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Innovation Newsletter from OVO
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OVO Views
Conversations about Innovation
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February 2010
- Vol 4, Issue 3
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In This Issue
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Quick Links
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Greetings!
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It's February and time to tell that special
someone exactly what they mean to you. No,
not your significant other. The person who
leads innovation for your business. Let's
review review how to help the innovation leaders
identify innovators in your organization.
In this issue we'll look at some classic
stories, including Moby Dick and Dracula, to
bring home the point that your pipeline
should be full of a wide array of ideas -
incremental ideas, radical ideas
and disruptive ideas, not just "whales" or
"silver
bullets".
"Innovation" is an overused and poorly
defined word, likely to lose any meaning over
time. Too often those of us who are
"experienced" innovators make assumptions
when we hear our clients say "innovation".
Your team will need a clear, consistent
definition for innovation, and will need to
communicate that definition in order to be
successful. Let's look at the challenges and
opportunities around innovation
definitions.
Every firm we work with wants to know how to
change the culture to "make it more
innovative". What we'd suggest instead is to
create pockets or locations within the
organization where innovation is tolerated
and encouraged, and build on the success of
those locations. Let the success drive the
changes to your culture rather than forcing
your culture to change before the proof
exists.
Finally, we review a couple of new books
about innovation, Think Outside of the Box by
Al Lewis and LinchPin by Seth Godin.
We'd like to know your thoughts about the
innovation space. What topics are of most
importance to you? What information can we
provide to help you accomplish your goals?
Please feel free to contact
us as we continue to bring you some of
the best commentary on the innovation space.
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Identifying the Innovators in your firm
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Innovation Attributes
For many firms, innovation is a project or
initiative that is tacked on to the "day job"
of employees. The mandate comes down from on
high that we need some new ideas for products
and services, and a team is assigned to
generate ideas. While we have some real
concerns with the "tacked on" aspect of the
work, today we're going to focus on the
individuals who are asked to innovate. Much
like any other business skill set, innovation
skills are widely distributed and unevenly
distributed. And, in the case of innovation,
good skills and capabilities matter a lot,
since the work is different and requires new
thinking and new perspectives. Merely
assigning the people with the most bandwidth
is usually a bad idea.
In the paragraphs below we'll point out what
attributes to look for when selecting people
to build your innovation team. We're willing
to bet these aren't the attributes you'd
normally use to build a team!
Reset the corporate framing
Good innovators, inside your organization or
outside, reject the established "framing" of
the problem. Usually they are trying to
completely reframe the problem or restate an
opportunity. Remember Galileo? He was
certain the original framing was wrong,
convinced the earth rotated around the Sun.
He tried to change the "framing" and
sought to change the orthodoxy. You probably
remember how that went. Individuals in your
organization who try to "reframe" problems or
opportunities are quite possibly good
innovators. Often people with this
proclivity are seen as avoiding the problem
or enlarging the problem needlessly. From an
innovation standpoint, this reframing is
often exactly what's needed.
Optimistic
Innovators are optimists. They have to be,
since they fight against established
hierarchies every day to promote their
ideas. Pessimists focus far too much
energy on the problems, while innovators
acknowledge the challenges and view those as
starting points or opportunities, not
barriers. Additionally, good innovators are
optimistic about solutions, not necessarily
about specific ideas. That indicates the
difference between cheerleaders and
innovators. Because of their optimism,
innovators believe the pie can be expanded
and that the outcome is not a zero-sum game.
Future Oriented
Since innovators are optimists, they are
interested in the future, and
seek signals about the future. Many
individuals in business look to the past for
inspiration and guidance, but innovators
understand that the future will be different
and try to understand the future first. Too
often innovators seem preoccupied with
learning more about the future. It appears
they don't focus enough focus on the day to day
issues and ignore historical information.
Innovators buck the "standard" approach in
many organizations because they seek new
insights and information from trends rather
than rely on historical data and past
performance.
Solving "wicked" problems
I don't know where this use of the word
"wicked" entered the
vernacular, but as shorthand it's great. Real
innovators are interested in solving
difficult, challenging problems. If your
team only pursues incremental ideas, they
aren't real innovators. Innovators are drawn
to the difficult, wicked, challenging
problems that most people avoid. Old problems
or incremental challenges can be solved with
existing tools and techniques. It's only
the new, difficult problems that require new
ways of thinking and new skills, which is why
those problems attract innovators.
