• What we do
  • The People
  • About Us
  • Why Innovation Africa
  • Contact Us
Innovation AfricaCreating the Future Today
  • Feature Articles
  • Innovation
  • Agriculture
  • ICT
  • Technology
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Health
  • Store
  • Contact Us
Menu
  • Feature Articles
  • Innovation
  • Agriculture
  • ICT
  • Technology
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Health
  • Store
  • Contact Us
  • The Right Innovation Mindset Can Take You from Idea to Impact

    September 20, 2013 Editor 0

    Thomas Edison said it over a century ago: “Genius is 1 percent inspiration, 99 percent perspiration.” Unfortunately, when companies launch innovation initiatives, they tend to devote most of their time, energy and attention to that initial 1% – the thrilling hunt for the breakthrough idea. The real innovation challenge, however, lies beyond the idea, in a long, hard journey from idea to impact. Innovative companies sustain a track record of success by creating the right “climate” for employees to cultivate the innovation mindset — to think different, act different, and achieve extraordinary success.

    Think Different

    Opportunities

    Not every idea is worth pursuing. The first step is to narrow down the ideas to worthwhile opportunities. Have a process to evaluate whether it is the right opportunity by asking: Do we want to pursue this–does it align with our purpose? Can we execute it–does it align with our core competencies? If it takes off in the best possible way, will the benefits be worth it? Are the risks such that the damage won’t be irrecoverable if things go wrong?

    Dare to seize the opportunities that meet these criteria. Create mechanisms to seed fund and resource the right opportunities. Have a portfolio view of the opportunities, and ensure that there is a balance of opportunities that span current, adjacent and new space. Recognize that seizing the opportunity is but a tiny first step – like a little plant has sprouted. You have to nurture it patiently until it grows into a big tree with deep roots and a thick trunk.

    “And” Thinking

    The next challenge is to strike the right balance between getting the most out of these opportunities AND keeping your performance engine humming. What are the best structures to create so you neither disturb the rhythm of the performance engine nor drop the ball on opportunities? Many organizations embark on large-scale change management efforts to “make” their organizations more innovative; most fail. Our guiding principle is quite the opposite: Do no harm. The challenge is not just to make innovation happen, but to do so while simultaneously excelling in ongoing operations. Butter before Jam. Cake before icing. But butter AND jam. Cake AND icing. If the performance engine is humming along, it’s best not to impose an innovation challenge if it would disturb that rhythm. We would opt for minimal change on that front, and creating dedicated innovation teams that work in partnership with shared staff. Rather than major surgery, aim for precision surgery or micro surgery.

    Act Different

    Resourcefulness

    Create a climate where resourcefulness is encouraged and rewarded. Pass down organizational stories, highlighting the obstacles that employees powered through to get results, through successive generations of leaders.

    Achieve Extraordinary Success

    Outcomes

    Create a climate in which employees can focus on outcomes instead of getting caught in the activity trap. Create separate planning processes for innovation efforts that are big enough to require dedicated teams. Unlike the performance engine–where the planning process is focused on financial, customer, and market share performance–the innovation planning process needs to focus on learning, viewing innovation as a disciplined experiment. What gets measured gets done. In companies that consciously cultivate a climate of innovation, innovation is not about no accountability, but a different kind of accountability. Construct just enough structure to make sure you’re making progress in the right direction, and no more.

    If a flight going from Dallas to New York were a degree off, it would end up in the sea instead. Most flights, in fact, are more than a degree off 95% of the time. Most flights, though, land where they are supposed to. How do they do it? One key reason: the pilot has a “rough” flight plan and engages in dynamic course correction.

    This same notion of a “rough” plan coupled with dynamic course correction is what we recommend in innovation efforts. If the performance engine has monthly planning meetings, the innovation side should have weekly “course correction” meetings. If the performance engine is on a weekly rhythm, the innovation side has to step it up a notch and get on a daily course correction cycle.

