The document discusses eight essential attributes that are present in companies that are high performers in innovation. It summarizes each of the eight essentials: Aspire, Choose, Discover, Evolve, Accelerate, Scale, Extend, and Mobilize. Aspire involves setting an innovation vision and targets. Choose focuses on prioritizing innovation opportunities and managing risk through a portfolio approach. Discover is about generating insights through customer learning and external networks.
Innovation would seem by default to require research and development. But R&D is increasingly under fire for being unpredictable at "delivering" business gains. Does making R&D predictable become a prerequisite for innovation's "creativity"?
The turmoil engulfing the global economy has forced many industries into reinvention in hope of discovering new growth. Every company faces the daily challenge of business growth; where to find it and how to generate profits from it. Every business leaders’ primary task should be aligning internal resources to capitalise on new growth opportunities quicker and better than competitors.
Innovation would seem by default to require research and development. But R&D is increasingly under fire for being unpredictable at "delivering" business gains. Does making R&D predictable become a prerequisite for innovation's "creativity"?
The turmoil engulfing the global economy has forced many industries into reinvention in hope of discovering new growth. Every company faces the daily challenge of business growth; where to find it and how to generate profits from it. Every business leaders’ primary task should be aligning internal resources to capitalise on new growth opportunities quicker and better than competitors.
Research has shown that consumers increasingly want organisations to demonstrate a purpose beyond profit. And so after decades during which the dominant dogma focused on maximising shareholder value and short-termism, many CEO’s are now trying to achieve more. This article explores the business case for purpose and discusses a methodology for CEO’s to activate purpose within their organisation and profit in the process.
Corporate Startup Collaboration (CSC) is fast becoming a centrepiece of modern day innovation.
A collaboration between startups and corporates, when successful, can be a win-win, combination for both. However, because corporates and startups & scale-ups operate in two drastically different worlds, the road to successful collaboration, often poses unique challenges.
This year, we have developed and tested several new propositions aimed at tackling the challenges of CSC. To further unearth the pain-points surrounding the topic, we’re hosting a series of monthly Roundtable sessions on both internal and open innovation topics, as well as specific industries.
A white paper produced by Kenya Markets Trust (KMT) and Engineers Without Borders (EWB) to promote the application of lean management principles to the field of inclusive market development
The New Metrics of Sustainable Business Conference | BrochureSustainable Brands
Explore the future of sustainable business metrics. The two-day, Sustainable Brands Issues in Focus event examines leading-edge work that expands the way business can create, quantify, manage and communicate value, and enhance financial performance with shared value. Top sustainability strategists from a variety of sectors will explore models for quantifying the environmental and social impacts of business activity. And industry leaders will collaborate on issues such as valuing ecosystem services, adding environmental impact and human capital to the balance sheet, and putting goals in context. September 24-25, 2013, Philadelphia, PA.
Learn more: www.SBIIF.com
The Ultimate Guide to Quality Software Through OffshoringcoMakeIT
Over 80% of the world largest software vendors are already offshoring their software development. It has been an immensely effective go-to solution for ISVs at various stages of growth. Several factors come into play when deciding on offshoring software development. This book will answer all your offshoring related questions such as:
How does Software Offshoring fit in your strategy?
What is the impact on quality?
What would the ROI be?
How is offshoring implemented?
How do you resolve issues related to people, processes and projects?
These and several other concerns are addressed through a series of six best practices to make software offshoring an easy and achievable endeavor for every ISV in the world.
SoDA partnered with Unanet to explore business performance
measurement within agencies, production companies and design studios. We assessed the relative breadth, sophistication and transparency of measurement practices and compared several important benchmarks for 2019 business performance.
Strategy has little value until it is implemented. In a world where disruption can happen overnight, moving rapidly from strategy design to delivery is critical. Yet too many companies go only halfway, putting their best resources into design and in effect ending up treating delivery as an afterthought. As a result, strategies fail, customers leave, key talent is lost and financial performance suffers.
Stanford-SDG Webinar Six critical principles of strategic portfolio managementSmartOrg
Stanford center for professional development and Strategic Decisions Group (SDG) presented this webinar on the six principles of strategic portfolio management. The webinar was led by David Matheson of SmartOrg was a part of the Stanford strategic decision & risk management certificate program.
The three basic dimensions of great portfolio results - How, what and who?
How do you choose your projects, especially when you have too many projects but not enough resources? How do you choose between two good projects? Which approaches produces the best results in your portfolio management?
In this webinar, David Matheson provides key insights and discusses the six critical principles of strategic portfolio management.
We created an assessment to measure a company's innovation readiness. ttp://www.fast-bridge.net/innovready/
This presentation shows some of the results included in a standard report
Frank Sullivan at CloudWATCH Summit 2017
The CW2 Market & Technology Readiness Level (“MTRL”) framework provides start-ups and R&I projects with a holistic view of how to mature your innovative ideas in a simple way - with a single score. It offers you a faster way to assess, measure and support technology projects. We’ll bring together EC funded projects and TQ start-ups to pitch their ideas, and advice on developing a business case starting with the end user problem being addressed, advice on packaging the ‘big idea’ and enabling the cross pollination of ideas for business models between projects as a source of valuable feedback.
