Seven Triggers To Breakthrough Companies

SEVEN TRIGGERS TO BREAKTHROUGH COMPANIES
steps to re-create a remarkable business in decline
JUSTIN BECK
© Group Trigger, LLC. All Rights Reserved

introduction
Who
This content is intended for executive management or board members of once remarkable companies that are in a state of decline. These leaders want to re-create the culture of innovation within the company.
What
These seven triggers are a guide to help re-create the culture of innovation that consistently harvests critical breakthroughs.
Why
Even remarkable companies can fall into a state of decline. The decline can come from management’s internal leadership or external factors that make the company less relevant to the market.

the seven triggers
1. create a place for innovation
2. define a process for vetting ideas
3. take viable ideas to market
4. distribute profitable ideas to operational teams
5. channel resources to the breakthrough ideas
6. cultivate non-breakthrough results
7. transform the culture to embrace breakthroughs

1. create a place for innovation

there is a reason for the state of decline
Innovation is in your genes
All companies that find success start with innovation.
At the point of creation, many critical decisions and innovations are generated daily. For this reason, many people are drawn to early stage companies where creativity is peaking and contributions are highly visible.
Then there is a need to define your service or product with boundaries to allow your team to focus. Your organization benefits from this focus and grows into a remarkable company.
Along the way, the boundaries that created focus and channeled energy become the stumbling blocks to innovation.
Your organization suffers in two ways. The talented people become disenfranchised. Your remarkable product or service starts to dim in the eyes of the market.
You somehow find your organization in a state of decline. It can happen to any size organization at any time.

the place for innovation
Innovation is physical and cultural
Take a look around your organization and see if there is a physical environment to foster innovation. Chances are, the utilitarian needs of your organization overrun the fundamental enablers of innovation.
Is there an endless sea of high cubicles and is management’s office door closed? The space to engender spontaneous interaction among all employees is an important physical requirement to foster innovation.
What is management’s perception of the innovative culture of its organization? More importantly, is it in line with the employees’ perception?
Your people and their innovation is your greatest asset. Re-creating the physical and cultural place for innovation is the critical first step.

2. define a process for vetting ideas

innovation rules
What are the unwritten rules?
All companies have rules regarding contribution and innovation, regardless if they are written or not. For example, just after joining a midsize company, the CEO asked during a company meeting if we should push during the month of December to meet our install targets or decrease the targets so employees could be with their families during the holidays?
A support department employee answered that he wanted to have some family time during the holiday. I sensed it was what many wanted to say, but did not.
The CEO immediately reprimanded the employee in front of everyone for not pushing to meet the targets. Sixty days later the install targets were met, but that same employee was gone and it was the worst period for customer support ever. The unwritten rule here was employee contributions were not respected. In time, I observed employees exchanging good ideas, but they did not risk taking them to the top.
In another example, I worked for a large corporation just after graduate school. The corporate management team was on a cross-company road trip to talk about the company’s goals. During the Q&A session, I asked how I could share my ideas. The company president said I could put my ideas in front of him at any time.
While it was a well meaning response, can the president really take the time to filter the ideas of 60,000 employees? The unwritten rule here was no formal process for innovation.

making the process real
Making rules to break the rules
Google made corporate sponsored innovation famous with its 20% rule for their engineering staff. The rule states engineers should spend 20% of their time (one day per week) working on projects that personally interest them.
The 20% projects led to such innovative products as Gmail, Google News, Orkut and AdSense. In 2006, a Google analysis reported that 50% of the new product launches originated from its 20% rule.
While you may initially think that only companies like Google can afford to have a rule like that, do not dismiss the potential a similar type of rule may have on your organization.
The important concept is that there was a rule and a subsequent process created that made innovation a clear strategy. Find a rule that will work for your organization and then go out of your way to support it.
Your best way to provide support is to create a process for vetting ideas. This is where some rules will benefit to help keep the process safe and neutral for the contributors.

3. take viable ideas to market

it is easy and inexpensive to test ideas
Let the market decide
Once the ideas start taking shape you can implement the next trigger to test the ideas. Your vetting process is your internal evaluation. Ideas that pass the internal process should then be taken to market for their ultimate test.
Remember that not all breakthrough ideas will be new products or services. It could be a better way to generate leads. It could be a way to reduce supplier dependency or a long list of other innovations that will make your company more remarkable.
There is a successful process to test the innovations that are commercially viable. It is to create a pitch and present it to 30 members of your target market. It may be current customers or new prospects you want to target. The number 30 helps you get statistically significant results.
It is also important to give the same pitch to all 30 people so you have a clear picture of your results. I remember pitching prospects at my start-up company and adapting the message each time based on what I learned from the last person. We pitched 30 people, but in the end had no clear takeaways on what was good or bad about our proposal.
With the same pitch, you will start to consistently hear what aspects are good or bad. If there is enough good, re-create your pitch and then present it to 30 more members. It will be clear when your results indicate you have a winning idea.

4. distribute profitable ideas to operational teams

you know who to put in when you need a homerun
Expect great from the great
Anyone who has been on a baseball team knows some hitters are better than others. And everyone on the team knows who they are. When you are at a critical point in the game, the whole team will rally around to support those hitters in getting the job done to get the win.
The same is true for your organization. If you have successfully implemented the first three triggers, your organization will begin to have confidence that this process is for real. And they will want a win.
The principle here is to give every opportunity the best chance it has to succeed. Sure everyone on the team can hit, but we need the best hitters on the team swinging for the homeruns when we need them most.
I have seen good ideas fail because they are given to the people who are below average performers. If they cannot succeed in something tried and proven, they generally will not succeed in something new.
The argument against this is that you cannot afford to take your best hitters off your core business. If you are in decline, you cannot afford not to.

