A while back now i made it along to an innovation conference for the water sector. It was a knowledge rich day and got me thinking about a number of key questions. A number of things stuck with me from the keynote speeches and one of them was this from Rob.
“Regulator funds should not replace water companies’ efforts in-house”– Rob Light (Chair CCW)
He makes a really strong point here. As the funding mechanisms emerge it can be tempting to focus all ‘innovation’ efforts outward, into the programmes that emerge with supply chain and forget about the opportunity that exists internally.
If you think about it, everyday there are thousands of brains employed in a water company. If you could harness the power of these thousands of brains with all of their individuality of thinking, around the idea of innovating for the future, then you can make some great strides forward and not just on the innovation front.
In order to do this though you need ENGAGEMENT. This got me mulling over how engagement and innovation are linked. I believe the following to be true:
I don’t think this is too much of a stretch, but it made me look for conversations around engagement for the rest of the day. Engagement of Customers, Suppliers and Employees. I found some conversations around Customer, a lot around Supplier but not so many around Employee.
So, reflecting on what was a great conference i’d really like to champion the idea that 2022 carries with it a huge opportunity for water to learn ways to continuously drive its internal engagement agenda in support of Innovation.
How are you planning to harness the power of your thousands of brains towards your innovation challenges in 2023/24?