Closing the gap between innovation intent and reality (corporate governance)Guy Pearce
As published in Directorship.
Bright and glamourous on the outside, innovation is pretty messy on the inside. In spite of high profile news that makes it seem like most organizations are successful and even disruptive innovators, the reality is that only a fraction of innovation efforts ever reach the market. This article shows how innovation governance increases the rate of successful innovation.
Research has shown that consumers increasingly want organisations to demonstrate a purpose beyond profit. And so after decades during which the dominant dogma focused on maximising shareholder value and short-termism, many CEO’s are now trying to achieve more. This article explores the business case for purpose and discusses a methodology for CEO’s to activate purpose within their organisation and profit in the process.
Corporate Startup Collaboration (CSC) is fast becoming a centrepiece of modern day innovation.
A collaboration between startups and corporates, when successful, can be a win-win, combination for both. However, because corporates and startups & scale-ups operate in two drastically different worlds, the road to successful collaboration, often poses unique challenges.
This year, we have developed and tested several new propositions aimed at tackling the challenges of CSC. To further unearth the pain-points surrounding the topic, we’re hosting a series of monthly Roundtable sessions on both internal and open innovation topics, as well as specific industries.
A white paper produced by Kenya Markets Trust (KMT) and Engineers Without Borders (EWB) to promote the application of lean management principles to the field of inclusive market development
The New Metrics of Sustainable Business Conference | BrochureSustainable Brands
Explore the future of sustainable business metrics. The two-day, Sustainable Brands Issues in Focus event examines leading-edge work that expands the way business can create, quantify, manage and communicate value, and enhance financial performance with shared value. Top sustainability strategists from a variety of sectors will explore models for quantifying the environmental and social impacts of business activity. And industry leaders will collaborate on issues such as valuing ecosystem services, adding environmental impact and human capital to the balance sheet, and putting goals in context. September 24-25, 2013, Philadelphia, PA.
Learn more: www.SBIIF.com
The Ultimate Guide to Quality Software Through OffshoringcoMakeIT
Over 80% of the world largest software vendors are already offshoring their software development. It has been an immensely effective go-to solution for ISVs at various stages of growth. Several factors come into play when deciding on offshoring software development. This book will answer all your offshoring related questions such as:
How does Software Offshoring fit in your strategy?
What is the impact on quality?
What would the ROI be?
How is offshoring implemented?
How do you resolve issues related to people, processes and projects?
These and several other concerns are addressed through a series of six best practices to make software offshoring an easy and achievable endeavor for every ISV in the world.
SoDA partnered with Unanet to explore business performance
measurement within agencies, production companies and design studios. We assessed the relative breadth, sophistication and transparency of measurement practices and compared several important benchmarks for 2019 business performance.
Strategy has little value until it is implemented. In a world where disruption can happen overnight, moving rapidly from strategy design to delivery is critical. Yet too many companies go only halfway, putting their best resources into design and in effect ending up treating delivery as an afterthought. As a result, strategies fail, customers leave, key talent is lost and financial performance suffers.
Stanford-SDG Webinar Six critical principles of strategic portfolio managementSmartOrg
Stanford center for professional development and Strategic Decisions Group (SDG) presented this webinar on the six principles of strategic portfolio management. The webinar was led by David Matheson of SmartOrg was a part of the Stanford strategic decision & risk management certificate program.
The three basic dimensions of great portfolio results - How, what and who?
How do you choose your projects, especially when you have too many projects but not enough resources? How do you choose between two good projects? Which approaches produces the best results in your portfolio management?
In this webinar, David Matheson provides key insights and discusses the six critical principles of strategic portfolio management.
We created an assessment to measure a company's innovation readiness. ttp://www.fast-bridge.net/innovready/
This presentation shows some of the results included in a standard report
Frank Sullivan at CloudWATCH Summit 2017
The CW2 Market & Technology Readiness Level (“MTRL”) framework provides start-ups and R&I projects with a holistic view of how to mature your innovative ideas in a simple way - with a single score. It offers you a faster way to assess, measure and support technology projects. We’ll bring together EC funded projects and TQ start-ups to pitch their ideas, and advice on developing a business case starting with the end user problem being addressed, advice on packaging the ‘big idea’ and enabling the cross pollination of ideas for business models between projects as a source of valuable feedback.
Closing the gap between innovation intent and reality (corporate governance)Guy Pearce
As published in Directorship.
Bright and glamourous on the outside, innovation is pretty messy on the inside. In spite of high profile news that makes it seem like most organizations are successful and even disruptive innovators, the reality is that only a fraction of innovation efforts ever reach the market. This article shows how innovation governance increases the rate of successful innovation.
We are proud to announce our 34th Innovation Excellence Weekly for Slideshare. Inside you'll find ten of the best innovation-related articles from the past week on Innovation Excellence - the world's most popular innovation web site and home to 5,500+ innovation-related articles.
