Our over-commitment to today's business model means that anything other than incremental innovation is seen as dangerous or indulgent. And if a “dating” mindset backs innovation, bolder ideas are always pushed aside in favour of something more urgent or predictable.
In a moment, I'll share some advice on three of the most significant issues that can amplify your innovation performance. But first, there's a rarely discussed, yet fundamental, foundation that leaders must confront if they are to see innovation levels increase.
‘Dating’ innovation
Pick a company with a strong track record in innovation, and you'll usually trace their performance shift back to a single decision that most organisations don't make: a choice to switch from simply 'dating' innovation to committing to innovation. The choice is huge yet rarely discussed.
What do I mean? Dating is casual, not too serious, convenient. Few companies would survive if that mindset governed their day-to-day operations. Yet that's the mindset we slip into when it comes to innovation. We tend to hope it will show up if we tell people they have permission to innovate. In my experience, no-one moves.
Our over-commitment to today's business model means that anything other than incremental innovation is seen as dangerous or indulgent. And if a “dating” mindset backs innovation, bolder ideas are always pushed aside in favour of something more urgent or predictable.
Great innovators strike a better balance. They are strategically committed to executing today whilst exploring tomorrow. What's more, they enable the processes, capabilities, resources, culture and leadership needed for operations and innovation to thrive together.
When leaders align innovation with strategy and are accountable for its results, it’s much easier to address three of the key issues that undermine innovation performance in most organisations: lack of time, risk aversion and a certainty-driven culture.
I’m too busy to innovate
When someone says that they're too busy to innovate, there's usually a deeper issue at play. Perhaps management hasn't clearly defined where different types of innovation should happen, and who should resource it.
The result? We expect people to "magic-up" breakthrough ideas whilst hitting the demanding KPIs that their day job demands. This line of expectation rarely works. At best, we get average ideas from frazzled employees who take on this additional workload once the kids are asleep.
