Who wouldn’t like to swap places with Apple or IDEO? These companies have for nearly a decade consistently topped the list of 50 world’s most innovative companies, despite the radical change in the business landscape, that has seen social web upstarts soar to the top.
There is a plethora of proprietary models of innovation, including technological solutions that offer front-end or end-to-end innovation miracles. But here is the SECRET: NO ONE SIZE FITS ALL. In the end, you will need to invest in organic growth and the slow cooking method to sustain the nutritional value of your innovation impact.
Ask yourself: are you innovating for the future or for the next product? Are you building up the value of your finite resources or SELLING your resources like there was no tomorrow?
Your organization won’t innovate productively unless some underlying factors are in good shape. If “10” is outstanding and “1” is poor, how do you rate your organization on each of these?
This article reinforces the importance of the steps in the InnoFuture’s current event program 6 Steps to Innoculture and is a good, unbiased thinking place to start the innovation journey. The nine critical factors are a mastermind of Mark Sebell and Jay Terwilliger, managing partners at Creative Realities, Inc., a Boston-based innovation management collaborative.
How do you rate for innovation productivity?
- A compelling case for innovation. Innovation must be justified to compete with core business priorities. The case must be strong and clear.
- An inspiring, shared vision of the future. Suspend the past and envision the future to spot relevant trends and shifts.
- A fully aligned strategic innovation agenda. Know your direction before embarking on innovation. Misalignment leads to failure.
- Visible senior management involvement. Breakthroughs need top-level support, not just Stage-Gate processes.
- A decision-making model that supports passionate champions. Decisions for innovation must empower champions and avoid consensus traps.
- A creatively resourced, multi-functional dedicated team. Include diverse and naïve perspectives, not just experts.
- Open-minded exploration of marketplace drivers. Understand how market forces shape innovation relevance.
- Willingness to take risk and value absurdity. Bold, unconventional ideas often lead to major breakthroughs.
- A well-defined yet flexible execution process. Support big ideas with a separate team and agile experimentation.
If your personal ratings total more than 70, you work in a pretty innovative environment. If they fall below 70, think about how prepared you are for the future.
InnoFuture exists to help businesses deepen their innovation capacity and to inspire them to adopt innovation as a way-of-life by connecting them with curated innovation knowledge, tools and resources to create sparks of greatness. Our unique advantage is our neutral position. In the ever-changing and evolving market of business innovation, we remain unbiased to specific models and tools, while continually exploring new and emerging concepts, tools, and expertise. | Contact us |