People and Innovation: Getting Ideas on the tableScott Smith
These days, everyone can attest to the importance of being innovative. In a knowledge economy where small insights can quickly shift the competitive landscape and capabilities can rapidly be bought, borrowed or built, we believe that those leaders who oversee a dynamic, fastmoving, innovation portfolio will have the best chance of breaking away from the pack and generating growth. But many organizations are finding it difficult to engage their people – from their employees to their customers to their suppliers – in the innovation process. If this is the case, then where do they start?
Published by the IBM Institute for Business Value, 2006
How to hire a CINO that can build lasting innovation capabilities.
The way businesses need to organize and behave has fundamentally shifted. Across industries, companies, and organizational functions, we have heard many of the world’s most innovative companies echo the same challenge: businesses must urgently embrace a more nimble and entrepreneurial approach in order to stay competitive. We call this challenge of how big companies can leverage scale while staying innovative “big entrepreneurship.” The Rising Billion is one of five pieces in our report, Big Entrepreneurship, aimed at deconstructing some of the complex challenges around big entrepreneurship and provide actionable insights for business leaders.
This report was created by Fahrenheit 212, a global innovation strategy and design firm. We define innovation strategies and develop new products, services, and experiences that create sustainable, profitable growth for our clients. We challenge the belief that innovation is inherently unreliable and have spent the last decade designing the method, building the model, and assembling the minds to make innovation a predictable driver of growth for our clients' businesses.
How any organisation can drive culture and design systems to pursue practical...Toby Farren
This whitepaper will provide an insight into the different elements of modern innovation fostering,
including the various factors determining the capability of organisations to innovate internally;
the differences between frontend and backend innovation; and a focus on the relatively new
‘open’ innovation methods (including the advantages of utilizing sandboxes in the frontend
innovation process as well as collaborating with external bodies).
In this playbook, we outline the innovation challenge that leaders must overcome, and share our approach to embedding innovation into organisations. This includes an explanation of our Innovation Management Framework and a step-by-step guide to running a sprint that will quickly create a minimum viable innovation operating model. We based both these tools on our experience as heads of innovation and industry leaders, and honed them through our work with organisations around the world, from global financial institutions to market-leading drinks companies. Once on this transformative journey, leaders will instil an experimental culture across their organisations, something that’s necessary for achieving sustainable results. They’ll be able to respond to disruption in their industry, drive measurable returns from their innovation investments and become more efficient at responding to the needs of society and the environment.
Where is your corporate focus; cost cutting or value proposition? Sustainable future growth must come not only from a cost-obsession, but a value-obsession. Check out this white paper from Northpoint Advisors.
Optimally, a Project Management System is based on a stage and gate approach where the gatekeepers provide portfolio governance. Learn the details of Portfolio Management as well as the four keys to successful implementation by downloading our whitepaper: Portfolio Management.
how to sell pi coins effectively (from 50 - 100k pi)DOT TECH
Anywhere in the world, including Africa, America, and Europe, you can sell Pi Network Coins online and receive cash through online payment options.
Pi has not yet been launched on any exchange because we are currently using the confined Mainnet. The planned launch date for Pi is June 28, 2026.
Reselling to investors who want to hold until the mainnet launch in 2026 is currently the sole way to sell.
Consequently, right now. All you need to do is select the right pi network provider.
Who is a pi merchant?
An individual who buys coins from miners on the pi network and resells them to investors hoping to hang onto them until the mainnet is launched is known as a pi merchant.
debuts.
I'll provide you the Telegram username
@Pi_vendor_247
how can i use my minded pi coins I need some funds.DOT TECH
If you are interested in selling your pi coins, i have a verified pi merchant, who buys pi coins and resell them to exchanges looking forward to hold till mainnet launch.
Because the core team has announced that pi network will not be doing any pre-sale. The only way exchanges like huobi, bitmart and hotbit can get pi is by buying from miners.
Now a merchant stands in between these exchanges and the miners. As a link to make transactions smooth. Because right now in the enclosed mainnet you can't sell pi coins your self. You need the help of a merchant,
i will leave the telegram contact of my personal pi merchant below. 👇 I and my friends has traded more than 3000pi coins with him successfully.
@Pi_vendor_247
What price will pi network be listed on exchangesDOT TECH
The rate at which pi will be listed is practically unknown. But due to speculations surrounding it the predicted rate is tends to be from 30$ — 50$.
So if you are interested in selling your pi network coins at a high rate tho. Or you can't wait till the mainnet launch in 2026. You can easily trade your pi coins with a merchant.
A merchant is someone who buys pi coins from miners and resell them to Investors looking forward to hold massive quantities till mainnet launch.
I will leave the telegram contact of my personal pi vendor to trade with.
@Pi_vendor_247
Currently pi network is not tradable on binance or any other exchange because we are still in the enclosed mainnet.
Right now the only way to sell pi coins is by trading with a verified merchant.
What is a pi merchant?
A pi merchant is someone verified by pi network team and allowed to barter pi coins for goods and services.
