The industry that best illustrates this trend is mobile telecom, whose speed of progression is unprecedented in business history. It has gone from market introduction, market acceptance, full market saturation, and market transformation in less than 25 years – changing the way people work and live worldwide in the process. Nokia, the Finnish company largely responsible for creating the industry, was so dominant that as recently as 2010 its global market share was bigger than the next three players combined. Yet it failed to take a leadership position in smart phones and in the U.S. market. As a result, it was left behind and forced to sell its telecom business to Microsoft in 2013 for a fraction of what its market value had been three years before – signaling its exit from the industry it created.

The best way to avoid this fate is to adopt a culture and process of ongoing, market-driving innovation. Companies should not fear this shift, but rather embrace it as an exciting opportunity for growth.

How can we bridge this paradox? Once we learn how to go beyond our mental boundaries by systematically exploring new possibilities and new territories, our comfort zone expands as well. What was unfamiliar becomes familiar. The result is a continuous process of creative exploration and comfort zone expansion. It is the same process with organizations as well.

• Commit the leadership team itself to continuous change and adaptability (exemplified by Samsung CEO’s style of ‘management by perpetual crisis’).
• Create an internal culture and process that foster, encourage, and reward overstepping perceived boundaries.
• Empower all members, not just specific teams of the organization to re-think, re-imagine, and re-formulate boundaries in the pursuit of customer-centric innovation.

Moreover, the very mechanics of a slingshot is such that we apply tension against an elastic band in order to launch a projectile forward. Similarly, when we push against self-imposed, mental boundaries, we launch ourselves forward towards limitless new possibilities and market spaces.

1. Identifying the Pain Points of your customers (where they feel the most frustration, the most disconnect) and turning them into Points of Infatuation - transforming your weakest points into your most attractive.
2. Continuously re-examining, re-thinking, and stretching the definition of what business and market space you are in.
3. Embracing the ‘innovation shortcut’ – instead of pursuing outright inventions, simply look to combine already existing components in meaningful, new ways.

These companies include Google, Apple, Virgin, Ikea, Nest Labs (which was acquired by Google), T-Mobile in the U.S., Koenigsegg (the maverick upstart that has re-defined the supercar market space), and the Dollar Shave Club. All these companies are in the business of identifying and taking advantage of significant market opportunities by daring to challenge conventional boundaries, and they are excellent examples of the three key Slingshot components in action.

As a result, my approach is not to position innovation as the goal, but rather as the outcome. Instead, the goal of the Slingshot Framework is to instill a mindset and simple process of continuous, customer-centric renewal. This goal is equally important for any company or industry. As part of the outcome, the framework helps create internal alignment around the optimal pursuit of innovation.

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To bring Gabor George Burt to your organization to help re-imagine boundaries and cultivate innovation, please contact Michael Frick at: Mike@Speaking.com.