We have an unfortunate tendency to cling tenaciously to behaviour patterns that have been successful for us in the past, even though they are no longer appropriate. A disturbing number of the old, established hospitality operators in my area failed to recognise that the market had rapidly changed and sat on their hands waiting for the good old days to return. They assumed that what had worked for them in the past was still valid. A lot of them went bankrupt. We've also found that there is a direct relationship between a persons' intelligence and their comfort creating and working with change.
Bright people can assimilate new things quickly and welcome changes as a challenge.
This has led me to set a minimum, measured intelligence level for all our management recruitment in environments where innovation is particularly important. A further problem is that our ability to innovate seems to slow as we get older. I believe that most innovation is the province of the young. Most of the valuable ideas that will advance your business will come from your staff and your customers'. A few years ago I had a discussion with a well known chef and restaurateur, who had asserted that he was the only one in his business who had the skills to create the menu that his restaurant was famous for.