The Roaring Twenties, a period of economic prosperity following the end of World War I, was marked by changes to American life through advancements in manufacturing, consumer products, travel, medicine, entertainment, and upended social norms. What we’ve experienced so far in the 2020s has some referring to this current period as The Soaring Twenties – a time that will be remembered for massive economic growth and incomparable technological innovations…but only for the organizations that take bold action, have connected teams of creatives and analytical minds that work collaboratively, and trust in their leadership to uphold the vision of new possibilities for their companies, software, and services.

If You Aren’t Growing, You’re Dying – Companies that Failed to Innovate

First, it may be helpful to revisit others’ past mistakes- companies that failed to innovate during changing landscapes in their industries. However, their brand legacies haven’t all died; some experienced a recent innovational renaissance demonstrating organizational malleability in a new world of growing opportunities.

Kodak – A late adaptor to digital photography, but a recent resurgence in technologies they’ve always mastered- new age imaging, printing and sought-after chemical production.

Nokia – Its mobile device industry was massively disrupted by the ubiquitous smartphone, but the dawn of the 6G era plans to connect the human and digital worlds in seamless, sensational approaches.

RadioShack – An obsolete electronics store with lasting brand recognition for an aging but wealthy demographic that is pivoting to a cryptocurrency exchange platform.

Xerox – Struggling to compete with business document printing in past markets, its R&D today focuses on The Internet of Things (IoT) and 3D printing advancements in additive manufacturing.

There’s No Debate, You Must Innovate

However we judge the missed business opportunities of companies that failed to innovate quickly enough in the past, their future value lies in their next great idea that can ultimately determine longevity and competitive advantage. It’s up to its leadership to capitalize on the company’s biggest asset- their employees’ collective ideation, unbridled creativity, and innovative ecosystem endurance.

How do executives plan strategically for 2030 when 85 percent of the jobs that will exist haven’t even been invented yet? Especially as surveys of these chief officers tend to show that they lack an overall digital vision and strategy as well as the workforce who can help bring about these technical changes to its infrastructure. In fact, business leaders mostly predict their organization will be held back by their late adoption to digital transformation. They ask questions like:

• Do we need an AI Officer?
• How robust is our cybersecurity today? What changes are we making to be even more protected?
• Can our customers connect with us through VR in the next 5 years?

Surely, these answers aren’t simple ones, but it is another compelling reason for businesses to train and prepare employees and the students of today for the emerging tech advances of the decade ahead when humans and machines work effectively and intuitively together.

In order to meet the challenges of these future opportunities, it is of utmost importance to build and maintain an innovation solution for your team that can grow and evolve as your projects and mission changes too.

Inspiration from the Top Innovators

Need some more innovation motivation?  Check out the full list of Fast Company’s Innovation by Design competition winners. Each organization demonstrated new ideas on the key principles of innovation: functionality, originality, beauty, sustainability, user insight, cultural impact, and business impact.  A few innovation highlights:

• For the category of Health, we have Philips Healthdot, a wearable at-home recovery patient monitoring device.
• In the Products category, an electric car made from ethically sourced materials from Polestar.
• Sports and Recreation innovation from Nike with their new NIKE GO FLYEASE shoe designed to be put on hands free.
• In Sustainability, innovative design coming from Helsinki’s Hot Heart, a large-scale renewable energy heating system using seawater heat pumps and four tropical ecosystem domes.
• Improved User Experience developed by Microsoft technology though a digital, mixed-reality platform called Mesh.

They’re still accepting entries; if your organization strives to grow through thoughtful and purposeful innovation that is changing our world, submit your next best idea for the Soaring Twenties!

Don’t be a non-innovator, be the change your organization values to reach its greatest potential. Ezassi’s Innovation Solutions can be your guide. Talk to Us about your biggest challenges and we’ll connect on how our software solutions solve for them.

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