Is your business or non-profit chugging along just fine? Are you doing well or better than expected? Are you in a place of growth and (relative) prosperity?
Now is the time to innovate.
Don’t hold that potentially great idea until the ship starts sinking; what could have been a second cruise ship becomes a life boat in that scenario, and you’ve never even taken it out to sea. Innovation can thrive in an environment where failure won’t destroy everything else that’s going well. You could say it’s the safest time to get creative, but people tend to assume the opposite is true. After all, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”, right?
Well, that’s the thing. You don’t decide to build an extra garage to your house because your water heater broke; you add on to your home because you have the margins to make a better life for yourself. The strength of your organization depends on the knowledge and execution of great ideas by people like you, and you need to take advantage of the situations where you can stick your neck out and take a risk. You’ve got to know how to fail!
On the other hand, it’s generally a bad idea to start trying something new when things are going poorly. You begin to throw all of your weight into things like social media and a new graphic identity and other unusual attention-grabbing tactics. At the time, it feels like innovation and creativity (and maybe it is), but it comes across as panic and desperation. Take a breath, slow down, and be a good steward of what you have. Do what you already do with excellence. You’re not losing people because your organization doesn’t have a Twitter account; every second you spend avoiding what’s not working is precious time lost.
I’m not suggesting you skip out on any no-brainers to help your organization, regardless of the shape it’s in. But, do new things from a place of strength and confidence to yield the best results and actually find out which ideas were the good ones!