Un-barrier-ing

Innovation Leaders helping Innovators

I explored earlier what the role can be of a corporate Innovation Leader: to identify/remove barriers for innovation and to manage an innovation portfolio. Below, I selected 10 examples of typical barriers innovators are struggling with and a way how Innovation Leaders (IL) can address each of those barriers (I embedded some references to my earlier blogs).

I am afraid of failure

• IL: Ask leadership to publicly share examples of “good” failure and what was learned from these failures.

I am not sure what innovation means (e.g. when the corporation asks “everyone should innovate”)

• IL: Communicate what problems the corporation wants innovative solutions for and share inspiring examples.

I have no money to test my idea

• IL: Ensure the innovator is addressing a key business problem, then help the innovator do a quick experiment to validate key assumptions and then connect the innovator with a innovation-minded business sponsor to secure funding.

The company is too risk averse

• IL: Communicate examples of innovations that had “high-but-appropriate risk” and explain why this was the right risk level. Then share names of innovation-minded Compliance colleagues with whom innovators can connect before experimenting.

I am not sure where to start

• IL: Create a simple communication (video) of the corporate innovation framework (e.g. Idea, Experiment, Pilot) and the tools that are available to go through the innovation stages.

I have no time to experiment

• IL: Check if the innovation addresses the right priority, then secure time commitment from the innovator’s manager, leveraging the innovation framework.

I lack specific expertise

• IL: Check if the right problem is being solved. If so, connect the innovator with an internal or external, innovation-minded expert.

I am not sure that I am addressing the right problem

• IL: Help the innovator validate that the innovation is providing a solution for a major corporate problem, e.g. by filling in a “One-Pager“.

I don’t know if someone else already had the same idea

• IL: Create a tool (e.g. software) that contains all innovative ideas that have been developed in the corporation (including those that were stopped). Make sure this tool is accessible to all potential innovators in the corporation. Require all innovators to enter their idea in the tool and to check if their new idea is already there, before pursuing it.

My manager is asking for the ROI of my idea

• IL: Discuss the innovation framework with this manager. If the concern is about resources, provide a simple tool to reduce investment risk, like the “Reverse Income Statement” for the Experiment stage of innovation.

The above list of course does not include all barriers, but hopefully shows that virtually all barriers can be addressed. When we, Innovation Leaders, are on the lookout for barriers, we should prioritize them and “fall in love with the problem (barrier), not with the solution”. We can then look for solutions for those barriers and create a real climate that stimulates innovation.

As Tony Robbins said:

“Identify your problems but give your power and energy to solutions.”

So, as Innovation Leader, I kept looking for barriers innovators struggled with and addressed the most important ones, one after another.

More about this topic: “Overcoming 10 Barriers to Innovation“, by Jessica Day.

Do you have unaddressed barriers you want to share?

More of my blogs on innovation: Wim Vandenhouweele