Innovate or Die

WEEKLY DEVOTIONAL BY PATRICE TSAGUE

Why is innovation critical to a company or ministry’s success?
What are the consequences of not innovating?
How do you prevent your company from becoming a victim of the lack of innovation? 

Innovate or Die

The Bible declares that the fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge. Innovation is impossible if one is not continually seeking new knowledge, and then applying it according to biblical principles for the Glory of God and the benefit of humanity. The Bible also tells us that fools despise wisdom and instruction and that their complacency, which equates to an unwillingness to move forward, will ultimately lead to their destruction. Put another way, for any business, a lack of knowledge will lead to a lack of innovation, and a lack of innovation will lead to stagnation in the marketplace, and eventually to the destruction of the business. 

Knowledge, especially knowledge based on the truth of God’s Word, and the understanding of human needs and market demands, is essential to creating a culture of innovation. Innovation is essential for the survival of any company. Simply put, in today’s market, whether you are a for-profit company, an NGO, a church, or a government organization, you must innovate or die. 

With just a little bit of research, you will discover hundreds of companies that no longer exist today due to their lack of innovation. You will find ideas that never took off because before they could be launched, newer, more innovative technologies or concepts were introduced. There are also some ideas that had only a short window after they were launched, due to even newer innovations. In today’s marketplace, your survival depends on your ability to innovate.

Let’s look at a few victims of the lack of innovation: The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge,

But fools despise wisdom and instruction.– Proverbs 1:7 (NKJV)

1. Polaroid – Founded in 1937, Polaroid was one of America’s early high-tech success stories. The company became a hit in 1972 when they introduced the SX-70, the camera that superseded the old peel-back Polaroids. In the late ’90s, Polaroid was at its peak. In 2001, due to the boom of digital photography and their continued belief that paper print was what the customer wanted, the company filed for bankruptcy. 

2. Kodak – Kodak is a technology company that dominated the photographic film market during most of the 20th century. The company blew its chance to lead the digital photography revolution because they were in denial for too long and did not innovate. 

3. Blockbuster – The video-rental company was at its peak in 2004. They survived the change from VHS to DVD but failed to innovate into a market that allowed for delivery and streaming.

4. Yahoo – In 2005, Yahoo was one of the main players in the online advertising market. However, because Yahoo undervalued the importance of search, it did not take additional risks to improve its user experience and search engine businesss. This gave way to Google, which now dominates the search engine business.

5. BlackBerry – BlackBerrry created a highly innovative line of smartphones and tablets that were a smashing success in 1998. They changed the game in the mobile industry by offering a device with an arched keyboard. Their encryption, even into the early 2000s, was second to none, but they weren’t thinking of user experience. Just a few years later, the entire mobile industry started focusing on bigger touchscreen displays, while BlackBerry was more concerned about protecting what it already had. 

6. Sears – A United States-based department store company that had one of the tallest towers in the world in 1973 and was a major success. However, when a new generation of large retailers such as  Walmart and Kmart were established, Sears lost sight of what they were good at.

7. Sony – A manufacturer of electronic products that changed the way we listen to music with the invention of the Walkman in 1979. By the ‘90s, the Walkman was a must-have gadget for every teen. It was the iPhone of its day. However, when MP3 players were introduced to the market, the Walkman’s sales started to drop. The iconic Walkman was killed by the MP3 players, which were later killed by smartphones.

These are just a few of the hundreds, if not thousands, of companies that died, significantly downsized, or became irrelevant due to their lack of innovation. Remember that all 7 of the companies listed above were innovative when they started, but they became complacent and did not see the need to continue to innovate.

If a business is going to enjoy continued success in a changing marketplace, then innovation must become part of the culture of the business as a continuous process, and not limited to a one-time event. How innovative is your business or ministry culture? Are you in denial of the changes around you? Are you focused on protecting what you’ve already gained, or are you willing to take risks to embrace new horizons? 

Let God do a “new thing” by His Spirit in the midst of your business or ministry today, and embrace innovation to grow your Kingdom company. Do not conform to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind through the Holy Spirit (Romans 12:2a). May you be like Bezalel son of Uri, who God filled with his Spirit, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills (Exodus 35:31) so that you may innovate continually.

My prayer for you today is that God will give you the grace and wisdom to be innovative so that your company will not experience premature death but instead continue to expand for His glory and for the benefit of humanity.