Broadly Networked
Innovators interact with people and
information that reaches well beyond their
market, product or industry. Evidence shows
that the best innovators actively engage with
people and ideas outside their area of
expertise. Ideas from one industry or market
are often the catalyst for new concepts in
another industry, and only individuals who
engage outside of their market or technology
can introduce those new concepts. People who
have deep expertise in one field but do not
network outside of their field are rarely as
innovative as so called "T"
shaped people who
have deep skills AND broad networks.
Proactive
Once they've discovered a problem or
opportunity, innovators don't wait for
permission, they start trying to create ideas
to solve the problem. Innovators are
inherently proactive and will bridle at being
told to wait until the "appropriate" people
are involved. Innovators are motivated to
solve problems and are energized by
generating ideas and evaluating options, and
will do so almost automatically.
Most of the innovators we've known and worked
with don't wait for permission, they ask for
forgiveness later.
Respects and Understands failure
Innovators understand that a problem is
rarely solved in the first attempt or
iteration, and are comfortable working within
a cycle. They generate ideas, test ideas and
discover which worked best and which failed.
Then they attempt again, incorporating the
knowledge from the previous failures and
successes to make an event better solution.
In this regard they are undeterred by
failure, and view any failure as a step in
discovering the best ideas.
Good Observers
Innovators are people who are very alert to
challenges and opportunities and are excellent
observers. They rely on traditional
market research, but also have a very keen
sense of why things are happening and are
good at recognizing why specific behaviors
happen. They use qualitative insights
balanced with quantitative data to draw
conclusions. Good innovators instinctively
connect seemingly disparate information and
create new insights.
Conclusion
If your firm wants to become more innovative,
look around at the people on staff. How many
of them reflect these attributes? Retain
them and place them on the innovation effort.
If, quite likely, you discover that very few
people within your firm have these
attributes, then you need to recruit people
with these attributes to ensure the
innovation effort within your organization is
sustainable.
When you interview individuals for these
roles, you need to gain these insights:
- Is the individual reactive or proactive?
- Oriented toward the past or the future?
- Comfortable in ambiguity?
- An optimist or a pessimist? Likely to
quit at the first sign of failure?
- Willing to accept the company's
definition of the problem?
- Broadly networked or narrowly networked?
- Interested in the status quo or solving
big problems?
- Willing to use qualitative insights and
consumer behavior to drive new ideas?
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Getting our definitions straight
Here's a chance to get some really
inexpensive insight that will save you and
your team a lot of time and
exasperation. When you are asked to help
your company become more "innovative", pull
out a piece of paper and request a simple
definition, no more than 30 words, with
specific goals and measures.
You'll be surprised by two things if you have
the foresight to do this. First, how hard it
can be to get a couple of executives to agree
on the definition of innovation, and second,
if you are successful, how helpful that piece
of paper will be.
Back to the Basics
Webster's defines the word innovation as:
Something new or different introduced
In the last few months, working with several
prospects and clients, I've had the
opportunity to misunderstand their meaning
about innovation, or simply assume they meant
something along the definition above. What I
heard, and what they meant, were in some
cases worlds apart. This meant we were
working with different
purposes and in one case almost in opposition
to each other.
Innovation, to some of our clients, means
disruptive, radical new products (see the
White Whale article below). To some clients
innovation means incremental change, and to some
clients it means simply doing something new
and different. These different definitions
mean that investments, outcomes and
expectations are very different. Lacking a
common definition, it is possible to see
teams within the same organization doing
radically different things and calling them
"innovation". The obvious result over time
is that the word "innovation" loses any
meaning and people believe that anything
labeled "innovation" is confusing and a waste
of time. Given the tenuous nature of
innovation and the need to deliver value
quickly, you don't want to kick off a project
without everyone on the same page.
Working through the definition
A good definition should include the goals
(incremental or disruptive), the likely or
possible outcomes (products, services,
business models), the risk tolerance and
timeframes ( several months or several years,
or both) and who should be involved
(everyone, a selected team, a skunkworks).
I've written before that a good example of an
innovation definition was shared with us by
3M:
The use or application of creativity to
generate a new or novel output having value
for customers.
While a bit general in tone and focus, it
incorporates the use of creativity when
generating new concepts that become products
or services that customers value.
Why is this important?
In the immortal words of the Talking Heads,
you may find yourself asking "Well, how did
we get here?". The reason the definition is
so important is that the word innovation is
fungible, elastic and changeable. Without a
consistent definition for your organization
or team, you'll be at the mercy of any
executive who thinks innovation is a new
marketing campaign. A good definition
creates a scope, a purpose which your
innovation efforts can use to deflect
well-meaning but poorly defined or just
simply different projects and initiatives.