Since pi network is not doing any pre-sale The only way exchanges like binance/huobi or crypto whales can get pi is by buying from miners. And a merchant stands in between the exchanges and the miners.
I will leave the telegram contact of my personal pi merchant. I and my friends has traded more than 6000pi coins successfully
Tele-gram
@Pi_vendor_247
what is the future of Pi Network currency.DOT TECH
The future of the Pi cryptocurrency is uncertain, and its success will depend on several factors. Pi is a relatively new cryptocurrency that aims to be user-friendly and accessible to a wide audience. Here are a few key considerations for its future:
Message: @Pi_vendor_247 on telegram if u want to sell PI COINS.
1. Mainnet Launch: As of my last knowledge update in January 2022, Pi was still in the testnet phase. Its success will depend on a successful transition to a mainnet, where actual transactions can take place.
2. User Adoption: Pi's success will be closely tied to user adoption. The more users who join the network and actively participate, the stronger the ecosystem can become.
3. Utility and Use Cases: For a cryptocurrency to thrive, it must offer utility and practical use cases. The Pi team has talked about various applications, including peer-to-peer transactions, smart contracts, and more. The development and implementation of these features will be essential.
4. Regulatory Environment: The regulatory environment for cryptocurrencies is evolving globally. How Pi navigates and complies with regulations in various jurisdictions will significantly impact its future.
5. Technology Development: The Pi network must continue to develop and improve its technology, security, and scalability to compete with established cryptocurrencies.
6. Community Engagement: The Pi community plays a critical role in its future. Engaged users can help build trust and grow the network.
7. Monetization and Sustainability: The Pi team's monetization strategy, such as fees, partnerships, or other revenue sources, will affect its long-term sustainability.
It's essential to approach Pi or any new cryptocurrency with caution and conduct due diligence. Cryptocurrency investments involve risks, and potential rewards can be uncertain. The success and future of Pi will depend on the collective efforts of its team, community, and the broader cryptocurrency market dynamics. It's advisable to stay updated on Pi's development and follow any updates from the official Pi Network website or announcements from the team.
how to sell pi coins in all Africa Countries.DOT TECH
Yes. You can sell your pi network for other cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, usdt , Ethereum and other currencies And this is done easily with the help from a pi merchant.
What is a pi merchant ?
Since pi is not launched yet in any exchange. The only way you can sell right now is through merchants.
A verified Pi merchant is someone who buys pi network coins from miners and resell them to investors looking forward to hold massive quantities of pi coins before mainnet launch in 2026.
I will leave the telegram contact of my personal pi merchant to trade with.
@Pi_vendor_247
how to sell pi coins on Bitmart crypto exchangeDOT TECH
Yes. Pi network coins can be exchanged but not on bitmart exchange. Because pi network is still in the enclosed mainnet. The only way pioneers are able to trade pi coins is by reselling the pi coins to pi verified merchants.
A verified merchant is someone who buys pi network coins and resell it to exchanges looking forward to hold till mainnet launch.
I will leave the telegram contact of my personal pi merchant to trade with.
@Pi_vendor_247
Exploring Abhay Bhutada’s Views After Poonawalla Fincorp’s Collaboration With...beulahfernandes8
The financial landscape in India has witnessed a significant development with the recent collaboration between Poonawalla Fincorp and IndusInd Bank.
The launch of the co-branded credit card, the IndusInd Bank Poonawalla Fincorp eLITE RuPay Platinum Credit Card, marks a major milestone for both entities.
This strategic move aims to redefine and elevate the banking experience for customers.
when will pi network coin be available on crypto exchange.DOT TECH
There is no set date for when Pi coins will enter the market.
However, the developers are working hard to get them released as soon as possible.
Once they are available, users will be able to exchange other cryptocurrencies for Pi coins on designated exchanges.
But for now the only way to sell your pi coins is through verified pi vendor.
Here is the telegram contact of my personal pi vendor
@Pi_vendor_247
Even tho Pi network is not listed on any exchange yet.
Buying/Selling or investing in pi network coins is highly possible through the help of vendors. You can buy from vendors[ buy directly from the pi network miners and resell it]. I will leave the telegram contact of my personal vendor.
@Pi_vendor_247
how can I sell pi coins after successfully completing KYCDOT TECH
Pi coins is not launched yet in any exchange 💱 this means it's not swappable, the current pi displaying on coin market cap is the iou version of pi. And you can learn all about that on my previous post.
RIGHT NOW THE ONLY WAY you can sell pi coins is through verified pi merchants. A pi merchant is someone who buys pi coins and resell them to exchanges and crypto whales. Looking forward to hold massive quantities of pi coins before the mainnet launch.
This is because pi network is not doing any pre-sale or ico offerings, the only way to get my coins is from buying from miners. So a merchant facilitates the transactions between the miners and these exchanges holding pi.
I and my friends has sold more than 6000 pi coins successfully with this method. I will be happy to share the contact of my personal pi merchant. The one i trade with, if you have your own merchant you can trade with them. For those who are new.
Message: @Pi_vendor_247 on telegram.
