storm are amazing and well discussed in our adaptive innovation posts. But what about the smaller scale or the routine, everyday innovations?
Refining, tweaking, improving the every day processes is how drastic changes actually end up happening. In 1956 a typist named Bette Nesmith Graham was constantly making mistakes in her typing. She would have to correct these mistakes, which often dramatically increased the delay on delivering her projects. In her kitchen, Bette innovated what we now know of as liquid paper. Her first few pitches did not work particularly well as people thought it was too small of a product to invest time and money into. In 1979, Bette sold her company to Gillette for $47.5 Million Dollars with royalties*.
We would argue that routine Innovation is just as important to the success of a business as developing “the next big thing.” Some might even argue that it has more relevance. At TSC, we are committed to continuous improvement. Everything we do, no matter how well the service delivery is being executed, can be improved upon to take even the most mundane tasks to the next level. From making customer facing reporting better presented to ensure executives can make quick business decisions, to automating time consuming tasks so that our teams can spend their time in more valuable ways; routine innovation is everywhere. It is in our people, our processes, our projects, and most importantly, our company culture.
By trying to refine day to day struggles through innovative solutions, you get a better, more efficient process. You may even find lessons you can apply to other parts of your project, process, or even company.
*Source: https://lemelson.mit.edu/resources/bette-graham