Sparks to fire up your innovation combustion
This coaching session focuses on why and how to create an Innovation Award.
Starring: Inna (Innovation Leader in a large Pharma corporation) and Wim (coach for Innovation Leaders). [Transcription far below]
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Are you looking for a personal innovation coach?
- Do you want a soundboard, a sparring partner?
- Did you just start an innovation program or want to improve it?
- Do you need practical ideas to stimulate innovation or on how to manage an innovation portfolio?
If yes, I’m ready to help you!
- I believe in KISS: Keeping Innovation Super Simple. High focus on passion, low focus on processes.
- I have coached more than 50 innovation leaders across the globe in Pharma/healthcare.
- I work as independent coach: per hour or as long as you consider valuable at wimvand@outlook.com
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Transcript
Inna:
⁃ Hi Wim, should I create an annual Innovation Award?
Wim:
⁃ Absolutely! I highly recommend to issue an annual Innovation Challenge and to recognize the best submissions with an Innovation Award!
Inna:
⁃ Why?
Wim:
⁃ There are several reasons. When you start out as Innovation Leader, an Innovation competition is a helpful tool to quickly create an innovation portfolio. Very likely, many employees are already thinking about or even working on innovations. You may get submissions for innovations that are in different stages of the innovation framework. In addition, everyone in the corporation will get to know you, in your position of the new Innovation Leader.
Inna:
⁃ I see. And what are the extended benefits?
Wim:
⁃ Let me share a few of those benefits:
⁃ Focus. When you issue an Innovation Challenge, everyone in the corporation will understand what specific problems need to be solved with innovations. By providing an Award, you also illustrate how a good innovation looks like.
⁃ Leadership engagement. An Award can help demonstrate that the leadership supports Innovation. You can strengthen this for example by asking the leadership team to announce the Challenges to the organization; involving the leadership in the selection of the winners; letting the leadership hand out the Awards to the winners; asking the leadership team to personally sponsor the winners
⁃ Stimulate Innovation. By recognizing innovators, you’ll inspire others in the organization. Awards and the associated recognition by leadership, can help to convince reluctant managers to support their employees to come up with innovations.
⁃ Messaging. You can use the opportunity to communicate specific Innovation related messages. To demonstrate that failure is an acceptable part of Innovation you can create an Award for the “Best Failure” or “Best Learnings” from failed experiments. To encourage collaboration, as it can be valuable for innovation, you can make cooperation between at least 2 departments a selection criterium for the Award.
Inna:
⁃ What are key success factors for an Innovation Challenge/Award?
Wim:
⁃ To me, the key ones are:
⁃ 1. A very specific problem statement. The more specific the problem, the more likely you’ll get relevant submissions.
⁃ 2. Detailed and transparent selection criteria. This will motivate employees to submit their ideas, knowing they’ll be evaluated fairly.
⁃ 3. Clear communication beforehand about what will be done with the submissions. This will help to manage expectations by innovators, like: will I be able to experiment with my idea, or will someone else work on my idea.
Inna:
⁃ How did you recognize Award winners?
Wim:
⁃ In my experience innovators are usually not that motivated by a monetary award. Recognition by senior leaders was more stimulating for innovators. That’s why trophies and follow up discussions with senior leaders worked very well as incentives. Sometimes we did reward the winning submissions in a financial way, so the innovators would be able to experiment with their innovative idea.
Inna:
⁃ Any other suggestions?
Wim:
⁃ Keep the Challenge and Award process fresh and innovative: You can use a different way each year to announce the Challenge – fun videos, QR code scans, etc. You can make the Award ceremony original and intersting, e.g. by having a global live broadcast with remote voting, keynote speakers or by integrating new technologies, like holograms, etc.
Inna:
⁃ Inspirational! Annual Innovation Awards work!
