A lot has been written and presented regarding the tools and processes required to launch and manage innovation programs. Much has also been said about the importance of an organisation’s culture in order to embrace innovation. However, there seems to be far less mention around the importance of a shared understanding of what innovation actually is and what the people within the organisation expect from it.
The trouble is that “innovation” has become a buzzword. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve heard the line: “companies must innovate or risk becoming obsolete”. Yet despite this, very few companies seem to truly embrace that statement and fully embed it into their company strategy. The root cause seems to be that very few people in an organisation share the same understanding of what innovation means for the business, let alone how to ensure it becomes integral to the company’s strategy and tactics.
Innovation is a bit like climate change. For many people, it’s something that will only really matter years from now, though they will acknowledge its impact today when it makes headlines. They believe someone else is taking care of matters so do little in their own daily routines to affect any change themselves. And of course, there are those who believe the whole thing is mumbo-jumbo, attributing any negative conditions to other factors. These people tend to actively reinforce and champion the very behaviours and actions that may have likely contributed to the current situation in the first place.
Like climate change, innovation is complicated. Yet, it can easily be dumbed-down and neatly packaged with terminology or jargon that becomes popular and often repeated (though at times incorrectly). The truth is that the components of climate change and innovation can be familiar yet complex in their own rights, which further adds to the misconceptions and confusion around how to best actively support these crucial themes shaping our future.
For innovation, components such as “design”, “prototype”, “user experience”, “iteration”, “concept” or “value” all sound familiar and are common in most businesses, yet for the most part, these also have different meanings across an organisation. For example, value is not just financial. A marketing concept is very different to a design concept. Iteration doesn’t only mean a new draft. User experience exists outside of digital realms and design is also a process, not just an end result. Even the word “product” no longer means a physical object in some circles!
To illustrate this point, let me take the simple word “breakfast”. Everyone understands what it means and all can agree on when this meal typically occurs in our daily routine. However, if a hypothetical cafe owner in Calais, France, were to prepare breakfast for a customer from Dover, England, despite only being 31 miles apart, there would likely be some disagreement about what that breakfast would consist of. A Full English is definitely not the same as a fresh croissant no matter which criteria is used to rate them: ingredients involved, preparation time, calorie count, variety of tastes, texture, size of plate required or even the choice of accompanying beverage.
The same is true for “innovation” - or any of the multiple disciplines and methods used in accomplishing it. In order to achieve and leverage innovation, it is essential to begin with a shared definition of “innovation” by all those involved in creating it, supporting it, producing it or selling it. Our definition of innovation is “innovation drives sustainable business growth by delivering new and measurably better solutions to problems that are worth solving”. One of the key aspects of this definition is the fact that solutions are delivered, not just identified. Without the wider business behind the delivery of innovation, it is likely that innovative ideas will fail to progress and never develop into profitable and marketable solutions for and by the whole company.
However, understanding requires more than simply writing and posting a definition. Much like a mission statement, the company’s innovation definition needs to be genuine and supported by everyone involved for it to be meaningful. This requires a shared understanding of what innovation is, why it’s important, what it will take to achieve, what to expect if it is successful and what happens if it is not. Once this is in place, only then does it makes sense to adopt the various processes, tools and methodologies successful businesses use to grow.
There are a number of approaches organisations can take to reach this alignment and every business will need to find the one that best suits their structure, market and vision. As such, there is no one-size fits all package, but any investment in time and effort towards defining what innovation actually means for the company will pay impressive dividends once it begins its journey of fighting obsolescence through innovation.
To help organisations find the right approach for them, we work closely with the individuals and teams to understand their current priorities, pressures, objectives and hurdles. While gaining insights into their normal working environment, we review the perceived differences between something new and something innovative at every level in order to create a company-wide creative culture audit. In our experience, assessing the conditions within which an innovation program needs to exist, let alone thrive, is essential before planning any next steps. Without this critical alignment at the start, you may find yourself frying up bacon and eggs with all the trimmings when all that was needed was a fresh pastry and an espresso.