Written by Steve Baker, Facilitator and coach at Treehouse Innovation

I saw this article on LinkedIn about Italian engineers making ventilators out of snorkelling masks, and loved it. It’s such a great example of harnessing creativity in the face of a crisis to create something that people really need. 

The current pandemic has transformed life as we know it perhaps more rapidly than at any other time in human history. Many of us have had to quickly find new ways to work remotely, to educate or entertain our kids, to shop, to exercise, to stay mentally fit and healthy, and to support others who need help, to name just a few.

This need to change how we operate is even more urgent for companies. Many have seen their business models collapse overnight, others have seen demand skyrocket, and almost all have had to learn how to communicate, make decisions, sell, lead and run operations remotely.  

What we don’t know is how long this will last and what might have changed permanently by the time it’s over. I don’t mean which businesses will have survived – though that is a very real question – but which human behaviours might have changed for good as a result of it. (My parents have fought online shopping and banking for years, but the current crisis may end their resistance and I’m sure they won’t be alone.)

One of the most pressing needs for businesses right now is to see how they can innovate out of the current crisis and position themselves to meet whatever customer needs will remain or emerge on the other side. To do this, they need to make rapid changes to the way they think about their customers, their products and services, how they deliver them and, ultimately, how they make money and keep their organisations afloat.  

This kind of innovation can be challenging at the best of times but doing it remotely, when your organisation’s very survival is on the line, takes the challenge to a whole new level.

Getting help from professionals with decades of experience helping organisations come up with creative solutions to big challenges could make all the difference. 

At Sprintbase, we bring virtual teams together to solve problems using design thinking. It doesn’t matter if you’re new to the concept, the platform has all the structure and guidance teams need to work together to generate and test ideas they may never otherwise have thought of. 

To find out more about how you can use Sprintbase to help your business innovate, visit here. 

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