How to establish an innovation process in your media organisation in 80 days

We just need enough good ideas, and then we will easily master the challenges of media change. I often encounter this fallacy when I visit media houses and talk to journalists about innovation in the industry. Whoever has a captivating idea is quickly regarded as innovative. Too often, innovation in the media sector is still a freestyle and not an obligation.

Constant change is the new constant, and it’s a constant feature of every industry conference. Therefore, it is now time to talk about institutionalised innovation processes in media companies.

Many myths surround innovation. Let us begin with the first classical myth:

«All you need is a convincing idea, and you’ll succeed!»

It may well be the case that one innovative idea will reorganise your own media company for the next few decades. But that’s what the right combination of numbers in gambling does — is that why I’m already a multimillionaire?

In many companies, innovation is in fact first and foremost a matter of chance. A lone warrior tries to achieve something with a good idea at the right time. With good luck, a small success can be achieved, but this is often short-lived. What is missing is a sustainable plan and recurrent implementation. But more on this below.

So let us come to the second myth:

«Innovation is always risky!»

This myth leads me to the question: What is innovation? One could define innovation as a transition from one status quo to another. In such phases, there is a break with the old, while the new is not yet clearly formed. This first and foremost triggers fear and, in the worst case, even panic, and therefore for many entrepreneurs it quickly acts as a risk that should be better prevented.

In return, the writer Douglas Adams advised Adams to “Don’t panic!” in dealing with the new. In his latest book “The pragmatism principle: 10 reasons for a relaxed approach to the new”, Dirk von Gehlen describes a Douglas model that refers to three different…