It's getting clearer
Management, in many ways, is like the game of
telephone. In the case of innovation, the
CEO or some other top executive, gets
religion and decides "we need more
innovation". A senior level executive gets a
memo or a phone call with the directive to
increase innovation, and he or she sets up a
team to conduct innovation activities. At no
point in this discussion has anyone asked for
a definition of innovation. The CEO may have
wanted really radical innovation or very
incremental innovation, but no one really
knows. And the real need may be for "open"
innovation or for a skunkworks, but we aren't
sure if that would be
acceptable.
Stop the presses and the insanity. When a
senior executive asks you to create an
innovation team or to increase innovation,
stop and ask the following questions:
- Incremental or Disruptive?
- Completely internal or including external
organizations?
- As defined by new products, services,
business models or all of the above?
- Over what time horizon?
- As a discrete project or a sustaining
capability?
Yes, it will gum up the works and force
clear, intentional decisions. But without
this clarity you have no chance to provide
the right ideas and address the most
important problems and challenges.
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Culture Matters
Every good innovator will tell you that
corporate culture will dictate the success or
failure of an innovation effort more than any
other corporate attribute, including funding
and resources. Most mid-sized
and larger firms have squashed risk taking
and innovation skills over the last decade in
favor of lean, right sizing
and optimized processes. While those
programs and philosophies are great for cost
containment and repeatable, consistent
efficiency, they work in opposition to
innovation.
In response to a call for innovation, many
firms seek to create a
separate organization or location for
innovation, isolated from the business
processes. We call this insulated
environment the innovation "hothouse" where
ideas can be nurtured and can grow without
exposure to
the harsh light of business reality.
Well, there's a reason people joke about
hothouse flowers not standing up to the
weather. Too often ideas that are nurtured
in a very artificial
environment wilt away in the regular business
climate. While we recognize that corporate
culture and existing attitudes and behaviors are
barriers to innovation, it's also not
rational to assume we'll simply overturn
years of process improvement and team
training to introduce innovation.
What's needed
Rather than create one isolated and somewhat
artificial idea hothouse, distribute many
small "micro-climates" for innovation
throughout the organization. This approach
requires individuals who are willing to lead
small innovation projects and programs in
their business units and product groups.
These individuals or "advocates" as we like
to call them, provide just enough room for
new ideas to develop, flourish and thrive.
As many small successes are recognized, the
best practices and methods are identified and
deployed more broadly. Additionally, as
small successes develop, many people with new
ideas will bring them to these micro-climates
to develop. The culture will be changed as
people volunteer to work on their ideas with
others, and see consistent innovation
success. This allows the team to change the
culture from the bottom up as innovation
becomes more and more important and people
see ideas converted into new products or
services.
Managing for innovation
This "micro-climate" approach requires that
managers and senior leaders develop a new
approach for innovation. Rather than
attempting to manage innovation, they create
the environment for innovation success -
managing to create opportunities for
innovation.
These behaviors are driven by subtle actions
and preferences: using innovation tools and
techniques consistently, welcoming new ideas
and encouraging good ideas from others,
providing space for ideas to flourish and
encouraging collaboration and discussion on
ideas. Good managers seek their teams' best
ideas, encourage discussion and interaction
and assist with the development of ideas,
using consistent methods and processes.
These organizations or teams become
innovation "micro-climates" and form the
basis for bottom up organizational change.
Show, don't tell
To adjust the culture to new thinking and new
approaches, you can order the change from the
top down, or demonstrate success and allow
the organization to adopt the successful
principles. Since innovators will be happy
to adjust to a welcoming micro-climate, you
can attract innovators through small changes
that will result in quick successes. Then
your team can build on success and widen its
innovation footprint.
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The Classics
In high school or college you had to put
aside Sports Illustrated or Teen Beat and pick up
some of the classics. There's a good chance
you read Moby Dick, the story of Ahab's
pursuit of the white whale. Or, given the
predilection for vampires lately, perhaps you
read Bram Stoker's Dracula. Both of these
stories have an underlying moral, and are
familiar to many readers, to the point where
"chasing the
whale" or "put a stake in its heart" have
meaning apart from the books.
Inevitably, these concepts have worked their
way into innovation efforts, which is
unfortunate and dangerous. The concept of
one really big idea that changes a market, or
the "silver bullet" that disrupts another
competitor has become in some instances a
blinder to other good ideas.
