Learn about the 5 important challenges for innovation that every organization faces.

1. All rights reserved. Copyright 2011@ Canopus Business Management Group
www.collaborat.com | +91 4442851080
Challenges for Innovation
If your are responsible to drive innovation in your organization, then I strongly
recommend you to take few minutes to read this article.
Like any other organizational change initiative, Innovation is bound to face some
challenges. The findings of a recent survey to identify challenges for embedding
innovation in organizations are:
 Organization Culture : About one-third of all innovations fail because of
organization’s culture inhibits innovation. Some of the most successful
organizations that have been growing 2 digits year on year have an very
aggressive die-hard culture. Such environments have offer little room for
experimentation and failure. In such cultures, employees are risk averse. They
focus on conventional wisdom and non-controversial methods to accomplish their
targets rather than choosing the path of innovation. There are many other culture
bottlenecks, but the point here to highlight is that Organization Culture is a prime
deterrent for Innovation.
 Not in Strategic Priority: About half of all organizations who fail to deliver on
innovation don’t consider it in their strategic planning process. Today innovation
is a buzzword and no organization wants to take the risk of highlighting
innovation in press meets, collateral, customer meets, etc. But the real question
is how many organizations are have considered Innovation as an integral part of
their business strategy? Organizations that don’t do so, are running the risk of
failing in their innovation drive.
 Employee Resistance : Any new change in the organization goes through a
phase of resistance. Some innovations can really be daunting. It might change
the way business is conducted, make employees redundant, skills obsolete, etc.

2. All rights reserved. Copyright 2011@ Canopus Business Management Group
www.collaborat.com | +91 4442851080
So it is natural to find that employees don’t embody innovation that easily as
other change initiatives.
 Enabling Infrastructure: Nearly half of all organizations that aim to innovate
don’t have processes & tools to manage innovation. Innovation is a process.
Creating required infrastructure is to be created before venturing into it. But
unfortunately most organizations perceive innovation as a ‘idea generation drive’.
 Leadership Non-Alignment : About one-fifth of failures happen due to lack of
alignment & accountability over innovation within leaders. Leadership priorities
change and they change so fast in today’s dynamic business environments. As a
result, leaders may silently discourage innovation and sometimes lock horns.
This leaves the innovation nowhere and it becomes an orphan.
A quick introspection of the 5 aspects would be a valuable exercise before embarking
on a innovation journey.
That’s why I thought this quick note will be useful.
About the Author:
Neil started Canopus Business Management Group in 2009.
He helps a range of large enterprises in services and manufacturing, with particular emphasis on
execution of business & functional strategies, customer experience & process transformation. He
has worked with banking, outsourcing, IT, discrete manufacturing & telecom business processes.
He draws on extensive experience (15 years) in Hoshin Kanri, Blue Ocean Strategy, Lean, Six Sigma,
Outsourcing, Change Management and Touch point Management to deliver composite solutions
that put client’s business in an Advantageous & Profitable position.
Client engagements aim at eliminating the barriers for seamless execution of strategies, carpet bombing customer
touch points, diagnostic interventions on customer churn & retention and implementation of transformational
projects.
He can be reached at neil@collaborat.com or +91 9176616766.