I wouldn't advise you selling all percentage of the pi coins. Leave at least a before so its a win win during open mainnet. Have a nice day pioneers ♥️
#kyc #mainnet #picoins #pi #sellpi #piwallet
#pinetwork
What website can I sell pi coins securely.DOT TECH
Currently there are no website or exchange that allow buying or selling of pi coins..
But you can still easily sell pi coins, by reselling it to exchanges/crypto whales interested in holding thousands of pi coins before the mainnet launch.
Who is a pi merchant?
A pi merchant is someone who buys pi coins from miners and resell to these crypto whales and holders of pi..
This is because pi network is not doing any pre-sale. The only way exchanges can get pi is by buying from miners and pi merchants stands in between the miners and the exchanges.
How can I sell my pi coins?
Selling pi coins is really easy, but first you need to migrate to mainnet wallet before you can do that. I will leave the telegram contact of my personal pi merchant to trade with.
Tele-gram.
@Pi_vendor_247
How to get verified on Coinbase Account?_.docxBuy bitget
t's important to note that buying verified Coinbase accounts is not recommended and may violate Coinbase's terms of service. Instead of searching to "buy verified Coinbase accounts," follow the proper steps to verify your own account to ensure compliance and security.
The secret way to sell pi coins effortlessly.DOT TECH
Well as we all know pi isn't launched yet. But you can still sell your pi coins effortlessly because some whales in China are interested in holding massive pi coins. And they are willing to pay good money for it. If you are interested in selling I will leave a contact for you. Just telegram this number below. I sold about 3000 pi coins to him and he paid me immediately.
Telegram: @Pi_vendor_247
1. It’s no secret: innovation is difficult for well-established
companies. By and large, they are better executors than innovators,
and most succeed less through game-changing creativity than by
optimizing their existing businesses.
Yet hard as it is for such organizations to innovate, large ones as
diverse as Alcoa, the Discovery Group, and NASA’s Ames Research
Center are actually doing so. What can other companies learn from
their approaches and attributes? That question formed the core
of a multiyear study comprising in-depth interviews, workshops,
and surveys of more than 2,500 executives in over 300 companies,
including both performance leaders and laggards, in a broad set of
industries and countries (Exhibit 1). What we found were a set of
eight essential attributes that are present, either in part or in full, at
every big company that’s a high performer in product, process, or
business-model innovation.
Since innovation is a complex, company-wide endeavor, it requires
a set of crosscutting practices and processes to structure, organize,
and encourage it. Taken together, the essentials described in this
article constitute just such an operating system, as seen in Exhibit 2.
These often overlapping, iterative, and nonsequential practices
resist systematic categorization but can nonetheless be thought
of in two groups. The first four, which are strategic and creative
Marc de Jong, Nathan Marston, and Erik Roth
The eight essentials
of innovation
Strategic and organizational factors are what
separate successful big-company innovators
from the rest of the field.
A P R I L 2 0 1 5
2. 2
in nature, help set and prioritize the terms and conditions under
which innovation is more likely to thrive. The next four essentials
deal with how to deliver and organize for innovation repeatedly over
time and with enough value to contribute meaningfully to overall
performance.
To be sure, there’s no proven formula for success, particularly
when it comes to innovation. While our years of client-service
experience provide strong indicators for the existence of a causal
relationship between the attributes that survey respondents reported
and the innovations of the companies we studied, the statistics
described here can only prove correlation. Yet we firmly believe
What innovation leaders say they do right
Web 2015
Eight essentials
Exhibit 1 of 2
% of respondents by performance quartile1
1
N = 623. Performance defined as a weighted index of measures for organic growth (% of growth from
new products or services developed in-house) and innovation performance (% of sales from new
products and self-assessment of innovation performance). Respondents who answered “yes to some
degree,” “no,” or “don’t know/not applicable” are not shown.
Source: McKinsey survey of 2,500 global executives, Nov 2012
Aspire
55
31
44
27
35
39
29
15
7 7
5
12
23
42
15
9
2
8
6
2
10 9
2
16
12
2
16
14
6
38
20
10
Choose Discover Evolve Accelerate Scale Extend Mobilize
Top quartile 2nd 3rd 4th
The survey tested for 27 innovation practices
spread across eight essentials
Exhibit 1
3. 3
that if companies assimilate and apply these essentials—in their
own way, in accordance with their particular context, capabilities,
organizational culture, and appetite for risk—they will improve the
likelihood that they, too, can rekindle the lost spark of innovation.
In the digital age, the pace of change has gone into hyperspeed,
so companies must get these strategic, creative, executional, and
organizational factors right to innovate successfully.
Exhibit 2
Aspire
Accelerate
Scale
Discover
Extend
Mobilize
Choose
Evolve
Source: McKinsey analysis
Underlying elements
• Innovation vision and model
• Required growth contribution from innovation
• Cascaded targets and accountabilities
• Clarity of innovation themes
• Portfolio balancing time and risk
• Resources sufficient for initiatives to win
• Portfolio governance
• Planning and execution rigor
• Cross-functional project culture
• Customer- and market-based learning
• Strategic external networks
• Collaboration skills
• Partner of choice
• Go-to-market planning
• Launch management
• Operations ramp-up
• Customer orientation
• Multiple-lens insight generation
• Differentiated value proposition
• Exploration of new business models
• Changing value-chain economics
• Diversifying profit streams
• Delivery-model changes and new
customer groups
• People priorities
• Enabling structure
• Supportive culture
• Learning and adaptive organization
Do you really innovate?
