Most people think that Innovation and Business is the same! But starting a business and starting an innovative business or innovation project is a completely different thing! Business focuses on delivering value reliably, while innovation focuses on creating something new or meaningfully different. One runs the engine, the other redesigns it!
It's not easy to turn innovation ideas to reality, because most people are unfamiliar with new things, not feeling comfortable with something different, or simply find it difficult to adapt with change. Most people prefer the familiar, resist change, and fear of the unknown. However, if there's no change, it means there's no growth or improvement, it means we stuck.
Innovation improves quality of life by making essential services more accessible and efficient. Green technologies can stimulate economies while curbing emissions, making sustainable growth both possible and profitable. When innovation is guided by social purpose, it reduces inequality and expands opportunity. When directed by purpose and supported by the right skills, governance, and investment, innovation delivers economic growth, social progress, and environmental solutions that benefits everyone.
Sometimes innovation means changing people's behaviour so they can develop a better habit instead of drowning in a self-defeating behaviour. Sometimes innovation also means changing the norm or culture that negatively impacts people, so they can have a better life. Some other time, innovation means empowering people to overcome their fears of the unknown, and adopt sustainable and positive change, so they can improve their quality of life, and not many people can do this! If you do it right, it can be empowering and improve people's lives for the better, but if you do it poorly, it can breed mistrust and lead to terrible consequences you never want to deal with!
Innovation is more important than ever nowadays, because markets move faster and more competitive, and if you choose not to innovate, you may be easily defeated. Innovation is a practical way to stay relevant and competitive, and you cannot just stop after innovating once, you will need to keep improving, growing, and innovating if you want your business to survive and thrive!
When businesses commit to purposeful change through innovation, they build resilience against disruption, increases competitiveness, and reduces long-term risk. In the era where uncertainty is the new normal, investing in innovation capabilities is therefore an investment in faster learning, better decisions, and measurable Return on Investment (ROI). Businesses that can validate innovative ideas quickly and scale gain market share, and avoid costly legacy traps, and this skill are distinct from running an existing business.
Innovation coaches bring domain-specific methods and experience that accelerate learning and reduce costly mistakes. In addition, innovation coaches can empower you to level up your innovation skills, establish psychological and emotional safety, so businesses can develop a culture of innovation and continuous improvement.
Which Coach Do You Need?
Many businesses needs both, so most of the time, it's the matter of when do you need Innovation Coach, or Business Coach.
Choose Innovation Coach:
- If you are currently developing new products, services, or business models;
- If you are planning to enter new market where the outcome is unknown;
- If you are validating innovative ideas, launching pilots, or need to scale new offerings under time pressure; or
- If you need to establish decision frameworks or culture needed to scale new initiatives.
- Innovation coach will cultivate idea generation and pair it with implementation and experimentation, so creativity produces outcomes and reduces risk.
Choose Business Coach:
- If your priority is improving steady-state performance, leadership capability, or operational efficiency, so an existing business runs more predictably and efficiently.
- Business coach will map processes, decision, and performance routines to improve delivery, scale existing models reliably, and improve long-term performance.
Below is the comparison table to understand the difference between Innovation Coach and Business Coach further.
| Innovation Coach | Business Coach |
| Focus on validating new ideas, and developing new product, services, or business model | Focus on leadership performance and operational excellence |
| Measured by learning velocity, validated assumptions/hypotheses, pilot success | Measured by KPIs, productivity, and leadership behaviours |
| Empower team to establish psychological and emotional safety to develop a culture of innovation and continuous improvement | Empower team to improves accountability, clarity of roles, and work performance |
| Bridges creativity and execution by turning creative ideas into tested, scalable outcomes through experiments, culture, and rapid learning | Emphasise systems, processes and operational discipline to run and grow established operations for sustained performance |
| Innovation coaching will enable you to validate your innovative ideas faster and prevent innovation failures when entering new market | Business coaching will enable you to scale reliably and improve long-term performance |
