Role of Innovation and Enterprise

You have to be creative in order to come up with business ideas. The first idea may not work. Watch the video showing Steve Dimmick of Dimmicks recruitment company discussing this. This video is available in Welsh.

Steve Dimmick

The ability to think laterally i.e., to approach issues from alternative perspectives, can be essential. According to Albert Einstein, ‘we can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking as when we created them’. Therefore, solving problems requires thinking differently.

‘Blue sky thinking’ – where every kind of idea is considered – is talked about a lot in modern businesses. Apple’s slogan is ‘think different’ and the company is often used as an example of a company that promotes blue sky thinking. The iPhone is seen as the result of thinking ‘outside the box’ by Steve Jobs who wanted to develop a ‘powerful computer in his pocket’.

Sometimes business success happens by chance and as a result of being in the right place at the right time. A number of business people including Richard Branson (the founder of Virgin) say that luck played a part in their early success. The story of the discovery of cornflakes is a famous tale of serendipity.

The Kellogg brothers were cooking wheat when they were called away. When they returned, the wheat had gone stale. They decided to put it through the rollers anyway, and unexpectedly, it didn’t come out in long layers of dough but as small thin flakes. This led to the formation of the Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Company in 1906, which eventually became Kellogg’s.

It is said that some people have an instinct for business and the ability to sense what the market needs at any point.

Do you think there is such a thing as business instinct? Discuss your views with a friend or tutor.