To defeat devil’s advocates, first you must examine why innovation efforts fail. A major reason is tied to an organization’s culture and its people. In a BusinessWeek survey of top-ranked companies in Innovation including Google, Apple, 3M, Toyota and Microsoft, the companies attributed their success to the avoidance of certain culture-related issues. These issues included Innovation that was only “lip service” – all talk and no support. Having isolated initiatives instead of an ongoing culture of innovation was a deterrent. Fragmented support within the company was certainly an Innovation killer, as well as resources concentrated by certain innovation blocs.

So how does one defeat the devil’s advocates to become a true innovation champion for change? I asked Nic Hunt, Director of Innovation for an international manufacturing corporation, who takes a three-step approach.

1. Define the desired culture. What does Innovation mean for your company? Quantify your goals, in terms of sales numbers and time frame, which will identify and justify the resources needed to achieve the goal. Identify who will be your key players from all departments within your organization.

2. Establish the foundation. Create an identity or brand for innovation in terms of something the business engages with, that becomes the overarching theme for programs and initiatives created over time. Then establish the framework necessary to achieve Innovation, such as quarterly idea reviews, monthly development meetings, brainstorming sessions, off-site team activities or recognition programs. Build a calendar and stick to it so these initiatives are taken seriously and do not fall off the map.

3. Engineer sustainability. Develop a system that brings the Innovation program to life such as awards, patent recognition badges and innovator lunches. Share success stories of great examples of teamwork that led to superior outcomes. Create regular activities that help build a sense of purpose and spread excitement of the new innovation program. Building morale sets the stage for organization members to want to actively participate and have their voices heard.

A successful innovation strategy is multi-faceted and involves many methods, but leads to big pay-off in the end. For the full guide on achieving innovation, see “Robert’s Rules of Innovation: A 10-Step Program for Corporate Survival“.

There may be naysayers of ideation sessions, who claim they do not work or that there is no room in the budget. However, it’s all about that small percentage of ideas that make it through the process and produce immense payoff for the company. We’ve all seen that one innovative idea or product that’s catapulted sales and increased shareholder value tremendously for an organization. All it takes is that one great idea among thousands.

Do not overlook the importance of ideation sessions in the process of achieving Innovation. To maximize efficiency, invite your customers and salespeople to participate. It’s a golden opportunity to hear the needs of your consumers, and salespeople can produce invaluable insights about the marketplace. Include other departments of your organization as well, even the ones labeled “not creative” because it would be a shame to miss out on a potential opportunity. Everyone is a consumer so all opinions are relevant.

A diverse group, forced to perform out of their comfort zone, produces the highest quality work. So hold your ideation sessions outside of predictable times and locations – try it at a client’s office or a third party venue. Avoid Monday mornings, Friday afternoons or right after lunchtime when energy levels drop. Most importantly, accept every single idea that comes through without objection or ridicule. By asking the right open-ended questions to unlock new insights and discoveries, to narrowing down to specific concepts, you can jump start the idea process and reach the next “Aha!” moment sooner than your competitors. A concept that doesn’t work at the moment could prove to be successful later on down the road – so store best practices. Maintain an idea database, cross fertilize and keep those ideas until the right technology or cost is possible.

Robert’s Rules of Innovation^TM is focused business innovation, with Robert Brands’ goal to bring one new idea to market every year. For more tips on Idea Management and the 10-Step Program for Corporate Survival, see Robert’s Rules of Innovation^TM published in March 2010 by Wiley.

In “Robert’s Rules of Innovation”, Net Result and Reward is about motivating your people with the right incentives. Motivation does not necessarily mean rewarding with money, and quite frankly it is about recognition for a job well done. Give your NPD team incentive to produce innovative ideas. What type of rewards can you give your team, beyond bonuses? Here are some ideas for non-financial motivation.

