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The fast pace of business and the constant call for innovation increases burnout and attrition. Fortunately, in this article, Jared Simmons shares ways to keep pace.

Everyone wants to innovate, but few can find the right balance. Innovation creates excitement and allows teams to think and grow beyond their current state but is often quickly constrained by parameters like time, budget, and expectations. Because of the kind of whiplash experience this can create, burnout occurs, and fresh ideas eventually die out.

Technologists and marketers are two groups that tend to burn out the most in innovation since these are the two primary sources of ideas. In environments where the need is heightened for innovation, the process is accelerated rather than following its natural cadence. However, innovation doesn’t happen on the spot. Ideas don’t come faster simply because the market calls for them.

The strain of making innovation move faster is a high-energy investment. Eventually, this pace extinguishes the fun, creative side of what innovators signed up for and is replaced by pressures of production. However, innovation consulting can help businesses achieve the best of both worlds.

Look at the Decision-Making Process

Everyone wants the next great thing to be ideated, researched, and executed as fast as possible. However, rather than looking at time to market to gauge success, it’s better to first look at the product development lifecycle from a decision-making point of view. Here is where businesses can make decisions regarding prioritization which can help to unburden the teams actually executing the work.

For example, part of consumer products consulting may be considering SKU reduction to eliminate products that lose money or reduce overall margins rather than pushing forward all SKUs as if they generate equal value. Cutting the long tail releases time and resources to focus on more impactful innovation.

Clear prioritization of projects also helps with determining the bigger, better projects worth our time and resources. Sometimes more is just more and can serve as a loss, especially since it’s one of the main contributors to burnout. Prioritizing efforts toward the most profitable areas alleviates the burden of chasing after products and processes that may not give a valuable return.

Key points include:

• Cross-level innovation projects with productivity projects

• Early Signs of attrition

• Balance between innovation and productivity

Read the full article, How to Keep Pace with the Increasing Need for Innovation Without Increasing Burnout and Attrition, on Outlastllc.com.