Returning To Your Innovation Center

HBO ran a program on preparations by four-time NASCAR Nextel Cup Champion Jimmie Johnson and his team for racing in the 2010 Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway.

At the first 2010 team meeting, Johnson’s crew chief Chad Knaus called the team’s attention to the bare walls in the meeting room. He highlighted the absence of all the awards and pictures celebrating the team’s fourth NASCAR championship in 2009. Knaus let the team know it is on the hook to perform at a level in 2010 to allow them to fill the walls once again with racing successes.

Maybe a move like that is easier when you’ve won 4 NASCAR championships in a row!

But it’s a great reminder for any of us:

• Don’t rest on your laurels. Instead, get motivated for the successes that lie ahead of you.

So when you look around your office, what do you see?

Are you stuck in past wins, or do you have motivators for the greatness that’s yet to come?

Editor’s Note: I love the point of this post. Leaders celebrate when it’s time to celebrate, but are never satisfied, and always stand ready for the next innovation challenge. One of the things that makes Tiger Woods so great is how fast he can return to center – whether he has just hit his best shot – or his worst. Companies that don’t celebrate their innovation victories demotivate people – you have to make time for it – but companies that celebrate their innovation victories too long are soon passed by those eager to push the boundaries even farther.

Are you satisfied?

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Mike Brown is an award-winning innovator in strategy, communications, and experience marketing. He authors the Brainzooming TM blog, and serves as the company’s chief Catalyst. He wrote the ebook “Taking the NO Out of InNOvation” and is a frequent keynote presenter.