Subhadeep Bhattacharyya (http://subhadeepbhattacharyya.wordpress.com/) on the most common misconceptions that fail companies in innovation.

1. Why most organizations fail at
Innovation?
The 5 fatal misconceptions
Subhadeep Bhattacharyya
yysubhadeep@gmail.com
Inspired from Kotler & De Bes
‘Winning at Innovation’

2. Misconception #1 Only radical innovations
are ‘Real innovations’
 Look around. What’re touted as ‘real innovations’ are
things like an Apple i-phone or Google glasses only.
However, this is a misplaced perception of what
innovation really is
 Innovation, at it’s best, is a continuous process. And not
the pursuit of radicalism solely. For e.g. the cars of today
are results of continuous innovations in the automotive
industry over decades. It’s not definitely a singular stroke
of technological brilliance
 The only business value of ‘Innovation’ is in providing
marginal value to customers. And innovating should be
seen in that light solitarily

3. Misconception #2 ‘Old World’ Hiring
practices will still do the trick
 There is no innovation without creativity
 However traditional job descriptions never evaluate
incumbents on anything beyond some technical/
functional skills ( that’ve been laid down by the reporting
manager) & some guidelines on soft skills that are fit to
be called ‘fuzzy’ at the best
 An innovative company starts with hiring non-laterally,
emphasizes on diversity of backgrounds & respects ‘out-
of-the box thinking’ . If an organization is only looking for
years of ‘relevant’ experience in resumes it surely is
preparing for doomsday

4. Misconception #3 The pursuit of
Innovation does not require a process
 The Marketing team has things like 4P, a BCG
matrix, positioning etc. Finance teams similarly
knows the art of balance sheet, calculating profits &
ROI etc. However Innovation continues to be a
discipline with out a process.
An unclear concept with :
- Lack with responsibility assignment
- Lack of control
- Lack of budgets
- Lack of a framework for possible ROI calculations

5. Misconception #4 The Marketing/ Product
team are the only ones who should innovate
 Sure the Marketing/Product team should take the
innovation responsibilities head-on, but why not the other
departments too. The Human resources team through
more interesting hiring & employee development
initiatives, the finance team through more innovative
analysis that has an impact to the bottom-line etc.
 Innovation should travel through out the company.
And there should be a continuous top-down focus to
foster what is known as an ‘Innovation culture’

6. Misconception #5 Innovation does not
require you to keep an eye on the customer
 Any real innovation, to be accepted as a success,
needs to be accepted by the end customer sooner or
later
 This will only happen if as a result of the innovation,
the customer gets some superior benefit
 Hence, innovation has to be a result of watching
customers closer, studying purchase & post
purchase behaviors and finally being able to imagine
the world of tomorrow & how customer needs will
evolve through changing times

7.  Thank You
The changing world of Business & Brands . Each time, in 10 slides or lesser
http://www.slideshare.net/Mokele
in.linkedin.com/in/subhadeepbhattacharyya
Subhadeep Bhattacharyya
yysubhadeep@gmail.com