Five Important Innovation Lessons from Zombies

Luckily, none of the Barnes & Conti staff can report ever seeing a Zombie in person. But, from what we gathered after watching movies like World War Z, Planet Terror, and Zombieland, they are perfect examples for effectively managing innovations. And, based on our five innovation journey steps, here’s why:

1)   Zombies are relentless searchers.

The first step in the Innovation Journey is searching. Before you can innovate, you have to identify opportunities or hunt and gather ideas. Zombies do this successfully by following their desires, which unfortunately appears to be eating humans. When zombies search, they listen for movement, they look for their prey, and they only give up when they have been exterminated.

Zombie lesson: Use your desire as a starting off point for your search, and never give up searching.

2)   Zombies are excellent explorers

The second step in the Innovation Journey is exploring. When you explore, you select promising ideas, experiment to narrow the field, and validate your ideas. Zombies have sharp exploring skills because they aren’t afraid to narrow their options. They may select two to fifty humans to eat, but they only taste a couple before narrowing down the person that will be their main course.

Zombie lesson: Don’t be afraid to try out a few ideas before making your final decision.

3)   Zombies commit.

The third step in the innovation journey is committing. You commit to an idea by preparing a business case, making decisions, and allocating resources. Zombies are very talented when it comes to allocating resources. Many times you may see five zombies all devouring the same human at once. Some of them go for the clothes, others go for the toes. Either way, they all work together to get their mission accomplished.

Zombie lesson: You may increase your likeliness for getting approval of your idea by allocating your resources.

4)   When it comes to realizing, Zombies get it.

The fourth step in the Innovation Journey is realizing. You realize by managing processes, managing political issues, and driving timely results. Zombies receive a lot of political backlash due to the fact that they are not quite dead and not quite alive. They manage these political issues as a team. It is rare to see a single zombie attaching people. Normally, they attack as teams, which in turn, helps to drive timely results.

Zombie lesson: Manage your innovations as a team. People can’t manage processes, political issues, and drive timely results by themselves.

5)   When zombies optimize, they go all the way.

The fifth step in the Innovation Journey is optimization. You optimize by assessing the value created, improving on innovation processes, and celebrating achievements. Have you ever seen a zombie party? The dance scene in Michael Jackson’s Thriller is one example of zombies partying. And I must say, they are excellent dancers. They are also good at taking the time to access the value they created. It is rare to see them leave the space where they devoured their meal. Usually, they stick around for weeks, growling about what went well and what didn’t. When you see the zombies with lost limbs, you know what aspects didn’t go well.

Zombie lesson: Take the time to access the value of your innovation. This way, the next time around, you won’t lose another limb.

Good luck on your own innovation journeys. We hope that you learned a lot from the zombies, and we do not recommend trying to find them if you have further questions. Ask us instead

…Happy Halloween!