The use of a Reverse Income Statement Experiments, e.g. in medical research and development, are based on inspiration, developed ideas and targeted investments. Many do not deliver a successful outcome or solution. This is also the case for commercial innovation experiments. An innovation-championing senior business leader asked me to help his teams identify those commercial innovation experiments that would potentially provide the highest positive return. He was looking for an easy to use tool to help innovators, a tool simple enough not to discourage his passionate innovators. Based on the Discovery-Driven Growth* work from Rita McGrath and Ian MacMillan, we developed a simplified “Reverse Income Statement” template. It’s a tool…
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Where are they?
How to identify bright innovation stars in the corporation Of course, they are everywhere! But how to find those stars within the corporation? I believe there are 3 simple steps to approach this: Problem awareness. The potential innovators need to be aware of what problem the organization is trying to solve. The Innovation Leader can play an important role by creating awareness across the organization of the problem the leadership wants to focus on. It takes never ending time and effort to make sure that every employee has a deep insight in the business and customer challenges that need an innovative solution. Ceativity. Creative colleagues need to be identified, supported…
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Law & Order
When innovators should engage Legal/Compliance In highly regulated industries like healthcare, adherence to specific laws and regulations is critical, but may slow down or even inhibit innovation. It doesn’t have to: many highly regulated industries have been extremely innovative, think finance or aviation. Often, compliance implementation creates a risk averse environment and is perceived by business teams as a reason not to innovate. Innovation leaders can address this barrier to innovation by engaging with their legal/compliance partners, explain what the specific innovation is about, create trust and discuss collaboration. Timing is essential. Ideally, Compliance should be part of the earliest innovation phases. If it is not possible to engage Compliance…
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Building networks
Connecting innovation leaders to stimulate innovation The impact of innovation leaders within a corporation increases if they can share learnings and challenges with colleagues who are also excited to create change. One of the most practical ways to create an innovation mindset in a large organization is to establish a network of passionate innovation leaders, especially if those leaders are embedded in the business teams and supported by their leadership. These catalysts can create small “flames of innovation”, which, taken together, can over time generate a major “innovation fire” across the company. I have seen it happen. I also learned how not to do it. When I started in my…
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ROI = KING*
Why not to ask for ROI at the front end of innovation. *In French The best way to destroy an innovative idea – and the motivation of an innovator – is to ask for the Return On Investment (ROI) if someone comes up with a new solution. How can someone who doesn’t even know if the idea will work understand what it’s costs and returns will be. It’s tempting for business leaders, always looking for efficiencies, to evaluate business proposals based on their ROI. Innovations should also be looked at in this way. But not in the early stages, when the idea needs to be nurtured, to be given a chance to…