Innovation during quarantine

Eclipse international.

Dyson.

Thar Process Inc.

Ford

What have these companies in common? During the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, all of these companies have pivoted and made a different product than initially planned. The term pivot applies when a company makes a fundamental change to its business. Is there a formula to determine how long does it take a company to pivot? If there is such a formula, then I am yet to come across one.

This phenomenon of pivoting raises a pertinent question. Why did these companies wait for a crisis to pivot? If you search for articles regarding the companies mentioned earlier, you will learn about how they pivoted in a matter of weeks. They had to design, source, and manufacture. Those are three small verbs to describe a complex intellectual process. In the business as usual scenario, it takes months, if not years. In a crisis, it only took days as these companies adopted an agile approach.

What will happen when we return to normalcy? Will the drive to innovate die a speedy death? How can we nurture innovation during normal times? One thing for sure, we innovate when there is a sense of urgency. How do we generate such a thought when there is no disaster?

Photo Courtesy: Boegh