Archive for November, 2011

Set the Stage for Action: The Innovation Audit

Tuesday, November 15th, 2011

As a leader in your organization, you know how important sustainable Innovation is for increasing profit and shareholder value. It is time to take action and begin building that culture of Innovation – especially when there are competitive forces in the picture. Some signs that it may be time for an Innovation Audit

 

  • The percentage of total sales from your new product introductions is stagnant or has slipped.
  • Profitability has softened and/or costs are spiraling.
  • Recent product development programs have stalled.
  • A new competitor has emerged in the marketplace, or an older firm is on the verge of collapse, opening new opportunities you feel ill-equipped to capitalize.

 

With the wolves at the door ready to pounce, you cannot afford to lose your competitive edge. An Innovation Audit will help examine your organization’s strengths and weaknesses – where your company is now and where it can be.

 

The in-depth Innovation Audit provides a detailed examination based on the 10 imperatives of Robert’s Rules of Innovation. The questions are designed to examine the current condition of your organization and address elements that you’ll need to bolster for a successful innovation program. Immediately upon completion, you will see graphical results to give you an idea of how your company fares in the elements like Inspire, Product Development, Risk Taking, Ideation, Reward, etc. Sustainable Innovation takes a holistic approach of all imperatives, if any of the imperatives are weak or missing, success is unlikely.

 

This detailed analysis will help you establish critical benchmarks during your path to sustainable innovation. An accurate snapshot of the current state of your organization is the first step to developing an innovation action plan. The audit process can be an exhilarating and demanding one – but it is absolutely essential and worthwhile to understanding your organization and potential next steps towards improvements and best practices.

 

Take a proactive stance to your innovation strategy. What separates true innovators from stagnators is the continuous improvement of practices and processes. See Robert’s Rules of Innovation for more tips and to view the 10 imperatives for corporate survival.

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The Innovator’s DNA

Tuesday, November 1st, 2011

Are Innovators born or made? That is the question authors Jeff Dyer, Hal Gregersen and Clayton Christensen address in their new book, “The Innovator’s DNA”. Through an eight-year study with data collected from 500 innovators and 5,000 executives in 75 countries including leaders from Amazon, Apple, Google, Skype and Virgin Group, the authors attempt to find the common denominator of what makes an Innovation leader. They unearthed a key finding: that innovation is not just a product of the mind but also of behaviors. Dyer, Gregersen and Christensen found specific patterns of behavior exemplified by top innovators around the world. These five behaviors can be emulated to improve innovative thinking – proving that creativity is not just a genetic predisposition.

The five behaviors that innovators demonstrate are:

  1. Associating: Drawing connections between questions, problems or ideas from unrelated fields. Innovative thinkers can connect ideas that others find unrelated.
  2. Questioning: Posing queries that challenge common wisdom. For innovators, questions that provoke insight typically outnumber answers.
  3. Observing: Scrutinizing the behavior of customers, suppliers and competitors to identify new ways of doing things.
  4. Networking: Meeting people with different ideas and perspectives. Innovators spend time talking to people who may offer radically different points of view.
  5. Experimenting: Constructing interactive experiences and provoking unorthodox responses to see what insights emerge. Innovators seek new experiences by visiting new places, trying new things and seeking new information that can trigger ideas later on.

By utilizing the five skills, individuals can act differently in order to think differently – outside the box – to reach those “aha” moments. The study found that while most senior executives excel at delivery or execution skills, they lack in discovery skills. Innovation starts with the people at the top, who need to take the responsibility of achieving Innovation into their own hands. “It doesn’t matter if you have the DNA, Innovation is not easy or for the faint of heart. The CEO is – or should be – the Chief Innovation Officer, who needs to walk the walk and be engaged in the process to serve as a role model for the rest of the organization. Leaders like Steve Jobs say it all,” explains Robert Brands, author of “Robert Rules of Innovation: A 10-Step Program for Corporate Survival.”

Senior executives of the world’s most innovative companies such as Jeff Bezos of Amazon, Marc Benioff of Salesforce.com and A.G. Lafley of Proctor & Gamble spend at least 50% of their time every week thinking of innovative ideas that will generate profits for their companies. The authors conclude that when it comes to creativity, all roads lead back to the individual – because Innovators are made – through active personal endeavors.

“The Innovator’s DNA” is a helpful guide that includes self assessments and practical tips for developing the skills of an Innovator, and addresses the people, processes and philosophies required to sustain that.

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