An Expert’s guide for bringing in Innovation
Once upon a time, there was a Master Consultant- Q.
Let’s hear how he ushered in Innovation in a Great to Good company.
Q’s phone rang once. Person on the other side was a senior executive at a large firm & an acquaintance. He said, “ I need help. I need innovation”. “I will give it to you”, Q replied, with a magical smile.
context:
^It is important to understand who has asked
Executive shared, “We have a new C level hire and we are asked to bring innovation in our portfolio, culture & mindset. Can you please tell me what all we can showcase & do put these 3 key words in to tell the new boss”.
It is important but time sensitive. We have 2 days to present.
action:
^Importance of framework: Q prepared a WHY WHAT HOW WHEN WHERE framework. It looked so un-intelligent that people felt it is actually good
results:
^Define the problem: Innovation: Something which always has to be disruptive, arcane, transformational & world changing…
The framework
WHAT:
Gartner is Q’s 3rd love after Google. Their magic quadrants are so magical & their Gartner’s Hype cycle charts on emerging technologies are so aptly named. Hype- they say. Q took the most fancy ones & created a mixture- 2 inflated expectations, added a sprinkle of disillusionment, showed some enlightenment & finally added something which is mass stream- just to make it Legit!
With his personal favorites in- Blockchain, IoT, RPA, Smart dust, Nano technology, AIML(this never gets old), Quantum computing, cloud ; no one could now refute the authenticity.
put with * in very small fonts a statement similar to “subject to market risks”.
He did secondary research ahem- go go google on the industry, added 3 pages of foot notes and references- showcase of hard work , prepared a jazzy presentation & was about to share…when… Q realized he needs to give everyone a purpose to why they are innovating…Noble Thought!
WHY:
^Purpose is important. It is Maslow’s 6th hierarchy.Everyone talks about it & wants it to be in everything they do- salt in food.
Just as an afterthought, Q added 2 more phrases-
- sustainability - environmental friendly, zero carbon footprint in 50 years, &
- doing something(not clear what) for bottom of pyramid billion lives
Now, he had a purpose also. It was fool proof. He felt so elated, almost invincible- His One Gaint leap for mankind moment.
When he presented, he spun an Utopian world( it works in this materialistic scheme of things, play on people’s gullibility) threw jargons (things no one understand, not even Q….), how these technologies are disruptive, game changing & will change the world- Everyone got excited- They were going to be part of Future History and went home Happy & slept well.
^deliver what your audience wants
HOW:
You thought Q stopped at WHY…Naa…
Well it is a satire, but Q is execution focused & deliver value apart from just consulting.
^ We are not MBB. We not only tell, we do as well- important to call out this distinction
So next day, Q helped create the funnel by sharing last client’s innovation funnel, called it innovatively — Innovation Funnel. People will put ideas at one end and like magic, will get these technologies at other end to change lives.
Added PoC & MVPs as obvious milestones & a staggered stair step chart reaching sky heights- I think he added staggered later- just for fun.
^create something tangible which people can feel or touch(after print out). if not innovation products, innovation funnel is next best idea
Put a Leadership team to review it quarterly- Check!
^important for important people to feel control
One very important feedback he got after a leadership session. Inserted
a. Put fear: Bad boy of Innovation Kodak -on why did they not built in-phone cameras
b. Put excessive hope : Poster boy of Innovation How Tesla has to deal with doging coins & Musk Tweets yet it puts to shame next 9 major automotive companies together
WHERE & WHEN
Next in his framework: Industry Best practices
- He suggested middlemen- innovation hotbeds- people whose job is to connect start ups with large companies & drive their innovation,
- Put a plan in place for Hackathons &
- a future commitment for creating an incubator &
- Promise to put some money with consortium of other non-compete players.
^always use industry benchmark, best practices
The After Story:
Everyone is Happy as they have a holistic framework for Innovation & they can answer the 3 Qs, the C level new guy asked:
a. Portfolio: Innovation Funnel(even though nothing has moved due to conflicting priorities but at least we have it- that’s what matters)
b. Culture: Post on all social media platforms, pictures of the pilot team & what has been planned in 2023. Hype created on social media= culture
c. Mindset: Can rattle some of these technologies in front of peers, friends from another companies & give them FOMO complex
The Framework- it is used very well. Great Traction. Every C level visit, it is cleaned up with new fonts, Q is called to make it contemporary…(recall old dingy police station where it was difficult to find a file but when a Dabang Police officer comes, you go downstairs and take the dust off).
$s are asked…
When get small change, use it to organize pizza parties err weekend hackathons by giving college students enterprise problems & helping them get a CV point which will make them employable to actual innovative companies
Innovation does change lives.
Long Live Innovation !