In • no • va • tion
: a new idea, device, or method
: the act or process of introducing new ideas, devices, or methods
— Merriam Webster Dictionary
How many times have you heard transformation, innovation, revolutionary, or some similar word or phrase in the past week? Probably more than you’d like. Especially if its in reference to your piece of the business. The barbarians are at the gate my friend.
My personal favorite is “new innovation,” which I read in an advert for a product that was little more than a reworking of the same ol’ same ol’. Same pig, different lipstick. But at least it is a new innovation. I can’t stand old innovations.
Transformation and / or innovation are hot topics these days. Moore’s law has never been more applicable at every level of the organization. The disruption is not limited strictly to information technology, although in most cases technology is behind the need for change.
I was showing my college-aged children an old Kodak camera, yes, one that used actual film, and not one of them had any idea who Kodak was and what they did. We are talking about a world leading organization with sales upward of $15 Billion! The people that made it possible for everyone and anyone to “Share Moments. Share Life.” A marketing powerhouse that once ran an advertising campaign proclaiming, and rightly so, “50 years of innovation.”
These children and their friends post more pictures to social media in one day than most of us take in a lifetime. Yet they have no idea who Kodak is. It occurred to me this is a real travesty. Why isn’t Kodak a household name in mobile technology? Isn’t this the company that invented the digital camera some 40 years ago? How did they miss the digital photography wave?
With Kodak in mind I decided to share with you a few thoughts gleaned from over 25 years of helping companies initiate and manage transformation while optimizing performance. That being said, here are five things you should bear in mind regarding innovation:
- Innovation is inevitable. Innovation is not a choice you make. The dynamic nature of markets and continuously changing consumer behaviors drive the need for business transformation. Ideally your overarching strategy should account for this through the inclusion of short– and long–range planning. In addition, innovation is highly sensitive to the life stage of the business. Innovating for a start-up is completely different than transforming a mature, well-established firm, just ask Kodak. Moreover, innovation should not be mistaken for continuous improvement. You’ll know the difference by reading point number two.
- Innovation causes friction. You are not innovating if you aren’t uncomfortable, uncertain, and to some extent unglued. After all, everything you think you know about your business and industry is being challenged. In Running the Gauntlet former Kodak marketing executive Jeffrey Hayzlett says “Kodak was like so many others: a victim of its own hubris and single-minded focus on what it had done.” [see page 17] Note that Kodak focused on what it did well, not what consumers wanted. When confronted with real innovation, the ensuing human interaction yields conflict, argument, debate, and dissonance. This is just as true for a start-up as it is for the mature business.
- Innovation requires process. Creativity cannot flourish in an undisciplined environment. Innovation where the present operating system is already a mess results in nothing more than an innovative mess. What is the strategic roadmap for your organization? How does innovation factor into that vision? What is your process for addressing unforeseen disruptions? Who is responsible for what? Thinking “inside the box” is a valuable technique for applying process to transformation. Moreover, thinking inside the box yields far greater creativity and produces more favorable results than unfettered spit balling. For example, budget constraints, government regulation, existing infrastructure, customer equity (what is the value of a customer and how would innovation change that value?), and other unavoidable limitations cannot be ignored in developing the solution. Remember, innovation is rarely an all or nothing proposition.
- Innovation requires patience. According to Warren Bennis, “Innovation— any new idea—by definition will not be accepted at first. It takes repeated attempts, endless demonstrations, monotonous rehearsals before innovation can be accepted and internalized by an organization. This requires courageous patience.” Establish benchmarks and metrics for managing the transformation. Set reasonable and achievable goals and expectations around the change. Stick to your guns, because things are liable to get messy. But as my mother always said, “if something is worth doing, it’s worth doing right.”
- Innovation requires flawless execution. This is where you will recognize and appreciate the presence of process and methodology. Even if innovation means changing every aspect of what you do and how you do it, profound knowledge about systems and an unwavering commitment to your vision enable fast and efficient re-engineering of the value chain.
Innovation happens at every level of an organization’s development. By understanding where these inflection points are and how the inevitable disruption will impact your business you will minimize the natural downward turn of the profit curve.
For instance, moving from an entrepreneurial, vision-driven environment to one defined by managers and process requires creative thinking around what people you need performing what functions to maximize performance. Initiating the planning process and incrementally implementing the necessary changes before market conditions force your hand allows for a smoother, less erratic transition.
If you need help transforming your business, please do not hesitate to contact me at doug.knuth@mindmeldmarketing.com. Our proven methods for helping you establish sound operating principles and short– and long–term business strategies will help you identify and capitalize on opportunities for innovation.
© copyright 2015, Doug Knuth, MindMeld Marketing, Inc. All rights reserved.