• You want your employees to feel a sense of loyalty to the company. Reward high performance with opportunity – to sit on a panel, a team or attend a business conference.
• Recognize a job well done with an award program. Give an award to a NPD team member who has achieved a great accomplishment.
• One of the best ways to highlight an innovation champion’s achievement is to give them exposure. Introduce them to a client, or invite them to lunch with an executive of the organization or face time with the boss.
• Simple praise will boost morale (so long as it is deserved)! People like to know that their success was noticed by the head of the company.

These non-financial rewards can benefit an organization by increasing an employee’s loyalty and commitment to the company, boosting company morale and reinforcing ideal outcomes in the future. Motivating employees to reach their top performance is a win-win situation for everyone involved and equates to Innovation ROI. Actually a November 2009 study by McKinsey concluded that recognition and these types of rewards were appreciated more than just financial rewards.

For additional tips on how to drive a successful New Product Development team, look for “Robert’s Rules of Innovation”. Robert Brands is the founder of InnovationCoach.com and the author of “Robert’s Rules of Innovation: A 10-Step Program for Corporate Survival,” with Martin Kleinman published by Wiley.

Innovation is successful when positive outcomes result in return on investment (ROI). That is why Value Creation is so important. Adding perceived value to a new product or service will drive ROI. The value proposition is the key to successful innovation. Develop an innovation with high perceived value to your customer, and strong sales will follow.

It’s all about understanding your customer and giving them what they want. Customer input and feedback is key. Look at Ford for example. The car manufacturer observed and listened to their large customer base on what they wanted in a car. They launched the “Your Ideas” initiative that invited people to make suggestions for improvement in all areas of comfort, convenience, connectivity, performance and safety. The result? Ford added iPod, MP3 player and USB connections, touch screens, voice activated communication systems, intelligent push-start buttons and more. Sales are soaring – not because of the traditional four wheels and performance but because of perceived value added features. Ford Motor Company now has the highest customer satisfaction rating among all major automakers.

When was the last time you tried or experienced your product or customer experience? Create value and not just onerous processes. Consumer input should be considered at multiple stages of your new product development process in order to increase perceived value. Enhanced product value means higher margins, greater returns, improved loyalty and increased stakeholder value.

Finally, when you find that delicate balance between cost, manufacturability and consumer perceived value, be sure to protect your intellectual property (IP) portfolio through patents. Invest the time and money into constantly updating patents and managing your product or service portfolio because it will lock in the value of your Innovation IP.

For more tips on Innovation and Value Creation, look for Robert’s Rules of Innovation. Robert Brands is the founder of InnovationCoach.com and the author of “Robert’s Rules of Innovation”: A 10-Step Program for Corporate Survival, with Martin Kleinman, published by Wiley.

Let’s take a look back at the 2010 Brand Innovations:  http://popsop.com/41746

For example, after over 30 years in business, Apple
continues to deliver a steady stream of new and refreshed products year after
year. It’s easy to see why competitors have to be on top of their game to
compete with Apple in the consumer electronics market. It’s Innovate or Perish.

Innovation is key in delivering profitable growth. If you
are looking to get started, look for Robert’s Rules of Innovation,
the imperatives for how to create and sustain Innovation. Don’t get left behind
in the New Year; make sure your company has the roadmap to successful
innovation implementation.

A Prosperous and Innovative 2011 to you and yours.

On any new product development team, it is up to the leader to facilitate ideation sessions that produce a regular supply of new ideas. In order for these ideation sessions to be as effective as possible, it’s valuable to include members such as the sales team, people who interact directly with customers, and maybe even a few select customers themselves to offer their insight into the meeting.

In these brainstorming sessions, which should be held regularly like two to three times a year,  it’s ideal to include a diverse group of people – perhaps from customer service, engineering or production – to create a setting ripe for creative ideas and to avoid group-think. The process should be a structured repeatable process. All ideas should be written up on the whiteboard or flip chart, then recorded and stored for future reference, with absolutely no ideas dubbed as bad. Negativity causes fear of judgment, which can seriously hurt the Ideation process and any chance of new and original ideas. Remember, good ideas can come from anywhere, so the more diverse your team and the more removed they are from their usual environments, the better for developing ideas essential to Innovation.

