June, 2007

Is Innovation Right for You?
By Tim Trotter

My last article “What is your ability to Innovate?” hit a hot button with many of our readers. I can understand why. The words innovation or innovating are used liberally by many large corporations and organizations. They “hang their hat” on the marketing, advertising, and public relations “hook” and the ability to deliver innovative products or services to customers.

Fact is, most companies and organizations, large and small, have innovated at some point. The majority of them may have even done so unintentionally. The example of “Johnny the bagger”, in our last issue of Keynotes, is an excellent example. The grocery store was searching for a new approach to help and Johnny had a simple idea that came from the mind and heart. His idea totally changed the store’s direction and resulted in positive response from their customers.

Innovation has no limitations or boundaries, but it can get lost within the structure of an organization. So is innovation right for you?

The short answer is yes. The key is forming an innovation process that works for you. It is not a text book solution. It depends on the culture and design of the organization and ultimately your strategy to innovate.

Let’s define some of these areas:

Organizational Culture for Innovation – Simply said, your organization must have an environment or climate that can foster the development of innovation. Your company culture must be strong in the areas of empowerment, building effective teams and informal communications. It must have a reward system, the ability to adapt to change and to provide training and development. Employees and management need to share in the company’s values and beliefs.

How do you score ?

Organizational Design for Innovation –Providing the “right” organizational design for innovation varies, but it generally requires evaluating formal organizational communications and required technologies. Do you have an effective accountability structure with defined roles and responsibilities, and vertical employee and management collaboration system?

How do you score ?

Organization Strategy for Innovation – This is where most people think of innovation, because it is where it can become reality. Your company must understand your competition, market / industry condition and trends, and current / future customer’s desires and wants. You need the ability to foster ideas for products, processes or services and then, develop (R&D) and ultimately commercialize them.

How do you score ?