Do you regard innovation-led growth
as critical, and do you have cascaded
targets that reflect this?
Do you invest in a coherent, time-
and risk-balanced portfolio of initiatives
with sufficient resources to win?
Do you beat the competition by
developing and launching innovations
quickly and effectively?
Do you launch innovations at the
right scale in the relevant markets
and segments?
Do you have differentiated business,
market, and technology insights
that translate into winning value
propositions?
Do you create new business models
that provide defensible and scalable
profit sources?
Are your people motivated, rewarded,
and organized to innovate repeatedly?
Do you win by creating and capitalizing
on external networks?
Testing for innovation
4. 4
Aspire
President John F. Kennedy’s bold aspiration, in 1962, to “go to the
moon in this decade” motivated a nation to unprecedented levels
of innovation. A far-reaching vision can be a compelling catalyst,
provided it’s realistic enough to stimulate action today.
But in a corporate setting, as many CEOs have discovered, even the
most inspiring words often are insufficient, no matter how many
times they are repeated. It helps to combine high-level aspirations
with estimates of the value that innovation should generate to meet
financial-growth objectives. Quantifying an “innovation target for
growth,” and making it an explicit part of future strategic plans,
helps solidify the importance of and accountability for innovation.
The target itself must be large enough to force managers to include
innovation investments in their business plans. If they can make
their numbers using other, less risky tactics, our experience suggests
that they (quite rationally) will.
Establishing a quantitative innovation aspiration is not enough,
however. The target value needs to be apportioned to relevant
business “owners” and cascaded down to their organizations in
the form of performance targets and timelines. Anything less risks
encouraging inaction or the belief that innovation is someone
else’s job.
For example, Lantmännen, a big Nordic agricultural cooperative,
was challenged by flat organic growth and directionless innovation.
Top executives created an aspirational vision and strategic plan
linked to financial targets: 6 percent growth in the core business and
2 percent growth in new organic ventures. To encourage innovation
projects, these quantitative targets were cascaded down to business
units and, ultimately, to product groups. During the development
of each innovation project, it had to show how it was helping to
achieve the growth targets for its category and markets. As a result,
Lantmännen went from 4 percent to 13 percent annual growth,
underpinned by the successful launch of several new brands. Indeed,
it became the market leader in premade food only four years after
entry and created a new premium segment in this market.
5. 5
Such performance parameters can seem painful to managers
more accustomed to the traditional approach. In our experience,
though, CEOs are likely just going through the motions if they
don’t use evaluations and remuneration to assess and recognize the
contribution that all top managers make to innovation.
Choose
Fresh, creative insights are invaluable, but in our experience many
companies run into difficulty less from a scarcity of new ideas than
from the struggle to determine which ideas to support and scale.
At bigger companies, this can be particularly problematic during
market discontinuities, when supporting the next wave of growth
may seem too risky, at least until competitive dynamics force
painful changes.
Innovation is inherently risky, to be sure, and getting the most
from a portfolio of innovation initiatives is more about managing
risk than eliminating it. Since no one knows exactly where valuable
innovations will emerge, and searching everywhere is impractical,
executives must create some boundary conditions for the
opportunity spaces they want to explore. The process of identifying
and bounding these spaces can run the gamut from intuitive visions
of the future to carefully scrutinized strategic analyses. Thoughtfully
prioritizing these spaces also allows companies to assess whether
they have enough investment behind their most valuable opportunities.
During this process, companies should set in motion more projects
than they will ultimately be able to finance, which makes it easier to
kill those that prove less promising. RELX Group, for example, runs
10 to 15 experiments per major customer segment, each funded with
a preliminary budget of around $200,000, through its innovation
pipeline every year, choosing subsequently to invest more significant
funds in one or two of them, and dropping the rest. “One of the
hardest things to figure out is when to kill something,” says Kumsal
Bayazit, RELX Group’s chief strategy officer. “It’s a heck of a lot
easier if you have a portfolio of ideas.”
Once the opportunities are defined, companies need transparency
into what people are working on and a governance process that
6. 6
constantly assesses not only the expected value, timing, and risk
of the initiatives in the portfolio but also its overall composition.
There’s no single mix that’s universally right. Most established
companies err on the side of overloading their innovation pipelines
with relatively safe, short-term, and incremental projects that have
little chance of realizing their growth targets or staying within their
risk parameters. Some spread themselves thinly across too many
projects instead of focusing on those with the highest potential for
success and resourcing them to win.
