If you are passionate about your vision, innovation is essential for your life or organization. The world is constantly evolving so we, whether as an individual or as an organization, have to innovate to be relevant to the world around us.

Innovation is fun but not easy. It is can take up much of your time and energy. It would be best if you do it carefully, taking time to reflect at each stage. Keep your vision in your heart so that you will know if you are still aligned to it. Oftentimes, people or organizations are good at starting things but never get to finish anything. So spend as much time as you can in each stage and thoroughly examine everything. If you do this, you can definitely achieve excellent results. It is definitely worth your time and effort.

If you like what you’ve read than please join the conversation by posting your comments below and sharing this post on twitter (to share on twitter just click on the below retweet button).

When I said “start innovating” in my previous blog, you may have scratched your head in confusion and said, “How do I start?”. To make it easy for you, I will list down the stages of innovation:

1. Identify the problem or opportunity.

Do some evaluation and research to answer these questions:

• What are you trying to innovate?

• Will this help you achieve your vision?

2. Start breaking down your problem or opportunity into pieces. Come up with questions.

Answer the what, where, when and how of your problem or opportunity. For example, if you have a problem with your product sales, you can start answering this question “how can we increase the sales of our product?”. Then break it down into smaller questions like “what is wrong with our product?”, “how can we add more value to it?”, “where can we market our product?”, etc.

3. Brainstorm with your group for ideas.

Organize your questions then answer them. Just write down all the answers. Write as many as you can. Do not reject any answer. The idea is to come up with as many answers as you can.

4. Analyze your ideas. Separate the ones that make sense from the ones that don’t.

5. Develop some concrete solutions.

6. Test your solutions and look for ways to improve them.

7. Take action. Start implementing the changes in your organization.

If you like what you’ve read than please join the conversation by posting your comments below and sharing this post on twitter (to share on twitter just click on the below retweet button).

Now you have a vision and a desire to change, a desire to innovate not just yourself but your work, business or ministry, but you don’t know how to do it. Let me help you get started:

• Identify your vision.

• Assess your work, business or ministry.

• Are the things that you’re doing geared towards achieving your vision?

• Are there things that you need to change?

• Do you need to create a new product?

• Do you need to give better service?

• Do you need to restructure your organization?

• Start innovating.

Communicate your vision to your subordinates and ask them to help you work towards achieving it. But most of all, trust God to help you to achieve your vision.

In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps. – Proverbs 16: 9

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. – Proverbs 3: 5-6

If you like what you’ve read than please join the conversation by posting your comments below and sharing this post on twitter (to share on twitter just click on the below retweet button).

We are aware that we can innovate anything we want. A person with a great vision will look to innovate everything around him to achieve his goal. But oftentimes, we forget that the first thing that we need to innovate is ourselves. (Point your finger to yourself and say “me”).

Look at yourself and try to look for things that you need to change. Is there an attitude that you need to change? Is there a thing that you need to unlearn? Is there a new knowledge or skill that you need to learn? Are you relevant to the world around you?

We need to change to be relevant to the world around us. The internet revolution has brought our world to a whole new level; it opened us to a world of new possibilities. With just a click of the mouse it can give us loads of useful information, it can keep us up-to-date on any topic, it allows us to send and receive emails, it helps us find long lost friends and keep in touch with them — these are just some of the benefits of the Internet. But looking at the way the Internet has practically changed the way we do things, it’s surprising to see how some people are still refusing to learn the system.

Some people think that “twitter” is just the sound that birds make or that “facebook” is a book with a face on its cover. These people enter into a world of confusion once their friends or colleagues start using cyber-language. If you’re one of them, maybe it’s time to innovate yourself for you to become relevant to the world around you.

If you like what you’ve read than please join the conversation by posting your comments below and sharing this post on twitter (to share on twitter just click on the below retweet button).

Apparently, the world around us is evolving at break-neck speed. If we don’t try to catch up with it, we might forever be left behind. Innovations like the Internet and computer have forever changed the way we live. With just a couple of clicks, we can go anywhere in the world without really leaving our homes. We can’t imagine how we could do our job, reach others or keep up-to-date without these innovations.

Many of the technology that we have today came about when someone decided to innovate. Pioneer computer users had to remember a bunch of commands so they can make their computers work.( A nightmare for people with poor memory!) But because Douglas Engelbart decided to innovate (he invented the first graphical user interface) things are easier for us now. We just use our mouse to click on icons and other graphical controls in our computers, and viola! It does what we want it to do.

Portable computers weren’t so portable before. They weighed about 24 pounds! Can you imagine carrying around something that heavy? But thanks to those people who decided to innovate, now we can definitely say that portable computers are really portable.

