For business to succeed in tough times, it should be prepared to deal with situations as they arise. Business environment is susceptible to multiple influences from industrial forces and these influences make business strategy questionable in the long term. Strategic Planning, on the other hand, is supposed to give allowances for sudden change in business environment and consider extraneous circumstances within its ambit.

Despite the best planning, however, businesses cannot always cope with the pressure of constant change – and the only way that business can respond to these changes is by innovation.

Innovation is the ability to deal with situations in a way that is markedly different from the norm. While the very fact of being in business is uncertainty, dealing with uncertainty is a different ball game. Uncertainty in business environment, consumer behaviour and stakeholder influences demands new perspectives and novel ways of doing things. And when business operations are unstructured, employees who are not comfortable with the concept of innovation may find themselves out of place. Organisations are increasingly seeking people who are good at problem solving and who are at home with the idea of change. The ability to innovate is among the chief characteristics that organisations look for in prospective employees.

To recruit people who have an aptitude for innovation is one thing. That apart, it is important that businesses develop a culture of innovation and not let people fit into a routine of accepted norms. People would normally be comfortable with the status quo and would not appreciate change. However, a culture of innovation can be nourished in organisations only when risk taking is encouraged and people are allowed to make mistakes in their pursuit of business goals.

It should be noted that the mere presence of a few people who are tuned into innovation would not give business the edge that it requires to emerge successful out of trying situations. Business innovation drives market success and it takes the entire organisation to be in tune with a culture of innovation. As organisations emerge from the shadows of economic recession, it takes them willingness to innovate as well as development of a culture that nurtures innovative minds to make a mark in the market and beat competition.

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