Expecting the Most
An unyielding focus on "big ideas" or silver
bullets creates unrealistic
expectations for innovation, for several
reasons. First, while businesses like to
talk about BHAGs and stretch goals, those are
things we strive for while achieving a number
of other realistic goals, not the only focus
of our efforts. If innovation is only about,
or even mostly about, silver bullets or
really disruptive ideas, then everyone's
going to go home disappointed.
This would be akin to hitting a home run
every time at bat, regardless of the
pitching. Even more improbably,
many executives seek "silver bullets" and
disruptive ideas from underfunded, under
resourced teams that do innovation part-time.
Almost 60% of executives in a recent Accenture
survey agreed with the statement "My
organization is looking for the next silver
bullet rather than pursuing a portfolio of
opportunities."
Disruptive Behavior
Right about now you're thinking - isn't
disruptive innovation a good thing?
Absolutely, but as part of a consistent and
broad innovation strategy. Too often great
ideas are sidelined or ignored because the
team is too focused on one big idea, rather
than several really good ideas. This focus
causes a number of problems. It puts even
more pressure on teams to gin up disruptive
or big ideas. It also causes them too often
to narrow down the idea funnel and place far
too much emphasis on one idea, at the cost of
ignoring many fairly good ideas. Also, since
we know that even well-vetted ideas often
fail, these big ideas are at least as likely
to fail, leaving the pipeline empty.
Finally, the idea that gains the most focus
and traction attracts all of the funding,
while other ideas are ignored and not
adequately investigated.
Portfolio Management
Every business worth its salt understands the
concept of portfolio management. Using a
portfolio, a business can very quickly
determine where its products exist in various
markets, and what gaps exist. Then, the
product or service development teams can make
decisions about generating ideas to address
those gaps. Firms overly focused on silver
bullets and white whales ignore their gaps in
the singular focus on the really big idea.
When that big investment fails, as is often
the case, many resources have been invested
and the gaps are bigger than ever.
Rather, when you hear an executive ask for
one big idea, one white whale, one "silver
bullet", think about the investments you have
in your existing ideas and initiatives.
Balance the need for big ideas with the
likelihood that your innovation teams will
spin out good, viable ideas as a matter of
course which can address many opportunities
and needs your business has.
On your way to harpoon the big whale, don't
ignore the big fish that swim across your
bow, just
in case your harpoon misses the whale. Far
better to return to port with a healthy catch
of reasonable ideas than to return empty
handed, having missed the big one.
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Think Outside of the Box
Most applications of innovation have to do
with new products or services, but Al Lewis
has created Think
Outside of the Box, a book that
demonstrates that
public policy can learn a lesson from
innovation. Al has 12 ideas that could
radically change the way we are governed and
how we apply the knowledge and wealth of the
government more effectively. Many of his
ideas would cost the government very little
but change the lives of everyday citizens
dramatically. If you are at all interested
in applying innovation to the government
space, Al's book is for you. In what could
be a very dull and dry subject, Al keeps the
material interesting, light and often funny,
and his ideas seem very compelling.
LinchPin
I had the opportunity to read LinchPin
and to
submit questions to Seth Godin about his new
book. Seth was kind enough to answer and we
had a bit of back and forth about his ideas,
which are tangentially relevant to
innovation.
Seth's book, Linchpin, is about creating a
position for yourself that makes you
indispensable. Much of what Seth talks about
has great relevance to innovation and
creativity. He is interested in identifying
people who are so valuable that their firms
can't do without them. Many of the concepts
he discusses in Linchpin are also relevant to
innovation: creativity, passion, different
perspectives and insights, proactive
engagement. Many of Seth's Linchpins will be
excellent innovators.
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PDMA InnovateCarolina
OVO was asked and gladly accepted the role of
conference chair for the PDMA
InnovateCarolina conference. This is a
one day event focusing on innovation in the
Carolinas. You can see the website
for the conference and learn more about the
event.
I'm glad to say we have a great group of
speakers and we're looking forward to a great
day of networking and presentations. If you
are in the area, please consider joining us
on April 10th, 2010 at the Kenan-Flagler
Business School campus at the University of
North Carolina.
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If you'd like to discuss how OVO can work
with you
to improve your innovation strategies, ideation
sessions, innovation processes or software,
contact us today at our website
or
(919) 844-5644 x789.
If you have a topic you'd like to see us
cover or a question you'd like to have us
address, please let us know via the website
above.
If you enjoyed this innovation newsletter, please
pass it along to your friends. If you wish to
unsubscribe, please see the link below.
Sincerely,
Jeffrey Phillips
OVO
phone:
919-844-5644 x789
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Innovate On Purpose™
