Alastair Curtis
Director, FundedAppsTalking Point: Cooking up success
With Insider's Business of Technology conference fast approaching, keynote speaker Alastair Curtis, director at FundedApps, examines how a stint in the kitchen can mean greater success for your business.
Flour, eggs, milk, butter, sugar, vanilla, chocolate and cocoa powder: the main ingredients for a tasty chocolate cake, right? Yes – ish. Manipulate the ingredients in a different way, leave some out, use a different baking technique and you've got cupcakes, or chocolate chip cookies. Add an extra dimension and you’ve got strawberry sponge. Hungry?
The point of my Jamie Oliver-esque ramble is that, believe it or not, whipping up a tasty treat in the kitchen can provide some valuable lessons for forward-thinking businesses.
Creative exploration, development and exploitation of the ingredients: it's what you do when you're baking, but it's also what you should be doing to move your company on and take it forward.
We all know that making forward steps is incredibly important, especially within the technology sector, but it should be remembered that it's not only product innovation that matters – it's the culture of innovation that you nurture that really counts.
In my opinion, the word 'innovation' has become overused, but that doesn't mean it's not one of the most important things to focus on in business.
I believe that innovative ideas can (and should) come from everyone and anyone. If you want to be innovative as a business, it's about building an innovation culture. A culture of trust and a feeling of 'taking the creative journey together' can only result in a positive, forward-thinking business environment – and one where everyone shines.
But it's tricky. You can't throw money at it (well, you can try, but there are no guarantees of success) and it's not something that can be forced. It's about being ingenious and creative with the ingredients that you have – and a desire to be extraordinary.
Alastair Curtis is executive director at Offficial, parent company of FundedApps.
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