FEATURE ARTICLE
Innovation is a lightning strike. It is a sudden, unpredictable moment of epiphany ─ bold, new, game-changing idea born of a single, fertile mind. Sounds great. Too bad that it’s complete hogwash.
Innovation is, according to the most innovative organizations, most definitely a team effort. Innovation involves hard and sustained work, both in terms of bringing together all the right minds and skill sets, but also in bringing those new ideas to market. And it is so very rarely a single great idea produced by a single great mind.
And perhaps most importantly, innovation is a skill that needs to be developed. It doesn’t just happen; it requires deliberate, focused attention and an organization-wide commitment to assuming risk and embracing change.
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First, the good news. You’ve just been named to a high-profile innovation team that has been asked to find the next great idea that will lead your organization into the future. The team and its mandate have been anointed by the highest levels of the organization and provided with limitless resources.
Now, the bad news. You’ll have to work very hard to make sure your career survives the assignment.
Although innovation is one of the most commonly stated priorities for organizations of all sizes, few seem to make significant progress. Despite pledging support and resources, innovation teams often find they have little support for their new ideas once they have been hatched. Innovators who make too much noise to get the organization to live up to its original pledge can find they are pushed to the periphery. Or pushed out altogether.
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IN CONVERSATION WITH ...
Bob Feldstein, Vice President of Strategic Development at AMD, one of world’s leading innovators in the gaming industry, talks with Knightsbridge about the challenges that organizations face in terms of encouraging and supporting innovation as well as the criticism that innovators may experience.
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ASK KNIGHTSBRIDGE
Innovation is on everyone’s mind these days. How can I provide effective leadership to ensure that my organization becomes truly innovative?
By Larry Ross, Partner, Executive Search, Amrop Knightsbridge
1. Like all issues of organizational culture, innovation leadership must start at the very top. Without executive sponsorship, innovation initiatives will be doomed to fail. Innovation implies profound change, and that will be met with various levels of resistance. It is essential that the highest levels of the organization make it clear that innovation is going to be the new norm.
2. Every great innovation requires a champion. Even with executive sponsorship, innovation still requires a high-profile champion. Someone who has been tasked with improving an organization’s innovation capacity, and who has the influence to drive the necessary changes to make it a reality. This person should also have the necessary skills to manage the internal challenges that inevitably occur with change.
3. Like all worthy endeavors, innovation requires some inspiration along with the perspiration. Innovation is a pursuit best undertaken by a team, and every team will need a leader. This leader will need to be someone who can inspire both within and outside the innovation team. Passion and enthusiasm for innovation in general, and specific initiatives, is critical for success. Innovation is not just about coming up with bold, new ideas. It’s also about convincing an organization to embrace those new ideas. That will require a leader who can inspire broader support.
4. This is not a task for the faint of heart. Innovation champions and team leaders must be tenacious. Organizations that succeed at innovation utilize an internal cadre of thick-skinned, relentless advocates who are not easily discouraged. Innovation will be resisted, even despised, by many people who are quite happy to remain within the status quo. This may include doubters high up in the organization.
5. It helps if your leadership has been through the wars. It is often said that in business, there is no replacement for experience and never has that been more true than with innovation. An experienced hand – someone who has suffered through the relentless criticism of naysayers and managed the colourful characters that are the true innovators – is an essential ingredient in a successful innovation initiative.
RECOMMENDED READING
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Memo to CEOs: Stop Blathering About Innovation and Do Something
By Thomas D. Kuczmarski
Bloomberg Business Week
I have come to realize how much time is wasted teaching managers about the practical skills of innovation. It is the chief executive officer that needs the lesson. Everything else that is central to reaping the fruits of innovation emerges from this simple observation. It is a truth that is masked in rhetoric. It is impossible to find a CEO who does not speak the words of innovation. I often hear: “Innovation is the lifeblood of our business” or “We need to innovate to grow.” The simple truth is that far too many leaders don’t act on those words—and that is where the rubber misses the road . read more ...
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How to Build Innovation Into Organizations (VIDEO)
In this video from the Speaker Series @Rotman, Prof. Kevin Desouza, director of Metropolitan Institute and associate professor at Virginia Tech's Centre for Public Administration and Policy, explains the good and the bad of experimentation and how to build a process within the organization . read more ...
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Why You Won't Get Breakthrough Innovation By Being Nice
By Simon Rucker
Harvard Business Review Blog
If you want to create a really transformational innovation, you'd better be in an organization that's designed to support, not merely tolerate, someone as challenging as Steve Jobs. Otherwise forget it. "No Simon," I know many of you are thinking, "that's not how it works these days: Innovation is all about flat structures, empathy, co-creation..." — you know the stuff. But are you sure? Collegiality may make the process more pleasant and more fun, but that's a recipe for becoming an innovation also-ran. read more ...