|
Leading Innovation: Change and Sustainability
Innovation initiatives need to be linked to potential return on investment.
If they aren’t, an organization can travel a long way down the
innovation path before finding that customers don’t want the
innovation or it can’t be commercialized. “We’ve just
come out of an era where a lot of innovation came from IT. IT was driving
innovation as opposed to industry driving innovation. It’s created
a lot of challenges [and] now we are coming back to business in the basics
[and] not doing things because systems says that’s the way to do
it.”
Innovation in Marketing: Customer Insight
at the Core
Marketers see
deep customer insight as a core process that can drive innovation in
an organization. Translating this insight into innovation also requires
having organizational alignment on goals, and an organization that
supports effective cross-functional work. "One alignment
you don’t
see very often is alignment between sales and marketing and HR. We in
sales and marketing have a view of our customers and potential customers.
How are you going to take that view deep into the organization?
|
Managing Innovation:
Leveraging the CFO Function
The role of the CFO has been evolving
for some time, and they are now seen – and see themselves – as
business partner to the CEO, with a unique perspective and mandate
to see across organization silos. For CFOs in public companies, responding
to expanded governance and regulation mandates has pulled them away
from strategic work. “The CFO role is largely an
untapped resource in terms of moving innovation forward.”
Leading
Innovation: Get Comfortable Failing
Risk management is a key leverage
point that innovative organizations learn to manage effectively. Organizations
need to consciously create conditions conducive to innovation, which
means communicating clearly where innovation is desired, developing
systems for capturing and developing ideas from all levels, making
innovation part of normal accountabilities, and managing the career
risks for individuals. Failure needs to be redefined as learning,
and celebrated as a necessary precondition for success.“We
still have to
look at profitability. Innovation may take away billable hours. Are
we prepared to make the risk?
|