We can see that innovation is important. Innovation is deciding to change something for the better. Innovation can be done in many different ways. We innovate to create new products, new customer experience, new marketing strategies and new business systems. We innovate to create changes in our business, ministries — or even our personal lives. Yes, you can innovate YOU!

If you like what you’ve read than please join the conversation by posting your comments below and sharing this post on twitter (to share on twitter just click on the below retweet button).

Change is inevitable; it is happening around us. So whether you like it or not, change will still happen. And oftentimes the only way to survive in this highly competitive world is to embrace change.

But why do we have to change?

Humans are creatures of habit. We find comfort and security in doing things that are familiar to us. More often than not, there are a lot of things that we do every day that do not even accomplish anything for us anymore. We just keep on doing them because we are used to doing them.

If you evaluate your personal or professional life, you might discover that your life, work or ministry has become stagnant. Maybe you are doing the same old job, making the same old product, saying the same old lines, selling things the same old way, and giving your customers the same old service. Maybe when you wake up in the morning, you are not excited to get out of bed anymore because you know that you will still be doing the same old routine. If you feel that your situation is frustrating, then I have good news for you. You don’t have to stay miserable just because you are stuck in a rut. You can get out of it. Just acknowledge that change is happening around you and you have to learn to accept change and embrace it.

You may be telling yourself that you can’t change anymore because you’re already old and you feel that it’s too late. Or you feel that you don’t have the capacity to learn anymore. Well, you just have to throw away your old mindset and change it with a new one. Change is possible not just for the select few but for everyone. You just have to want it.

But why change? Just for the sake of changing? Well, wanting to get out of your old, boring routine could be a start. But your motivation for change should be more compelling than just wanting to break free of old routines. It should be so powerful that it brings so much excitement and hope into your life.

No other motivation could be more powerful than your vision. You want to change because you have a new purpose in life. You want to change because you have a goal. You want to change because there’s a new challenge that stirs up the passion in your heart. You want to change because God has given you a vision.

If you like what you’ve read than please join the conversation by posting your comments below and sharing this post on twitter (to share on twitter just click on the below retweet button).

Show the list below to some teenagers and ask them if they are familiar with any thing on the list:

Atari
Nintendo family computer
black and white television
cloth diaper
film camera
floppy disk
rotary telephone
vinyl record
cassette tapes
walkman
Betamax
VHS
typewriter

How did they do? How many did they recognize? Chances are they raised their eyebrows and stared at you like you were from outer space. Who could blame them? These items were once common household items but are now in danger of becoming extinct. Some are in danger of vanishing, while some have already disappeared. These things have become obsolete.

Technology is evolving very quickly. What may be the trend today, may already be obsolete tomorrow. Things like the VHS, film camera or rotary telephone have been replaced by newer inventions that are more efficient and effective.

Change is constant; it is the only thing that is permanent. And that is a fact of life. We can either accept it or disregard it. But if we want to save ourselves from becoming obsolete, we have to choose the former. We have to accept change and embrace it.

If you like what you’ve read than please join the conversation by posting your comments below and sharing this post on twitter (to share on twitter just click on the below retweet button).

Maybe there’s a thing or two in your life that you’ve been doing for years but don’t seem to have any relevance to your vision. You want to stop doing them but you find it hard to do so. Why do you think is it hard to stop doing these things?

An experienced sailor would tell you that when there’s a storm, you should not fight the wind, you just have to adjust your sails. Maybe, now is the time for you to adjust your sails.

If you like what you’ve read than please join the conversation by posting your comments below and sharing this post on twitter (to share on twitter just click on the below retweet button).

Many people are so busy doing things that don’t even bring them closer to their vision. They are like a boatsman intently rowing his boat, when in fact he’s just going around in circles. He may be the best in rowing a boat, but if he doesn’t row towards the right direction, it still doesn’t matter. He’s not going to reach his destination.

Try to look at the things that you’re currently doing. Are you doing things that don’t really contribute towards achieving your vision? Are you just wasting your time doing these things? Maybe it’s time to do some restructuring in your life or organization.

If you like what you’ve read than please join the conversation by posting your comments below and sharing this post on twitter (to share on twitter just click on the below retweet button).

The Bible says that there is a time for everything. When God says pray, you have to pray. But when God says, stand up and take action, then you have to do just that! Prayer prepares things for us so that when it’s time for us to take action, everything’s ready.

Prayer brings you closer to God. It is when you pray, that you discover what to do and what not to do. Now that you know how God thinks, you can act the way He wants you to. After a season of prayer, you can start coming up with strategies on how you can move towards your vision.

There may be times when you may be unsure of yourself. You feel like you are incapable of doing anything. Have no worries! God promises to give you wisdom. The Apostle James was so confident when he said, “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.” – James 1:5

If you like what you’ve read than please join the conversation by posting your comments below and sharing this post on twitter (to share on twitter just click on the below retweet button).