    Expand the Pie

    When the business model has stabilized, have systems in place to encourage employees to “expand the pie” by developing new revenue streams, increasing reach, or converting non-consumers into consumers. For example, Apple expanded its pie by creating the App Store, where individuals and small development shops could stand on Apple’s shoulders and reach a market they never could otherwise. In turn, Apple’s reach increased because their customers got access to a much larger pool of software. They expanded the pie for themselves, their partners, and their customers.

    Innovation execution is neither innovation nor execution but its own strange beast. When tamed, however, it can be a source of enormous strength, lasting differentiation, and sustained success.

    Executing on Innovation
    An HBR Insight Center
    • Lessons in IT Innovation From Silicon Valley
    • Research: Middle Managers Have an Outsized Impact on Innovation
    • What’s the Status of Your Relationship With Innovation?
    • Innovation Isn’t an Idea Problem


    Go to Source

    Related Posts

    • The impact of OFDI on firm innovation in an emerging countryThe impact of OFDI on firm innovation in an emerging country
    • To foster innovation, let a hundred flowers bloom?To foster innovation, let a hundred flowers bloom?
    • Can China be an innovation powerhouse?Can China be an innovation powerhouse?
    • Innovation’s New World OrderInnovation’s New World Order
    • What Happened to the Innovation, Disruption, Technology’ Dividend?What Happened to the Innovation, Disruption, Technology’ Dividend?
    • Are you an Innovator /entrepreneur? Do you want to inspire others?Are you an Innovator /entrepreneur? Do you want to inspire others?
    Sovrn
    Share

    Categories: Feature Articles, HBR, Insights

    Tags: Innovation, Think Different, thomas edison

    Global spotlight on South African manufacturer’s digital X-ray innovation Competition aims to expedite commercialisation of technological innovations

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    You must be logged in to post a comment.

Subscribe to our stories


 

Recent Posts

  • SL Crowd Green Solutions September 21, 2020
  • Digital transformation in the banking sector: surveys exploration and analytics August 3, 2020
  • Why Let Others Disrupt You? Take the Smart Self-Disruption Journey! August 3, 2020
  • 5 Tips for Crowdfunding During the Pandemic August 3, 2020
  • innovation + africa; +639 new citations August 3, 2020

Categories

Archives

Popular Post-All time

  • A review on biomass-based... 0.9k views
  • Can blockchain disrupt ge... 672 views
  • Prize-winning projects pr... 646 views
  • Apply Now: $500,000 for Y... 602 views
  • Test Your Value Propositi... 524 views

Recent Posts

  • SL Crowd Green Solutions
  • Digital transformation in the banking sector: surveys exploration and analytics
  • Why Let Others Disrupt You? Take the Smart Self-Disruption Journey!
  • 5 Tips for Crowdfunding During the Pandemic
  • innovation + africa; +639 new citations
  • SME Innovation: 10 Priorities for Support Post-COVID-19 
  • Africa RISING Annual Progress Report 2018 – 2019 now available
  • Fodder beet feed supplementation delivers dairy success for Ethiopian farmers
  • Using theory of change for outcome-oriented research
  • Africa RISING partners publish soil fertility management guidebook

Tag Cloud

    africa African Agriculture Business Business model Business_Finance Company Crowdsourcing data Development East Africa economics Education Entrepreneur entrepreneurs Entrepreneurship ethiopia ghana Health_Medical_Pharma ict Information technology Innovation kenya knowledge Knowledge Management Leadership marketing mobile Mobile phone nigeria Open innovation Organization Research rwanda science Science and technology studies social enterprise social entrepreneurship south africa Strategic management strategy tanzania Technology Technology_Internet uganda

Categories

Archives

  • A review on biomass-based hydrogen production for renewable energy supply 0.9k views
  • Can blockchain disrupt gender inequality? 672 views
  • Prize-winning projects promote healthier eating, smarter crop investments 646 views
  • Apply Now: $500,000 for Your Big Data Innovations in Agriculture 602 views
  • Test Your Value Proposition: Supercharge Lean Startup and CustDev Principles 524 views

Copyright © 2005-2020 Innovation Africa Theme created by PWT. Powered by WordPress.org