Slides from our Feb 2017 webcast outlining what's on the agenda of corporate innovators, R&D, and strategy execs this year. For more info, visit innovationleader.com

1. the innovation
agenda for 2017

2. > About us
> Sudden death
> Labs
> Metrics
> Working with startups
> Networks of champions
> Business unit relationships
> Governance
> Culture change
> Your questions

3. > About us
We’ve built the largest community of corporate innovators, strategy execs, and
R&D leaders — and we work hard to help them achieve real impact in their
organizations. We’re an unbiased source of research and case studies. A
convener of the best events on corporate innovation. And we curate the best
guidance and insights from our partners below…
www.innovationleader.com

4. > Sudden death
Patience remains a challenge for large organizations investing in
innovation…
Coca-Cola’s Founders program, to create and fund new ventures in partnership
with entrepreneurs: 2013-2016
Alaska Airlines’
Customer Innovation Team: 2012-2015
MassMutual’s “Society of Grownups,”
financial education space: 2014-2016

5. > Sudden death
Things that can kill innovation initiatives:
• Executive champion leaves the organization; strategy
changes.
• Team tries to do too much at once.
• Market pressures: Falling stock price, organizational cost-
cutting, increased competition, etc.
• Poor staffing choices.
• Lack of alignment between innovation & senior
management, or the business units.
• Lack of funding to scale past proof-of-concept/pilot stage.
Our full list: innovationleader.com/things-that-kill-innovation-initiatives/

6. > Labs
Shifting from showcases and meeting places to collaborative workspaces.

7. > Metrics
Most programs start by tracking “activity metrics” (# of patents, # of ideas, # of
workshops, etc.) To survive, you need to capture “impact metrics” (revenue,
market share, app downloads, store traffic, expanded geographic reach, etc.)

8. > Working with startups
”Kissing babies” makes for good photo ops. Serious companies are getting
focused on what they need and setting up real structures for investment or running
pilot tests.

9. > Networks of champions
Companies like Pfizer, Vodafone, Merck are creating global networks of innovation
champions or catalysts…a new way to identify, train and cultivate high-performers.

10. > Business unit relationships
How are you ensuring that you’re working on something that matters to the
business units? What incentives do they have to support it once you transition it to
them for launch?

11. > Governance
The innovation committee, with representatives from all the functions and business units,
isn’t working. Smaller councils can often be more supportive as ideas scale, but avoid
having one single supporter — even if it’s the CEO.
“Too many cooks in the kitchen,” one
survey respondent told us.
http://bit.ly/gov-survey

12. > Culture change
Changing culture is a squishy thing. It’s hard to measure. But it can be key to
creating an environment that attracts top talent, and makes innovation a standard
operating procedure in the company — an imperative, rather than a “nice-to-have.”

13. > Your questions? (…and what’s next for us)
February: Governance and reporting survey open (bit.ly/gov-survey)
March/April: Conference calls with VF Corp., Starbucks, Staples
April 25-27: Atlanta Field Study
May: Research report on “Changing Culture in Large Organizations”
June: Next issue of our print magazine