Collaborate to Innovate – Why Innovation Requires Collaboration: Innovation is crucial for organizations that wish to leave a legacy in a fast-changing business environment. But, what exactly is innovation? In recent times, the word innovation has been misused, often describing products that have been improved or service progress that’s been made. However, making progress does not qualify as innovation; nor does improving efficiency qualify as innovation.
Before we discuss how to build innovation, we should first define it. Innovation is more than a new idea or approach; it is a new method of achieving something that creates measurable value for the end-user. Beyond improving the functions and capabilities of products and levels of efficiency, to be innovative means to make a significant difference and impact – to change the way something can be done; to create a new model for how something can be practiced.
By this definition, we can see just how overused ‘innovation’ is! True innovation is a lot rarer than we would believe from reading marketing collateral and product and company websites. Involving a drastically different approach to development and problem-solving, building innovation can only come from developing a compelling vision of change and taking massive action to achieve it. There are three components: ability, willingness, and opportunity; and all three are necessary to fully innovate.
In this sense, I think every organization can benefit from external support and expertise. If the objective is to build a new business model that provides an alternative to how things have traditionally functioned, it will be a lot more difficult to achieve in a traditional way. Even in cases where internal teams are multi-skilled and have great imagination, they can still benefit from the input of external experts to keep ideas fresh, relevant, and provide joint solutions. This is when it becomes necessary to ‘think outside the box’ (yet another overused phrase) … External teams hired for their skills and insight bring so much more than simply experience and expertise, they also bring their methods of operating and this fosters an adaptive mindset. The collaboration of often quite different companies with different work styles and cultures can give a real edge to the end-product.
However, positive collaboration requires a huge amount of confidence within the host organization. Departments and management cannot feel threatened or let ego impede their decisions in any way. This is the case in a lot of companies where key employees don’t always see the value of external support or the need for it. Unfortunately, this limiting view impedes their progress and often means that innovation is more of a phrase than a reality. To innovate is to create a unique business model that provides an alternative to how things have always functioned, therefore it makes sense that to achieve this, we must alter how things have always functioned. Collaboration is key.
Looking Ahead to Singapore BizAv Week: As CEO of UAS International Trip Support and a member of AsBAA’s Board of Governors, I’m looking forward to spending time at Singapore Business Aviation week this June 10-14. It’s going to be a…
APAC Domestic Markets Showing Quickest Recovery: The COVID-19 pandemic led to the most dramatic stoppage of scheduled flights in the history of aviation, but finally, after being grounded for months, commercial fleets are beginning to take to the skies once more.…
Maintaining Operational Excellence: Business success depends on the consistent provision of the highest quality services and products that respond to the specific needs of your customers. You really need to stand out in this respect, particularly when there are so…
UAS Operations | - 06/18/2019
Mitch Launius
Instructor Pilot for 30 West IP
Mitch is the CEO of 30 West IP where he is also an instructor providing pilot training on international procedures. With an illustrious career of over 34 years in the cockpit, Mitch has acquired over 13,000 hours of flight time flying worldwide, with over 9,000 hours of this in Challenger and Gulfstream aircraft. He is an experienced safety officer and was also an IS-BAO project manager for a fortune 500 flight department. He has presented on Safety and Operations topics at the NBAA International Operators Conference and the Canadian Business Aviation Association Convention and is currently on the NBAA International Operators Committee and serves as the North Atlantic Regional Lead. Mitch is also a member of an FAA working group on General Aviation International Authorizations and Tabletop Exercises (GIATE). He was recently selected to represent IBAC as a member of the ICAO Personal Training and Licensing Panel (PTLP) and was also recently named as a 2020 recipient of the NBAA Tony Kern Professionalism in Aviation Award for his contribution to the business aviation community.
Henry ‘Duke’ LeDuc
Director Of Operations, Americas, UAS International Trip Support
Duke has been a dearly respected member of UAS Americas team and the UAS global family for more than five years. A safety-oriented, FAA-licensed aircraft dispatcher, he oversees all of the operations of the elite UAS Operations Team. With twenty-five years of experience in aviation overall with more than fifteen years of experience in international flight planning and VVIP trip coordination, he is responsible for the development of the dispatch training program and involved in the strategic development of UAS Americas. With a myriad of rich aviation experience behind him, he has extensive experience in worldwide operations with both corporate and charter environments, including seven years as Operations/Dispatch Manager in an industry-leading, Fortune 500, IS-BAO Stage III Certified corporate flight department. Duke is frequently asked shares his knowledge at major industry events and is currently serving on the NBAA’s International Operators Conference (IOC) Planning Committee.
Dudley King
President and Founder, FlightBridge
Dudley is the Founder and President of FlightBridge, which he established in 2011 and has been focused on technology solutions for the private aviation industry since 2006. Since he graduated from Dartmouth in 1988, he has worked with an array of companies listed anywhere from VentureWire to the Fortune 100. A rare blend of executive, entrepreneur, and consultant, Dudley’s executive roles have included acting CIO positions for several companies and tech advisory services to CEOs trying to rebuild their technology organizations or looking for an external, professional point of view. Highly skilled at deeply understanding his customer’s business challenges and drawing from a long and varied experience in information technology services, Dudley excels at designing technology solutions to solve their problems.
Dr. Paulo Alves
Global Medical Director, Aviation Health, Medaire
Paulo has extensive experience in medical advisory in the aviation industry. As a cardiologist, he provides technical guidance and analysis for MedAire’s MedLink medical advisory service and is MedAire’s liaison with civil aviation regulators and industry associations. Paulo worked with Varig Brazilian Airlines for 23 years, 10 of which were spent as General Medical Manager. A member of the MedAire Medical Advisory Board, Paulo is also President of the Ibero-American Aerospace Medical Association, a member of the International Academy of Aerospace Medicine, a member of the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) Safety Committee, a Fellow of the Aerospace Medical Association (AsMA), and a Fellow of the Civil Aviation Medical Association. Throughout his illustrious career, Paulo has held industry leadership roles including Chairperson of the AsMA’s Air Transport Medicine Committee, President of the Airlines Medical Directors Association, President of the Brazilian Society of Aerospace Medicine and was a member of the IATA Medical Advisory Group from 2002 to 2006.
Contact UAS China Team
Become a UAS Fuel Partner today!
Want to become a UAS Fuel Partner? Fill out the form below and we’ll be in touch!