Innovation is one big struggle. Not being able to change
habits within the organization. Being creative at the wrong moment. Frustrated
by budget cuts. Confronted with a lack of entrepreuneurship. Putting pressure
on people in operations who resist change. Taking the credits as team leader
myself instead of praising the team.
Yes, I made a lot of mistakes as marketer, strategy
consultant and innovation facilitator. The good news is that I learned a lot.
That's why I love to share ten lessons how you can be an effective innovator in
your organization.
1. Innovate together. As a young marketer I used the word
'I' way too much. Being responsible for a product category, I considered myself
king of a small universe. You can get wonderful ideas on your own. But in an
organization you can only innovate together. You need all the other departments
to develop your product, to produce it, service it, sell it and bill it. That's
why innovating in a team is more effective. The chance that a new-to-the-company
innovation survives is much higher if it has a lot of fathers and mothers.
2. Choose the right moment. On continuous basis
organizations develop and launch variations of present products or services.
It's less risky. Most companies step into new markets or launch disruptive
initiatives when they realize that present markets and products can't generate
growth anymore. So be like a hunter. Who only shoots when he knows that one
bullet is a sure kill. So for real innovation projects you better wait until
the right moment of real urgency.
3. Facilitate. When the company appoints you as 'innovator'
others have the tendency to sit back, because innovation is now your
responsibility. Don't fall into this trap. Don't come up with new products,
services or business models yourself because it will all stay YOUR initiatives.
A much more effective role as central 'innovator' is to facilitate innovation.
This means you help others in line functions with processes and resources to be
more innovative themselves.
4. Discover Needs. Your innovative product or service
requires a different behavior from your customer. They will change their
behavior and/or internal processes (in BtB) only when your innovation solves a
challenge or problem for them. That's why it's so important to identify
customer dreams, needs and problems in the very early stages of your innovation
process.
5. Use the Voice of the Customer. Once you've developed an
innovative idea or prototype the question remains: is this a good idea or not?
In your organization are a lot of persons resisting change. They will say no to
anything. In my role as marketer in the food industry I learned to make use of
the voice of the customer to get internal support. So test your ideas and
prototypes in an early stage at customers. And use the favorable test result
and enthusiast testimonials to get internal support.
6. Be innovative. Act Conservative. Your organization is
less innovative than you. That's why you have a game-changing role. Your
effectiveness will be dependent on the internal support you can create among
the non-innovators. That's why it's wise to be innovative and act conservative.
Present your innovation not as something really extraordinary but as the normal
next thing to do. Your chances to convince the non-innovators will increase.
7. Be naughty. Innovation doesn't stop at the first no.
That's the moment it really starts for you. You have got to be clever to let
your innovation project survive all kinds of dramatic moments like budget cuts.
So be prepared to be naughty. When the innovation project is officially stopped
due to a budget cut, continue for example your work under another project.
Well, you know all the tricks.
8. Connect decision makers. Innovation ist Chefsache",
say the Germans. That's why you should involve 'the boss' from the start. Not
in a steering committee on a distance. Invite Top Managers as team members and
take them with you on your innovation expedition. In this way the decision
makers can get new insights themselves. And when they are part of the process
they will support the end result.
9. Do it fast. On average an Innovation project takes 18
months for new services and 36 months for a new product. Be sure to speed it
up. You know when there's a takeover, a strategy change or another crises your
innovation project will be at risk. So focus and deliver as fast as you can.
10. Be open. There's always a lot of secrecy around
innovation in a company. In practice with al this secrecy you alienate the rest
of the organization with a lot of negative consequences. If you have a clear
and structured process and inform everyone on the progress without telling big
secrets you maintain support with the people you need later on to implement
your innovations. So be open.
Sobre o autor:
Gijs van Wulfen is Linkedin thought leader on innovation. He
is founder of the FORTH innovation method and author and speaker on innovation.
www.forth-innovation.com
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