May 2008

Innovation
Discovering the true meaning of innovation

In recent history I’ve observed an increased interest in the development of innovation programs within many companies. At the same time, I’ve seen quite a bit of confusion over what innovation programs should be designed to deliver. Words have meaning and innovation is a term whose meaning can be rather confusing when it is bantered about without explanation.

“Innovation is not a singular event, but a cultural change.”

If you refer to the many books on innovation, they are basically discussing the development of the “big bang” idea that is going to have a dramatic impact upon the company. There is little doubt that every company wants to develop the next big bang idea in their industry, but in reality innovation means much more. Driving innovation through an organization produces continuous and sustained improvements on many levels. The sum of the results can be quite impressive over time, often rivaling the big bang idea and in other cases fostering the environment that produces one.

Innovation is not a singular event, but a cultural change. A corporate culture properly cultivated will produce sustained levels of innovation. However, a corporate culture that isn’t created to nurture innovation will hinder and stifle it. If you are considering introducing an innovation initiative within your organization you need to incorporate the following subject areas:

Strategic Thinking
Employees that are being trained in innovation must understand the concepts of strategic thinking that links innovation to corporate values and stimulates internal progress. This ties innovation directly to the corporate culture. Effective innovation must be anchored in the corporate purpose and direction. If employees don’t understand this, time and resources will be squandered on projects that will have little or no impact.

Critical Thinking
Employees must learn to think critically before they can learn how to innovate. They must know how to clearly analyze and evaluate problems, formulate solutions, and identify specific consequences and ramifications that the solutions will produce.

Strategic Questioning
Innovators must be able to ask probing and in-depth questions. Too often employees only ask surface questions about problems and issues. This produces superficial analysis and insufficient results. Strategic questioning trains employees in the skills they require to pose questions that develop and clarify the understanding of a problem or issue.

Collaboration
The concept of the sole inventor or innovator working alone in a laboratory is often more myth than reality. Innovation is a collaborative enterprise that requires teamwork to be successful. Employees must possess the team skills to work together to overcome conflict and arrive at consensus without sacrificing the quality of innovation.

Empowerment
A culture of innovation is also an empowered culture. Surveys reveal that empowered employees will proactively work to make improvements in process, practices and applications. This fosters innovation, since most improvements are innovative and stimulate progress within the organization.

Continuous Improvement
Many innovations are the result of a series on ongoing and continuous improvements. Employees must be taught how to improve by doing better tomorrow what they did today.

Innovation
Innovation training should teach managers and supervisors how to manage and drive these changes in their areas of responsibility. They should be taught how to create the pathways of innovation and eliminate the barriers and hindrances that stifle innovation in their employees.

Execution
Employees must be taught how to drive innovation through personal excellence. Excellence drives execution on a daily basis. This is a critical component of a successful and effective innovation initiative.