Ideation and the management of the ideation process pack the front end of the New Product Development funnel with a wealth of viable concepts. This portfolio approach anticipates the fact that some concepts will pan out, while others are dropped. Here are some tips on ideation:

• Focus, focus, focus. Remember that depth is better than breadth for quality idea generation. Drill down and maintain focus.

• Prioritize ideas. And keep your eye on areas that enhance perceived value, improve customer relations, and capitalize on competitive opportunities.

• Store best practices. And be sure to reference them regularly. Remember, also, to create a database of ideation session “discards”—used in combination with other concepts from the group’s “toy box,” there might be the makings of a winner.

For additional Tips, see Robert’s Rules of Innovation ™ by Wiley, Spring, 2010.

The success rate when it comes to innovation is very slim. In fact, just 1 in 100 new product entries succeed in the grocery business, according to a study by allbusiness.com. For every innovative product that comes out of the NPD process, there are plenty of ideas that don’t work out – deemed as failures. What’s important is that companies have a tolerance for failure and encourage risk taking.  Fear of failure can kill Innovation. Never punish for failed ideas. Instead, learn from them how to improve in the future. Establish a level of trust so your team won’t be afraid to think outside the box. To build a successful culture of Innovation, encourage everyone on your New Product Development team to take risks!

“Robert’s Rules of Innovation” gives five simple steps for encouraging initiative and Innovation. Here are some tips:

1.   Profiles in Risk: Clearly communicate the risk profile you are asking your people to adopt and state why it is important to the organization’s success.

2.   Failure Management: Never allow an unsuccessful risk to hamper a team member’s opportunities and advancement.

3.   Key Learnings Process: Establish a formalized, non-accusatory process for harvesting key learnings from unsuccessful risks.  Distribute these lessons-learned.

For more, see “Robert’s Rules of Innovation” by Wiley, Spring 2010.

Inspiration for companies comes from the leaders, so it is the leader’s responsibility to initiate and drive the innovation program. For the program to be taken seriously and incorporated as part of the company’s culture itself, the CEO or designated leader must set a schedule of regular meetings. Regular, in-person meetings are the only way for team members to accept the serious non-wavering intentions, recognize the goals and deadlines of the project and ensure that the innovation program will not just fall off the map. It’s easy to instruct team members to be conscientious of Innovation, but new products will not come to fruition unless members feel a sense of accountability and urgency for the NPD process.

At New Product Development meetings, take action steps to ensure progress is made:

• Address issues and concerns.
• Share research and results.
• Recalibrate priorities.
• Make new decisions.
• Set objectives and action items to be completed for the next meeting.
• Request progress reports.

The leader’s inspiration and commitment sets the tone for the rest of the organization. By setting a standard of expectations, others see the NPD process as a priority and an indispensible part of the company corporate culture.

Think about the most innovative companies and you”ll find a charismatic, involved, hands-on leader – be it Steve Jobs of Apple, Herb Kohler of the Kohler company or any small innovative trendsetting company for that matter.

Here are some Inspire Tips from Robert’s Rules of Innovation to help you get started. There are three key steps to achieve the type of Innovation culture that inspires and creates intra-organization cohesion:

1. Lead by Example: It all starts at the top. Management buy-in and support of innovation and ideation is critical. And by support, I mean both material and emotional. It needs to not only endorse, but proactively push for Innovation. It’s the only way for your team to get the motivation to take time from their “day jobs” to make Innovation happen.

2. Over-Communicate, Under-Promise: Talk up overarching Innovation visions, successes (and failures), without hyperbole or pie-in-the-sky verbiage. Keep it simple. Keep it focused. Keep it real. Internal and external communications enhances group buy-in to Innovation goals. It’s important to articulate your grand vision and provide the compelling case for change.

