To enjoy your long-term health doesn’t mean you experience periodic episodes of being healthy, it means you’re healthy most of the time with occasional illnesses. Your body does its job and fights off ailments and threats, and you maintain a baseline level of health…but can this also work for your company? In his May 2014 Forbes article “Your Company’s Health: The Soft Edge” author Rich Karlgaard explores this theory.
Karlgaard believes innovation “must be more than episodic” cannot be confined to any specific activity or brain-storming session. Why do some companies handle innovation and forward momentum better than others? The author believes this comes from what he calls the “Soft Edge”, consisting of five attributes:
- Trust – this is crucial to get your employees to share their best ideas and really push the company forward.
- Smarts – this doesn’t necessarily only mean IQ scores, but also “grit, determination, empathy and purpose.”
- Teams – small teams (2-12 people) are usually the most effective as members can complement each other’s strengths.
- Taste – this can’t be taught, it’s intuitive but vital.
- Story – it always helps if you/your company have a compelling narrative, something to draw people in before being wowed by your product/service.
It’s amazing how these attributes are part of almost every definition of success. I noticed similarities between what’s brought up in this piece and a lot of articles I’ve shared with you in the past including:
- “What Makes a Leader” – May 2014
- “Kiss Your Boss Good Bye Its Time to be an Entrepreneur” – January 2014
- “Banks Get Back to the People Business” – May 2011