5. channel resources to the breakthrough ideas

clear the path
No new wine in old bottles
This is what you worked for, an innovation breakthrough. Putting a breakthrough innovation into a process that has been bureaucratized over time may be a sure way to stifle its potential. If you are already in a state of decline, there are multiple reasons for it.
Remember, during the creation process innovations are a daily occurrence. Use the breakthrough as an excuse and an opportunity to rethink many parts of your business. Clear the path to let your breakthrough succeed.
The breakthrough and the entire process of getting there will trigger life and creativity into your organization. Your people will be the greatest resource to help your innovation succeed.
Be clear with your team that your processes may need to change for your innovation to succeed.
Your team will rally with you when processes are the problem. Your team will resent you if people are the problem. So properly prescribe where you want their renewed creative energy applied.

start cheering
Get the most out of your win
It is critical to properly celebrate the win to perpetuate the innovation triggers. As a leader, generously give credit to everyone who contributes to the success.
Changing the culture in your organization is no small task. There may not always be an abundance of great opportunities to seal up these cultural changes in the eyes of your people. These breakthrough moments are those times.
You are polishing your people; gems that may have become tarnished or grown dingy over time. They are still gems waiting to shine again. Be gracious. Breathe life back into them and reap the full benefits of an entire organization that is fully engaged and innovative.
As the organization reaps the rewards of a breakthrough, be sure to not just reward your people with praise. Try to find a way for them to financially benefit as well. It does not have to be big, but doing something will go a long way to leverage your win.

6. cultivate non-breakthrough results

how do you treat perceived failure?
The only true failure is no innovation
Treating your failures properly is more critical than anything you will ever do with your successes.
This is the time naysayers appear from the background. It is important to be critical with the results, but never allow anyone to undermine the innovation process.
Innovative people will be innovative as long as it is safe. If there are major consequences from a perceived failure, make sure the culture to innovate can remain healthy.
Chances are you are close. Take what is good and try to recycle it. If it is a dead end, take what was learned and celebrate the lesson. Then get back in the ring.
Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.
- Thomas Edison

build balance into the framework
Innovation needs execution
As you continue to cultivate your non-breakthrough ideas find a balance in innovation and execution. Remarkable companies are not just filled with good ideas. They have discipline and execution.
The framework you create to cultivate breakthroughs is important. The measurement will not be the quantity of innovations or breakthroughs, but how well they perform. The framework needs to nurture, integrate and execute.
As you execute on your breakthrough make sure you do not eclipse your innovation process. The key is to not let innovation or execution eclipse each other. A culture that has success with both is remarkable.

7. transform the culture to embrace breakthroughs

not everyone likes innovation
Expect change
Not everyone likes innovation. Some people resist change. It may not be just your employees. They may be your customers and partners as well.
You will likely lose some employees, customers and partners along the way. If these types filter out in the process, it is better in the long run. There are plenty of non-innovative companies out there to give them shelter.
You are likely to gain much more than was ever lost in your organizational transformation. Your best people will have more satisfaction in what they do. They will create an energy that will attract new people, new
customers and new partners. These new additions will be more abundant contributors to helping your team succeed.

time seals your transformation
There are no shortcuts
Three words describe the commitment needed to re-create a remarkable business in decline:
Diligence– constant and earnest in effort and application. Work hard at the process. Work hard at the breakthroughs.
Perseverance – Steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose, a state, etc. You can overcome the difficulties, obstacles or discouragement that will surely come.
Continuance – To go on or keep on without interruption. Stand firm in the place that allows innovation to work. It will give back.
The seven triggers are the guideposts, but time is the element that seals the transformation and makes it complete. There is no formula for how long it will take to get from each trigger to the next.
Your business is worth re-creating. Your people are worth the investment of time and energy it will take to restore remarkable to your business.

about the author
Justin Beck, CEOCEO
Justin is a true entrepreneur with a rich background. Through all of his experiences he gained a love for business strategy. He founded Group Trigger to help re-create remarkable companies in decline get back to innovation.
Justin founded two companies prior to Group Trigger. He was CEO at Home Market Inc., his first venture. Home Market was a Web 2.0 portal for community contributed and mashed-up localized content. He then co-founded and served as CEO at Sweet Spot Solutions, Inc., which was a software application pioneer for flash memory platforms. Justin was an inventor on two US and international patents.
Sweet Spot was successfully acquired in 2007 by DirectPointe, Inc. Justin then worked for DirectPointe as the Vice President of Marketing and Products. Justin helped DirectPointe earn the ranking of the #1 Managed Service Provider in the world in 2008.
Prior to his entrepreneurial career, Justin worked at Sprint and gained Fortune 100 experience. He also worked at Eclipse Marketing where he helped Eclipse grow rapidly and earn a spot on the Inc. 500 list of fastest growing companies in both 1997 and 1998.
When Justin isn't working he loves spending time with his family creating a little "remarkable" at home.
Find Justin at www.grouptrigger.com.