These tendencies get reinforced by a sluggish resource-reallocation
process. Our research shows that a company typically reallocates
only a tiny fraction of its resources from year to year, thereby
sentencing innovation to a stagnating march of incrementalism.1
Discover
Innovation also requires actionable and differentiated insights—the
kind that excite customers and bring new categories and markets
into being. How do companies develop them? Genius is always an
appealing approach, if you have or can get it. Fortunately, innovation
yields to other approaches besides exceptional creativity.
The rest of us can look for insights by methodically and
systematically scrutinizing three areas: a valuable problem to
solve, a technology that enables a solution, and a business model
that generates money from it. You could argue that nearly every
successful innovation occurs at the intersection of these three
elements. Companies that effectively collect, synthesize, and “collide”
them stand the highest probability of success. “If you get the sweet
spot of what the customer is struggling with, and at the same time
get a deeper knowledge of the new technologies coming along and
find a mechanism for how these two things can come together, then
you are going to get good returns,” says Alcoa chairman and chief
executive Klaus Kleinfeld.
1 See Stephen Hall, Dan Lovallo, and Reinier Musters, “How to put your money where
your strategy is,” McKinsey Quarterly, March 2012; and Vanessa Chan, Marc de Jong,
and Vidyadhar Ranade, “Finding the sweet spot for allocating innovation resources,”
McKinsey Quarterly, May 2014, both available on mckinsey.com.
7. 7
The insight-discovery process, which extends beyond a company’s
boundaries to include insight-generating partnerships, is the
lifeblood of innovation. We won’t belabor the matter here, though,
because it’s already the subject of countless articles and books.2
One thing we can add is that discovery is iterative, and the active
use of prototypes can help companies continue to learn as they
develop, test, validate, and refine their innovations. Moreover, we
firmly believe that without a fully developed innovation system
encompassing the other elements described in this article, large
organizations probably won’t innovate successfully, no matter how
effective their insight-generation process is.
Evolve
Business-model innovations—which change the economics of
the value chain, diversify profit streams, and/or modify delivery
models—have always been a vital part of a strong innovation
portfolio. As smartphones and mobile apps threaten to upend old-
line industries, business-model innovation has become all the more
urgent: established companies must reinvent their businesses before
technology-driven upstarts do. Why, then, do most innovation
systems so squarely emphasize new products? The reason, of course,
is that most big companies are reluctant to risk tampering with their
core business model until it’s visibly under threat. At that point, they
can only hope it’s not too late.
Leading companies combat this troubling tendency in a number
of ways. They up their game in market intelligence, the better to
separate signal from noise. They establish funding vehicles for new
businesses that don’t fit into the current structure. They constantly
reevaluate their position in the value chain, carefully considering
business models that might deliver value to priority groups of new
customers. They sponsor pilot projects and experiments away from
the core business to help combat narrow conceptions of what they
are and do. And they stress-test newly emerging value propositions
and operating models against countermoves by competitors.
2 See, for example, Marla M. Capozzi, Reneé Dye, and Amy Howe, “Sparking creativity in
teams: An executive’s guide,” McKinsey Quarterly, April 2011; and Marla M. Capozzi,
John Horn, and Ari Kellen, “Battle-test your innovation strategy,” McKinsey Quarterly,
December 2012, both available on mckinsey.com.
8. 8
Amazon does a particularly strong job extending itself into new
business models by addressing the emerging needs of its customers
and suppliers. In fact, it has included many of its suppliers in
its customer base by offering them an increasingly wide range
of services, from hosted computing to warehouse management.
Another strong performer, the Financial Times, was already
experimenting with its business model in response to the increasing
digitalization of media when, in 2007, it launched an innovative
subscription model, upending its relationship with advertisers and
readers. “We went against the received wisdom of popular strategies
at the time,” says Caspar de Bono, FT board member and managing
director of B2B. “We were very deliberate in getting ahead of the
emerging structural change, and the decisions turned out to be very
successful.” In print’s heyday, 80 percent of the FT’s revenue came
from print advertising. Now, more than half of it comes from content,
and two-thirds of circulation comes from digital subscriptions.
Accelerate
Virulent antibodies undermine innovation at many large
companies. Cautious governance processes make it easy for stifling
bureaucracies in marketing, legal, IT, and other functions to find
reasons to halt or slow approvals. Too often, companies simply get
in the way of their own attempts to innovate. A surprising number
of impressive innovations from companies were actually the fruit of
their mavericks, who succeeded in bypassing their early-approval
processes. Clearly, there’s a balance to be maintained: bureaucracy
must be held in check, yet the rush to market should not undermine
the cross-functional collaboration, continuous learning cycles, and
clear decision pathways that help enable innovation. Are managers
with the right knowledge, skills, and experience making the
crucial decisions in a timely manner, so that innovation continually
moves through an organization in a way that creates and
maintains competitive advantage, without exposing a company to
unnecessary risk?
Companies also thrive by testing their promising ideas with
customers early in the process, before internal forces impose
modifications that blur the original value proposition. To end up
with the innovation initially envisioned, it’s necessary to knock
9. 9
down the barriers that stand between a great idea and the end
user. Companies need a well-connected manager to take charge of
a project and be responsible for the budget, time to market, and key
specifications—a person who can say yes rather than no. In addition,
the project team needs to be cross-functional in reality, not just
on paper. This means locating its members in a single place and
ensuring that they give the project a significant amount of their time
(at least half) to support a culture that puts the innovation project’s
success above the success of each function.
