Posted in
Effectiveness
I've spent quite some time in the innovation crucible. A few years ago, I attended the "Front End of Innovation" conference (PDMA, May 2007) in Boston and found my own thoughts on the topic reinforced by what I was hearing from others across various industries. My own thoughts on the topic are that true innovation requires
- Well-understood support from the very top leadership with commitment to the effort and its conclusions,
- Solid understanding of what business you are in and an honest view of your company SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats),
- "Vuja De" clarity ( http://bit.ly/thXDP ) to uncover new ways to serve your market profitably,
- "Visualized success" and clear documentation along with how to identify "success" if/when it happens,
- Ability to execute crisply to deliver item 4 as documented and
- Publicize even small successes internally to serve as "mental kindling" for future innovations.
What often happens is that "innovation" is a marketing program that becomes an expense that eventually gets trimmed until it either ends or is folded into the "normal" processes of a business and becomes unrecognizable internally or externally. Speakers who claimed repeated successes with innovation believed that innovation had become a native behavior of the business (Marissa Mayer - VP Search Products & User Experience at Google and Bill Malloy - International Brand Manager at Oakley). Innovators can be labeled as lunatic fringe and unsupported because they might challenge beliefs. Innovation is hard and staying power is critical from start to finish. Innovative successes may challenge some well-established management "brain trusts", so top level support is essential to keep from crushing new ideas/thinking. Innovation teams can begin to think that they are the smartest, freshest thinkers and that everything that they dream up is brilliant. This can stifle future innovation by others in the organization. Lastly, in my experience, one of the most often encountered issues was loss of fidelity to the idea because the team implementing it didn't stay true to the well-tested and documented idea and were "surprised" when it failed. Keep innovation thought leaders with the project to completion and make them a clear part of the successes (or failures) of the idea. This will help with accountability all around.
