Innovating in Good Times & in Bad: Best Practices in Innovation

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Background ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object]

Interviewee Demographics ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object]

Key Findings ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object]

1. Organizations need to clearly define innovation ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],“ A lot of people call innovation ‘things that create improvements by 5 or 10 percent.’ But, if I employ new to the world, truly disruptive technologies, then I’m changing the paradigm so that I see ‘orders of magnitude’ improvement. That's a whole different kind of innovation. ” – Sandia National Laboratories “ Be clear with your definition of innovation and be really clear about the mandate for innovation within your business.” – Thomson Reuters “ One thing we needed to do was to understand sort of the baseline of what is required when we say ‘let’s innovate’. Whether regulatory or legal, what is the requirement? What is the business goal? Is the goal to reduce cost? To increase speed of delivery to customers? To increase satisfaction, of quality service? The first step is to define what your agenda or your goal is. ” – General Electric

1. Organizations need to clearly define innovation ,[object Object],[object Object],“ You need to have a common language, a common process, a common system.” – Unilever “ [My team focuses] on generating a common language and then creating the basic environment or infrastructure to enable the businesses to innovate .” – Thomson Reuters

1. The importance of defining innovation ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],Implications: Considerations:

2. Looking beyond new products ,[object Object],“ [Information Technology] is one aspect of innovation, it's not the only thing; we’re trying to talk more about business models and operational innovation, mergers & acquisitions innovation, and all kinds of stuff beyond just new products or services.” – Wachovia Bank “ [Innovating beyond just new products] is a key one for us. We continue to drive our costs down, and that’s one of our key strategies of the company. Our CEO looks to us and says, "How can we continue to simplify and reduce cost? How can we innovate in this space?" We provide large cost savings to the company. In turn, we’re able to keep on investing that into innovation on both the business transformation side and on the product or R&D side. ” – Procter & Gamble

2. Focusing on cost-savings and efficiency innovations ,[object Object],[object Object],“ [As part of the legal group for our division we are] re-looking at outmoded ways of providing legal service and outmoded legal models and coming up with a new way to do the same thing, maybe faster, cheaper, easier. The law may be static, but how one delivers legal service is a very dynamic opportunity for change. ” – General Electric “ There’s a very good opportunity for us to focus innovation not only on new products and services, but on all the other facets such as cost saving, process, business model, and management innovation. I’m actually highlighting internal innovations more than external innovations.” – Reed Elsevier “ Our ‘smoke-free’ initiative actually lowered our operating costs by reducing the time it takes to clean a room and the number of times we had to replace curtains, bed sheets, etc.” – Westin Hotels

2. Embracing ‘innovation inside’ ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],Implications: Considerations:

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3. Shifting from problem-solvers to problem-definers ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],“ [ You look at large companies and] they're spending about 15 percent on R&D. But don't get fooled. When they say R&D - is it R, or is it really D? If you really did portfolio management and looked at their portfolio and said I want to know what is big R - truly concept development, new to the world-- what they're doing is D. That's not innovation.” – Sandia National Laboratories “ We’ve spent too much time on the front-end, the brainstorming. The problem is, we don’t know what we’re brainstorming on or the problem we’re trying to solve. We should be just as much problem-definers as we are problem-solvers.” – Wachovia Bank

3. Shifting from problem-solvers to problem-definers ,[object Object],“ I really want this problem definition thing done so I can go into solution mode. I want to define the problem space, the barrier space, and my criteria for ranking those ideas. You'll be ready to dive into the solution space because you’ll now have no more quibbling or moaning about what the problem is.” – Pfizer “ Some organizations say: “Let’s find all the cool technologies and ideas out there, and then we’ll go find a problem that it solves.” We take that and we reverse it. We say: “Let’s have a clear understanding of the problem we need to solve.” … We make sure the problem is well-defined first, and then come up with the innovations to solve those problems” – Procter & Gamble

3. Shifting from problem-solvers to problem-definers ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],Implications: Considerations:

4. Choose a structure and role that’s right for you ,[object Object],[object Object],“ The role can vary depending on the individual business’ needs. In our current scenario, the central innovation team is a ‘consultancy’ both on the process of innovation and the activities required to run the process. We engage both in embedding innovation into the processes of the business and helping run the innovation process to produce and advance ideas. In the end, it is about recognizing what is right for the business and what the culture will accept.” – Reed Elsevier “ The role of the innovation group should be problem-definers, mentors, and facilitators. Business units are too focused on execution to think and innovate. We have to take a longer-term view to really be innovative.” – Wachovia Bank

