Tapping Into the Sources of Innovation

Tapping Into the Sources of Innovation There are many industries that can have the potential for disruption. Among these is the sports industry. Fans are often upset when there are seasons that do not take place or teams that cannot keep it together long enough to win a single game in a season. There are reasons behind these kinds of problems, of course.

Among these reasons is the fact that innovation can change the way things are done but it generally cannot change the way people act and react to things (Chesbrough & Appleyard, 2007; Bower & Christensen, 1995). In sports, the most common disruption comes from seasons that get cancelled because agreements cannot be reached. The current "lockout," or disruption, is occurring in the National Hockey League (NHL). Because there is a labor dispute, the season is not being played. That is frustrating fans and is also upsetting the players.

Some players feel as though they are not being given enough money, and they also want the union to protect them from the concerns of the owners - such as term limits and changes to rules of free agency. It is a tense situation, and one that is related solely to human beings. Sports have come a long way when they are played professionally. They are much safer now, and some top athletes receive enormous amounts of money for playing these sports. However, disruptions still occur quite easily.

The majority of these disruptions have nothing to do with whether a sport is innovative or not, but everything to do with what the people involved in that sport are doing. In short - even the most innovative sports can end up failing or struggling. This often happens because the people who are involved in them cannot agree on how the sport is to be played, how much the players should receive, or other factors.

What would be helpful is finding a way to make sports more innovative on a human level, so that lockouts, strikes, and other shutdowns do not have to occur. In the sports industry, the main gap is the lack of innovations for the future from the standpoint of how to avoid human problems like lockouts. Most people think of innovation as technology, but there are many ways to be innovative (Shehabuddeen, 2007).

People need to know what kinds of things might disrupt their businesses, and managers who are focused on innovation have to constantly consider what they can do in order to keep their business or industry relevant to their fans or buyers (Shehabuddeen, 2007; von Hippel, 1988). With sports, relevance is really not the issue. Technically, sports are for fun and enjoyment and are not "relevant" at all from the standpoint of a "need." With that in mind, however, many people feel they "need" their sports teams.

They are very upset if they do not get to see their games and seasons as scheduled. Teams and franchises can lose a lot of money and a large number of their fans if they do not keep things running smoothly. They may also lose valuable players, and that will cause the fans of those players to go elsewhere in some cases, in order to maintain a sense of "loyalty" to those players.

It does not appear likely that sports teams or franchises will end up disrupted to the point that they will go away, but it is possible that some sports will lose a great deal of airtime (and also sponsorships) because of infighting and other kinds of problems. Innovation, therefore, has to involve people and what they can do in order to work together (Shehabuddeen, 2007).

It is very difficult to predict anything that is actually, completely disruptive in nature, but there are indicators that can be looked for when considering whether disruptions will be a problem in the future (Shehabuddeen, 2007). With sports, for example, there are any early warning signs of disruptions. These include players wanting to get out of contracts or being traded to other teams, players that are openly dissatisfied with their pay or other perks, and hostile fans that are expressing their concerns with the way the team is being managed.

These signs of potential disruption need to be taken seriously, because they can blossom into something much more significant. Strategy is a large part of innovation, and strategy in sports cannot belong only to what happens on the playing field. The strategy of a team has to focus on the players, the coaches, and anyone else who is a part of the team in any way.

If people are overlooked, they can be ignored to the point that they will become very dissatisfied with what they are receiving (Bower & Christensen, 1995). That could cause a serious disruption - and it could be one where there were no clear warning signs that would have allowed the issue to be handled before it became so critical. The owners of a sports team are the ones who develop the strategy for the team, of course.

They hire and fire, make recommendations to the coaches, and also look at what the competition is doing in order to come up with ideas that will work well for their team or franchise. When a person owns a sports team, it is just like owning any other kind of business. Yes, people may play sports for money, but that does not mean that those people are not.