Innovation Management – Technology / Process and People
Innovation management is a set of Technology/Process and People (TPPs) for organizations looking to improve the way they source and develop innovations. Some of these TPPs are being leveraged by organizations that are developing innovations in the traditional or old style.
But where do you begin when looking to bring all of these TPPs together into a single cohesive package that can drive your company to the “new style of innovation”? Implementing any missing innovation component is a critical first step for ensuring a successful transition to a culture of innovation. Organizations must also install an innovation leadership structure capable of guiding the governance of their innovation initiatives and providing the needed training to their current and future employees. Once past these initial hurdles, organizations must find ways to bring in and select the most appropriate ideas to turn into innovations. Changes of this level of complexity normally require the combination of culture and software change. There are several innovation management software companies whose applications are structured to help manage these types of changes.
Finding a Partner
According to The Forrester Wave™: Innovation Management Solutions, Q2 2016 report, “Old style innovation will be very tough to maintain. To exploit business value from digital technologies, innovation managers need to think in open ecosystems, open standards, open platforms, and open source software. Digital innovation equals service innovation, which in turn requires a willingness to experiment and engage in minimal-viable-product thinking.” While many of these software companies can support in making your organization become more “open”, finding a partner that can help with the cultural and change aspects is just as important. A combination of software and services puts your organization on the innovation path to success. While there are a couple of players in this space that provides the traditional consultant model, Ever Evolving uses cultural and innovation coaching to help your organization navigate through the journey of making the necessary changes and instilling the company with an innovative mindset for the long haul. We are firm believers in the “teach a man (or woman) to fish” mentality.
What’s Next?!?
The next phase of innovation management moves past vendors and consultants looking to help you implement that next… new… cool… thing… but pushes you to think in ways that create totally unique solutions. The journey normally starts with improved communication combined with processes and incremental type innovations allowing your company to become comfortable suggesting and implementing new ideas. As the creativity continues, harnessing the excitement and energy around your innovation implementations helps propel everyone to the next level, where employees start seeing the hidden potential of their ideas along with monitoring outside influences. With increased comfort eliciting ideas outside of your organization, you are ready to look to models like open innovation and crowdsourcing. Now you must assess whether speed to market or idea protection makes the most sense for you as a company in relation to your competitive advantage.
The Journey of Cultural Innovation
I think it is pretty easy to see that there is much more to the journey of implementing a culture of innovation than the brief sample I have just outlined. You also must contend with managing the people side of change, new technologies, new market entrants and/or disruptors, regulation, process reengineering, customer experience, etc. etc. According to Forrester, “there is a wide spectrum of innovation initiatives, including market validation, co-creation, innovation exploration, incremental innovation, technology-push disruptive innovation, market-pull disruptive innovation, and new business modelling. Innovation management solutions aim to support these different aspects of innovation.” Figuring out the right solution and approach for your company may seem like a daunting task but with a partner like Ever Evolving, a true Culture of Innovation is definitely within reach!