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All too often , clients and suppliers are focussed on removing the risks from every engagement . But there is no change without risk and no innovation without change .

Innovation is important . It can give you a competitive advantage in the marketplace . It can also create a working environment that attracts bright and creative people to your organisation . This article looks at ways to promote innovation from a software development perspective .

Great teamwork is essential for delivering great solutions . Software suppliers often have many clients with separate teams , each working on different assignments . With everyone concentrating on their own challenges it can be difficult to share innovative ideas . While each client will benefit from a stable team , it can lead to silos where creativity on one project goes unnoticed on another . Having a way to share experiences between projects can help to spread innovation . Consider ‘ show and tell ’ workshops where people share ideas and experiences . Invite a representative from another team to spend a little time in yours . Perhaps they can attend a daily stand up meeting or a design workshop . A short video that presents an overview of your team ’ s experiences is an alternative way to keep everyone updated . Posting the top 3 challenges that each team faces is a way to encourage ideas from people outside your project . As Tom DeMarco says : “ There is no such thing as ‘ healthy competition ’ in a knowledge organisation ”. Sharing information will increase your ability to innovate across your entire organisation .

24 April 2016