Why does innovation fail?
2018 gave me an opportunity to interact with many innovation leaders from different industries across the globe. While it is encouraging to see increasing investments in innovation, many organizations still struggle to build a sustainable and scalable culture of innovation. For many, Innovation starts as a buzz word that slowly gives in to competing business priorities, for others it fails to deliver tangible business outcome and scale across the organization.
97% of CEOs say that innovation is a top priority (PWC)... however 94% are dissatisfied with their current innovation programs (McKinsey).
Without change there is no innovation, creativity, or incentive for improvement. Those who initiate change will have a better opportunity to manage the change that is inevitable. - William Pollard
So why is innovation still a challenging concept for organizations? Here are some observations from my conversations.
Sending innovative ideas to normal development process. This is a sure shot way to kill an idea. Innovation requires nurturing during the initial phase of its’ development. Majority of ideas die an early death due to lack of certainty and championship. Innovation needs time and space instead of being pushed down an assembly line. Ensure that innovation team plans a proper handshake with the execution team.
Conduct research with existing users while ignoring non-users. By nature, innovation is about exploring the unknown and that includes looking beyond your current customer base. Identify the adjacent domains and white spaces in the market and customer lives. Think about how you can innovate to extend and expand your products and services beyond the existing audience.
Research products instead of activities. You get deep insights by observing human behavior and their interactions with people and products. Think about how your innovation can naturally fit in to users’ life and make it better. Your innovation will be adopted by the users if it directly addresses their pain points and makes it easy for them to use.
Focus on how and presume why. Failure to clearly define the need, purpose and success criteria upfront results in an innovation built on a shaky ground. Such innovation often struggles to demonstrate business impact and justify further investments. Reframing problem based on research and data is critical for the ongoing support and success of innovation.
Want a delivery date and proof of success before start. One of the common challenge is to treat innovation like any other project. Putting boundaries around innovation early on often stifles the idea and stops it from achieving its' full potential. If an outcome is predictable and time-boxed, then the idea is most likely be an incremental improvement than a true innovation.
More comfortable with precisely wrong than roughly right. Too often new ideas are studied and analyzed until they are suffocated. Innovation is inherently an iterative process and involves experimentation. Don’t expect your innovation to work the first time. Test early, learn fast and scale slow.
Think transformational and incremental change is same. Be deliberate in defining “innovation”. If the idea is not risky, then it is probably not innovative. Differentiate between routine improvements as part of business as usual and truly disruptive ideas which stretch the boundaries within and outside the organization.
Want breakthrough innovations as long as it doesn't require change. Successful innovation is disruptive to the organization in many ways. It requires an appetite to accept uncertainty and adopt change. Prepare your organization to support innovation and actively manage the change.
Use old tools to build new things. You cannot expect to new ideas to emerge from existing toolset. Create a sandbox for innovation with tools to collaborate, experiment, prototype and test.
Get a wrong team involved. Innovation requires an experimental mindset. Identify team members who are risk takers, explorers and can deal with ambiguity. They need to be extreme collaborators and skilled influencers. Create a safety net for the team to fail fearlessly. Build an organizational culture that rewards experimentation, celebrates failure and shares learning.
What is your organization doing for innovation to thrive and scale? Do share.
Here is wishing you all a fabulous new year, filled with opportunities to innovate, accelerate and change.
Abhijit Thosar
This post represents my personal views. They do not represent my current or past employers/clients.
References
VP & Business Unit Head - Industrial Design (& Engineering) & Visual (Spatial) Computing (IDV) | Stanford GSB
5yGreat insights Abhijeet.. these very nicely summarize some of the key reasons for innovations failure. One I like to add is the inability to cross the chasm - from innovators to early adopters to majority. I have known innovative firms who establish a beachhead in new product or service category, but just don’t get it right later.
Director of Product Design at VMware
5yWell written Abhijit! Loved reading it. Victor Frankl in Man's Search for Meaning writes, “Happiness must happen, … : you have to let it happen by not caring about it.” I believe, this applies equally well, to the pursuit of innovation in organizations. Innovation must ensue by committing authentically to meaningful values and aligning to the goals of an organization. It is the very pursuit of innovation that thwarts innovation.
Director of Product Experience | User Experience Design Leader
5yGood article Abhijit. You are spot on, innovation is easier said than done. Those are some great tips. We have been following most of the points you listed in MatrixCare and have seen success in the recent years. One of the important things we do, is bake a few good ideas than frying them. And bake them with regular user feedback.
Storyteller
5yInnovate in isolation and not get organizational awareness, becoming an orphan