3. Silo Demolition: Knock down the barriers that keep silos apart by creating cross-functional teams between groups that don’t typically interact. This keeps the flame of cooperation – and Innovation – burning brightly. “Silo-itis” can smother buy-in for innovation.

For more tips, see “Robert’s Rules of Innovation ™” by Wiley, Spring, 2010.

Of the ten imperatives of Robert’s Rules of Innovation, this step is all about continuous improvement. It is necessary to Observe and Measure throughout the Innovation process, or else, how would you recognize successful Innovation? A system of metrics will objectively show your progress and success each step of the way. Plan. Do. Check. Act. It’s essential to follow a course of actions that produce ongoing improvement.

So first, gather initial observations and measurements at the beginning of the NPD process. It’s necessary to establish a baseline or starting point and measurable facts versus subjective assessments.

Secondly, to have an optimal measurements, one should establish leading and lagging indicators – leading to show where you are heading, and lagging to show you rearview mirror observations.

Examples of leading indicators can be patents filed, ideas created and in the hopper, as well as development time spent. Lagging indicators include patents granted, new products introduced and percentage of new product sales compared to total sales.

Product life cycles are getting shorter and shorter, which means NPD cycles must happen quicker to keep up. For example, personal care products have a life cycle of only 2 or 3 years. That means continuous Innovation is vital. Observe and measure the time spent in each gate, and the time spent to get to the next gate. See if you can make any improvements as far as efficiency.

By following a set of metrics, you’ll be able to evaluate the performance of your New Product Development process and your end result. And it doesn’t stop after the product is launched.

Here are some additional tips:

• What’s Measured, Is Treasured: And that’s just human nature, so be sure to check and recheck performance – monthly.  No exceptions, no excuses. What gets measured gets done.
• What to Look For?: The key performance indicators and metrics include:
  • R&D spending as a percentage of sales
  • Total patents filed/pending/awarded/rejected
  • Total R&D head count
  • Current year percentage of sales attributable to new products released in the past year/three years/five years
  • Number of new products released

For a recent survey on Innovation Measurements, see:  http://www.innovationcoach.com/resources/survey/ “What do you measure?”

For more Tips, see “Robert’s Rules of Innovation” by Wiley, March, 2010.

The last imperative of Robert’s Rules of Innovation is Net Results, Net Reward, meaning recognizing the people who contributed to the development of a new product. It’s important to reward actions with incentives for sustainable effort.

Rewards for a successful New Product Development process can be monetary – often the key stakeholders get a product launch reward or a percentage of sales from new products. But all members of the staff need to be rewarded, and motivation isn’t always about money. In fact, non-financial motivators can rise above other incentives. Praise from managers, the attention of leadership and the chance to lead projects are strong motivators that can top even monetary rewards. People mostly want to feel recognized and appreciated for their contributions. If those needs are met, employees stay engaged until after the new product launch and for more development processes to come. Rewards enhance an employee’s commitment to the company, boost workplace morale and motivate future efforts.

The fruits of your team’s labor benefit all. These successes must be rewarded – and in the appropriate manner. Here are some tips on why you should reward your employees and how:

• Innovation and ROI: True Innovation results in value creation for all stakeholders – in terms of financial return, increased market share and enhanced profitability; this is the ultimate goal of your sustainable Innovation program.
• The Right Rewards: Rewards and recognition systems can take many forms, from a bonus percentage based upon new product sales to peer acknowledgment and awards.
• Recognition: Pride…a thorny problem solved…the personal satisfaction of a job well-done – these are some of the intrinsic motivators that make creative people tick.

For more tips on Net Results, Net Reward and other Rules of Innovation Imperatives, see Robert’s Rules of Innovation™ by Robert F. Brands with Martin J. Kleinman published in March, 2010 by Wiley.