Cross-functional collaboration can help ensure end-user
involvement throughout the development process. At many
companies, marketing’s role is to champion the interests of end users
as development teams evolve products and to help ensure that the
final result is what everyone first envisioned. But this responsibility
is honored more often in the breach than in the observance. Other
companies, meanwhile, rationalize that consumers don’t necessarily
know what they want until it becomes available. This may be true,
but customers can certainly say what they don’t like. And the more
quickly and frequently a project team gets—and uses—feedback, the
more quickly it gets a great end result.
Scale
Some ideas, such as luxury goods and many smartphone apps, are
destined for niche markets. Others, like social networks, work at
global scale. Explicitly considering the appropriate magnitude
and reach of a given idea is important to ensuring that the right
resources and risks are involved in pursuing it. The seemingly safer
option of scaling up over time can be a death sentence. Resources
and capabilities must be marshaled to make sure a new product or
service can be delivered quickly at the desired volume and quality.
Manufacturing facilities, suppliers, distributors, and others must be
prepared to execute a rapid and full rollout.
For example, when TomTom launched its first touch-screen
navigational device, in 2004, the product flew off the shelves. By
2006, TomTom’s line of portable navigation devices reached sales
of about 5 million units a year, and by 2008, yearly volume had
jumped to more than 12 million. “That’s faster market penetration
than mobile phones” had, says Harold Goddijn, TomTom’s CEO and
10. 10
cofounder. While TomTom’s initial accomplishment lay in combining
a well-defined consumer problem with widely available technology
components, rapid scaling was vital to the product’s continuing
success. “We doubled down on managing our cash, our operations,
maintaining quality, all the parts of the iceberg no one sees,”
Goddijn adds. “We were hugely well organized.”
Extend
In the space of only a few years, companies in nearly every sector
have conceded that innovation requires external collaborators.
Flows of talent and knowledge increasingly transcend company and
geographic boundaries. Successful innovators achieve significant
multiples for every dollar invested in innovation by accessing the
skills and talents of others. In this way, they speed up innovation
and uncover new ways to create value for their customers and
ecosystem partners.
Smart collaboration with external partners, though, goes beyond
merely sourcing new ideas and insights; it can involve sharing costs
and finding faster routes to market. Famously, the components
of Apple’s first iPod were developed almost entirely outside the
company; by efficiently managing these external partnerships, Apple
was able to move from initial concept to marketable product in
only nine months. NASA’s Ames Research Center teams up not just
with international partners—launching joint satellites with nations
as diverse as Lithuania, Saudi Arabia, and Sweden—but also with
emerging companies, such as SpaceX.
High-performing innovators work hard to develop the ecosystems
that help deliver these benefits. Indeed, they strive to become
partners of choice, increasing the likelihood that the best ideas and
people will come their way. That requires a systematic approach.
First, these companies find out which partners they are already
working with; surprisingly few companies know this. Then they
decide which networks—say, four or five of them—they ideally
need to support their innovation strategies. This step helps them
to narrow and focus their collaboration efforts and to manage the
flow of possibilities from outside the company. Strong innovators
also regularly review their networks, extending and pruning them
as appropriate and using sophisticated incentives and contractual
11. 11
structures to motivate high-performing business partners.
Becoming a true partner of choice is, among other things, about
clarifying what a partnership can offer the junior member: brand,
reach, or access, perhaps. It is also about behavior. Partners of
choice are fair and transparent in their dealings.
Moreover, companies that make the most of external networks have
a good idea of what’s most useful at which stages of the innovation
process. In general, they cast a relatively wide net in the early going.
But as they come closer to commercializing a new product or service,
they become narrower and more specific in their sourcing, since by
then the new offering’s design is relatively set.
Mobilize
How do leading companies stimulate, encourage, support, and
reward innovative behavior and thinking among the right groups of
people? The best companies find ways to embed innovation into the
fibers of their culture, from the core to the periphery.
They start back where we began: with aspirations that forge tight
connections among innovation, strategy, and performance. When
a company sets financial targets for innovation and defines market
spaces, minds become far more focused. As those aspirations come
to life through individual projects across the company, innovation
leaders clarify responsibilities using the appropriate incentives and
rewards.
The Discovery Group, for example, is upending the medical and
life-insurance industries in its native South Africa and also has
operations in the United Kingdom, the United States, and China,
among other locations. Innovation is a standard measure in the
company’s semiannual divisional scorecards—a process that
helps mobilize the organization and affects roughly 1,000 of the
company’s business leaders. “They are all required to innovate
every year,” Discovery founder and CEO Adrian Gore says of the
company’s business leaders. “They have no choice.”
Organizational changes may be necessary, not because structural
silver bullets exist—we’ve looked hard for them and don’t think
they do—but rather to promote collaboration, learning, and
experimentation. Companies must help people to share ideas and