4. Choose a structure and role that’s right for you ,[object Object],“ The way our organization works, the innovation group does both. They work on exploratory concepts, but because they’re brand-assigned, they also are responsible for driving day-to-day development. We live with [an idea] from concept to the moment [it launches in the market].” – Estee Lauder “ The role of the innovation team should be to foster an environment where ideas can flourish.” – Westin Hotels “ Innovation groups should be a greenhouse for ideas – protecting young ideas from being killed off before they have a chance. We need to be challengers of the norm. Do-ers. Connectors.” – NESTA “ Incubator and Facilitators. Once we take it out of incubation, we hand it over and guide where needed.” – Procter & Gamble

4. Many minds; one focus! ,[object Object],[object Object],“ My background is accounting, and I’m in innovation now. You need a lot of different types of personalities. I think any person can be a valued contributor to an innovation organization. It’s just a matter of knowing your role within that group.” – Procter & Gamble ,[object Object],“ Broad inter-technical competencies, a strong team player, because you’re going to be on a team. It takes diversity. People who are analytical, people who are creative and people oriented. You need different social styles.” – Sandia National Laboratories “ Creativity, capability and discipline. Every human being has all these skills. You require them in the right balance. What you need is basically diversity of mind within the team. Everybody can do innovation.” – Unilever

4. Role of the innovation team: one size doesn’t fit all ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],Implications: Considerations:

5. Recognition is more valuable than monetary reward ,[object Object],“ It’s not all about money. The softer rewards are more powerful. A feeling of contributing to the business and some positive recognition from your peers or superiors. We run a monthly Honour Roll and the winner each month receives a personal email from the CEO.” – Reed Elsevier “ Early on in the process it’s very much about recognition. And again, it depends on the culture of the company and the people involved. Then, once your idea is further developed, I firmly believe that you’ll get more from the individual if you pay for results.” – Thomson Reuters “ I personally think that the most effective reward is recognition, pure and simple. I don’t think you have to put money around it. I don’t think you have to create plaques. I think recognition is fundamentally the most important tool.” – General Electric

5. Recognition is more valuable than monetary reward ,[object Object],[object Object],“ Some people say, "Forget the personal note. Just give me some time off." A half a day or a day off in recognition of what they did is pretty great. It’s about just knowing the individual and tailoring the recognition, rather than having a program where, "If you come up with an idea that saves X, you get the watch. If you come up with this, you get the car." I don't think that works. ” – Westin Hotels “ We survey employees asking them what they’re passionate about. Rewards are then given out based on those preferences. We ask how people like to be recognized – privately or publicly.” – Westin Hotels

5. Rewarding is more about ‘how’ than ‘how much’ ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],Implications: Considerations:

6. C-suite support makes or breaks innovation efforts ,[object Object],“ Get Board / leadership support. We have it. Innovation is equal to growth and it has to be driven by the CEO. Nobody else can do it.” – Unilever “ Corporate sponsorship and leadership around innovation is key. If you don’t make it a priority and you don’t drive that into the culture, I don’t think you’ll have a strong innovation pipeline.” – Procter & Gamble “ Don’t do it unless the CEO, or whoever your equivalent of the CEO is, buys into it. Just don’t.” – Thomson Reuters

6. Understand where you are & where you want to go ,[object Object],[object Object],“ Assess the situation and figure out exactly what the need for innovation is.” – Unilever “ Assess yourself – reality vs. perception. Take an assessment or have someone else do it – a third party or someone that has an objective view.” – Wachovia Bank “ You need to start with a successful roadmap and try not to do the impossible too quickly… Prioritize where you want to focus inventing.” – Estee Lauder

6. Expect failures; publicize successes ,[object Object],[object Object],“ Tell others about the successes and failures. Keep everything out in the front so people see it’s OK to win and lose.” – Whirlpool “ Fail fast, often, and cheap. The one thing all innovators have in common is they try and discount lots of different approaches along the way. Don’t try to endlessly seek ‘the’ disruptive innovation to end all innovations.” – NESTA “ Success breeds support. So, when they can actually see concepts and actually see us do innovation, watch us do it, teach them to fish, that breeds support.” – Wachovia “ I think we, like many companies, could do a much better job experimenting and ‘failing early’ – as long as we continue to learn from our failures as well as our successes.” – Reed Elsevier

6. Advice on getting started ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],Implications: Considerations:

Conclusions ,[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object]

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Innovating in Good Times & in Bad: Best Practices in Innovation

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Innovating in Good Times & in Bad: Best Practices in Innovation