In challenging economic times, there is a natural tendency to retrench. Rather than investing in innovation, corporate decision-makers look for ways to cut costs and stretch resources. After all, if there isn’t a good likelihood that innovation will yield substantial new revenue in the near term, why invest in it?
I would like to suggest a few reasons why such investment is not only wise, but actually essential in our current business climate—especially when it comes to Information Optimization (IO).
IO innovation stretches resources
It’s one thing to try and get the same number of people (or fewer) to do the same amount of work (or more) by simply insisting that they do so. It’s quite another thing to genuinely equip them to do so.
IO substantially increases the productivity of knowledge workers by reducing search times, eliminating creation of redundant content, and facilitating the delivery of relevant actionable information where and when it’s needed. This is especially critical for organizations that are trying to limit payroll without compromising business performance.
IO innovation improves revenue opportunity “foraging”
When markets are flat and/or growth is weak, opportunities for incremental revenue are scarcer—and therefore more precious—than ever. It is therefore vital to ensure that customer-facing sales and service teams don’t overlook such opportunities.
IO is superbly well-suited for this kind of diligent opportunity “foraging.” By ensuring that salespeople in particular don’t miss any of the business news, market analysis or product insight they need to feed their pipelines, IO is invaluable for maximizing revenue production in hard times.
IO innovation delivers sustainable competitive advantages
During touch times, everyone cuts back. They also tend to cut back in similar ways and to a similar degree. It is therefore very unlikely that anyone will gain competitive advantage over anyone else as a result of how expertly they tighten their belts.
But competitive advantage is an indispensible element of business success. And IO delivers such advantages across all aspects of the business—including sales, customer service, marketing, product management and procurement.
IO innovation boosts morale
Retrenchment can become a culture and an institutional mindset. But it’s not a healthy one. In fact, one of the worst things any business leader can do is imbue people with a sense that an organization is no longer moving forward—and is just trying to hold on to what it already has.
The implementation of IO, in stark contrast, makes a very clear statement that management remains committed to actively pursuing market leadership—and that everyone’s contribution to that pursuit is fully valued—because IO touches so many employees’ daily worklives in such a visible and tangible way.
Yes, corporate decision-makers should be prudent about making investments in an uncertain economy. But absolute, wholesale abandonment of the innovation imperative is also a mistake. That’s why organizations seeking to optimizing performance under today’s challenging conditions—and to aggressively position themselves for future growth—are adopting IO now.
competitive advantages, increasing productivity, Information Optimization, innovation
