Combo Meal Innovation

Many times people get the idea that innovation has to be a brand new idea that never existed before. We build up the innovator and imagine that without years tinkering in that garage, we could never create innovation in our work. That idea has kept many from understanding the true nature of innovation.

Holistic innovation is all about creative solutions to real problems. Sure it involves research and testing, but it can be quickly applied and lessons can be learned.

Another way to be creative as you innovate is to combine things. Sometimes a challenge in front of you doesn't need one brand new thing as much as it needs a few old things combined in a new way - an Innovation Combo Meal.

Let me give you an example from the organization I work with - HCJB Global. For many years HCJB Global had two key ministries - global radio and local healthcare. These ministries have done some exciting things and blessed thousands of people. However, for the majority of the last 75 years, these ministries operated seperately.

Recently, we have redefined our vision around an innovation. HCJB Global is combining media and healthcare in places like Africa to create more impact. This combo was a direct response to a challenge on the ground. As our partners started radio stations around the world with our help, they began to be the center of their community. Their role in information sharing, made them very influential. That influence brought the needy. People came from everywhere and many needed physical help. So our partners began to integrate healthcare services into their media work.

So as our partners began to innovate in this area, we also joined the effort. By integrating media and healthcare strategically, we are now finding many new ministry opportunities that we would have never had before.

Back to your work and ministry. As you look for ways to innovate in your context, think about some of the work you are involved in and how it might be combined to create new solutions and answers to new challenges!

Everyone else is writing about facebook so . . .

It only seems right if you are writing a blog on innovation to talk about facebook. It is an amazing tool that connects people in exciting new ways. But I want to focus on how we use it and what is truely innovative.

Sometimes people think that just by using the "cool new tools" they are being innovative. The issue with that is this - if you are simply using the features and tools designed by someone else the way they envisioned them being used, you are enjoying their innovation - not making your own.

But, you can be innovative with someone else's tool. You just have to come up with a new way to use it that solves a key problem/ministry need.

For instance, when we started using YouTube at HCJB Global, the first few videos were very much just getting a feel for the tool. We were enjoying their innovation and how it could help us to share what God is doing.

But then we decided to get more creative. Instead of only using YouTube as a channel for viewing, we made it into a virtual repository focused on feeding video to our missionaries' blogs. That was an innovation. All of a sudden, the purpose of the video was not so much that it was on YouTube as it was feeding dozens of other sites of people who had no way to get their hands on video content or to make it available to their donors/family/friends.

As you look into using facebook, myspace, YouTube and the like here are some good steps:
1. Set up an account and emerse yourself in the tool - figure it out.
2. Understand the community and the culture it has created.
3. Look at your goals and objectives in your ministry.
4. Try and use those tools in creative ways to meet those objectives.
5. Have fun with it - someone can really tell when you are doing it because you have to or because you don't want to be left behind.