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A quick guide to sustained and relative innovation

There’s no instant formula for innovation success. It requires a comprehensive approach starting with strategy, supported by strong processes, an efficient organisation and resources and an innovative culture and it can take a long time to achieve. But what if you don’t have the time, resource or the mandate to create new innovation strategies? Here, […]

But what if you don’t have the time, resource or the mandate to create new innovation strategies? Here, we provide a brief round up of some widely used tools that have a good track record of success.

Innovation boot camp
An immersive experience in which small teams of managers are tasked with developing and then pitching a new product, service or process idea to a senior management “Dragon’s Den”-style panel. It typically takes place over a period of two to three weeks, with team members taken to an offsite location.

Strengths

Engaging, intensive experience that has the potential to excite and inspire
Should achieve real results with tangible business value
Promotes entrepreneurship

Limitations

Only involves small group of staff
Cost of taking managers offline
Hard to conduct frequently

Key success factors

Have a mix of skills and experience in the team
Make teams cross-functional/cross-divisional
Senior leaders need to support strongly and be prepared to invest
Outside experts can help kickstart content and/or run process

Innovation sandpit
A team-based exercise that brings participants together from across functions and disciplines, including external organisations. Through an intensive four-to-five-day workshop, there is a deepening understanding of the challenge, a clear definition of the problem and generation of a suite of prioritised, peer-reviewed solutions.

Strengths

Engages multi-disciplinary and multi-functional teams
Helps to redefine the problem and challenges
Enables the “building” of ideas as each participant adds to the solution

Limitations

Not every challenge can be solved with this tool. Challenges must be holistic and support input from across disciplines
Not everyone is suited to being involved in a sandpit

Key success factors

Participants must be free-thinking, collaborative in nature and work well in a team
Funding must be readily available for the outcome or participants become demotivated

Innovation coaches
Innovation coaches are tasked with engaging different parts of the organisation in innovation-orientated activities such as idea management, coaching in good innovation practice, implementation of award schemes and exchange of knowledge and insights.

Strengths

Helps to diffuse innovation culture through large organisations
Provides a network of local focal points to enable and drive implementation of innovation-related activities

Limitations

Creating the role itself will only have limited effect unless there is a well-managed innovation programme to be implemented
More suitable for larger organisations

Key success factors

Need enthusiastic coaches with the right experience
Select coaches with excellent networking, communication, creativity and analytical skills
Train coaches well in best-practice innovation management and change management
Keep the network active through frequent initiatives and activities

Innovation jams
Time-limited, web-based, large-scale cross-sector discussions about specific hot topics, likened to a musical jam session in which the participants react to and spark off each other’s contributions. Typically conducted internally within large corporations and can be intensive, lasting only a few days.

Strengths

Actively involves cross-functional, cross-regional staff in innovation activities
Helps to build networks and strengthen knowledge sharing
Generates valuable outputs in terms of new ideas and projects

Limitations

Needs commitment to take ideas forward and to communicate progress
Topics must be relevant, challenging and engaging
More suitable for larger organisations

Key success factors

Ensuring knowledge generated from the discussions is collected and actions taken, visibly
Integrating the Jam approach into the innovative culture of the company – repeating it
Contributors recognised with increased visibility

Expert networks
An inability to capture and integrate isolated pockets of expertise is a common barrier to innovation. Corporations are increasingly applying enterprise social media tools to strengthen networks of internal and external experts.

Strengths

Easy access to expert knowledge for global staff
Drives transfer of information rather than just capture
Exploits the growing usage of social media
Provides fast response and dialogue

Limitations

Is only as good as the usage and quality of discussions
More suitable for larger organisations
Is not a substitute for personal contact and teamworking

Key success factors

Effective moderation to ensure that urgent matters are dealt with, discussions are closed out, experts are engaged and successes are publicised
Integration with other knowledge management and learning activities to attract engagement and avoid dilution
Focus on low effort for access and keep the system simple
Have a clear policy on its use and purpose, including privacy details for the users and the content of messages

Award schemes
Encourage staff innovation efforts through either a recognition-based or results-based award.

Strengths

Helps to publicise the innovation message
Can be tailored to focus on important company priorities
Can be used to promulgate examples of “good innovation behaviour”

Limitations

Needs long-term senior commitment, otherwise can be seen as “window-dressing” by staff
Only limited number of staff participate
May actually increase the perception that innovation is an “extra” outside the day job

Key success factors

Ensure that the scheme is properly, systematically and transparently managed
Public recognition is often more effective than monetary reward
Link to business goals and award substantial innovations only

Target schemes
The practice of setting corporate, team and individual innovation-related targets, and measuring progress using suitable metrics.

Strengths

Provides direct and visible measures of innovation performance
Can be linked to bonus or incentive payments
Demonstrates senior commitment to innovation

Limitations

New systems or processes may need to be developed to capture the metric data
Care needs to be taken that metrics do not cause unwanted side-effects
Staff need to be able to directly influence the achievement of the targets

Key success factors

Use a suitable balance between input/process/output metrics
Ensure the metrics are suitable for your business rather than applying the same metrics from “leading innovators”

While there are certainly no shortcuts to innovation excellence, quick-win tools can play a useful role in building momentum and demonstrating results.

View the full article at www.adl.com/prism-intro.html