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…
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The catalyst
Based on a real story of an innovation leader in a large corporation There are as many definitions of Innovation Leader as there are innovation leaders. This is about my experience. The position of Innovation Leader in the company I was working for, was created 5 years ago, because the commercial leadership identified a major challenge. Many innovative experiments were happening across the company, but successful ones from one country were not reproduced in other relevant countries. The reason was that there was often no awareness of the innovation beyond the local entity and no good understanding of the business value of the innovation. So my assignment from the leadership…
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Mingle!
Good ideas can come from everywhere Steve Jobs combined his passion for design with his expertise in technology to innovate. Few of us have this kind of double talent or skill. But every large organization has! Corporations have an amazing number of in-house experts. They might work in Marketing, IT, technical/medical, legal, compliance, finance, HR, manufacturing, etc. Many of these colleagues also have links to external partners. Innovation Leaders can engage with these experts and connect them to each other, to stimulate innovation and create networks. I recall a situation in which a marketing innovator in Latin America wanted to solve a market development challenge. He came up with a…
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Align
Focus innovation on business priorities Innovation is not an objective. It’s a way to reach an objective. This objective can vary from specific, short term business and customer needs to broad, visionary strategic goals. Within large corporations, it is relatively easy to define the short term, tactical challenges. The operational business teams and leaders surely have a list ready. This is where innovation leaders can generate quick results by simply issuing innovation challenges. Throughout the organization or even externally, individuals or small teams can come up with innovative ideas. Selected ideas are then quickly tested. Note: it’s critical that the business team provides a very specific problem statement or a…
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Climate change!
Giving innovators a chance Who in the company should innovate? Every employee or only those who are passionate about innovation? I’m making the case here for the latter. This means creating “a climate that stimulates innovation”, in contrast to creating “an innovation culture”. Let me explain. A corporate culture means that every employee should believe and behave in alignment with it. Think e.g. of a company with a strong ethical culture that successfully creates trust with customers and stakeholders: all employees, without exception, demonstrate this ethical behavior – and likely the company wants to keep it this way. A corporate “innovation” culture thus implies that every employee should innovate, be…
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To fail or not to fail
Failing & learning, fast & cheap. Failure is an essential part of innovation. Innovative solutions improve by trying out something new, experiencing the way it works (or not), observing the reaction of potential customers and adapting. Corporations immediately see waste here. This can be addressed, as I mentioned in my “Passion” blog, with a simple innovation framework: 1. focused creativity, 2. quick experimentation, 3. structured testing. I’ll elaborate here on my experience with phase 2, quick experimentation. This is the optimal phase to fail fast, as it still can be done cheaply. First, I recommend to define a few assumptions: 2-4 key likely reasons why this innovation could work. Example:…
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On carrots…
How to motivate innovators Innovators are not primarily driven by a large bonus, but by sincere management interest. It’s tempting to think more money will create more innovators. I have rarely seen employees suddenly become innovators because of a financial incentive. Real innovators are already passionate believers in the solution they came up with. They only need a little help to keep going. What I did see as very effective was showing personal interest, e.g. through a regular short call with the innovator. To discuss progress and challenges. To check if they still are on target to solve the original problem. To identify opportunities to connect them with experts in…
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Process kills innovation
The case for a lean framework instead A very effective way to demotivate innovators is to let them fill in 3 forms, present at 4 review meetings and do 5 detailed analyses. Don’t. Innovators need freedom. Corporations need efficiency. It’s possible to match both. Innovative corporations need both. But at different stages of innovation. The solution lays in using a simple framework, starting with free-but-focused creativity, quick-lean experimentation and then structured assumption-testing pilots. I’ll illustrate with an example for the initial step in the innovation framework, “free-focused” creativity. This can be as simple as just 3 quick questions: What is the business & customer problem the innovator is trying to solve?…
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PASSION, PASSION, PASSION
Focus on the can-do innovators If innovators are on fire, truly believe in their idea, they will do anything to make it happen. On the other hand vocal, creative people with great ideas, but who count on others to try them out are wasting your and their time. I recall an innovator on the other side of the globe, who had already a “150%” day job. She came up with an original way to increase access and affordability of a key medicine by eliminating traditional distribution costs. She was convinced it would work and made time to overcome complex legal challenges, technical barriers and find colleagues to collaborate on her…