Innovation – Part II – The Process

The Innovation Process

Imagine that the CEO of the company gives you a mission. You can be from HR, Special Projects, Innovation Projects, etc. The mission is to innovate more, he is not satisfied, because the company only makes the same, and needs to invent more, to do different, act like some competitors he sees winning market. Knowing you have so many good people, why then cannot your company be the most innovative?

There are always long discussions on the subject, why and why not, but perhaps you can examine in a more formal way to evaluate your company’s innovation process, its maturity, and produce an assessment for the diagnosis and actions. For example, there are questions that can help you:

• How your business demands the new? How does the CEO expose his thoughts onto that, is there a culture of thinking about reviewing processes, or does an autonomous way of doing things predominates, producing the same? How are the rewards?
• How do you recognize the value of innovation? Is there a quantification of new ideas in favor of the company’s revenues?
• Are there people formally or informally dedicated to process review? A department? Some advisors who are called for creativity sessions?
• How does your company look for innovative talents inside and out? Is it a concern, the renewal of ideas through new permanent or temporary participants?
• Does the company have an end-to-end process, where suppliers, customers, partners and academics have the opportunity to review processes?
• Is there a research or simulation in the market with insertion of new ideas? (“Would it be nice if you, our client, had a product like that?”)
• There is a proactive analysis of new markets, competitors, other countries or regions, etc. aiming to import insights?
• Is there a formal and internal testing process for innovative products and services?
• Are there events where you focus on reviewing processes, innovations and improvements?
• Are there events where free themes, interaction games, collaboration and creativity are allowed with facilitators?

With these answers, you can get an idea of WHEN to introduce a process of innovation. Note two comments here. First, you are not proposing a routine for drastic and innovative innovations, but creating the environment for it, as a barn for incremental innovations, this tends to work very well. Do not get upset with the critics of the creators of particular ideas that move away from framing processes, because a good part of innovations comes from there. But there is room for everyone. A second comment, which is not exactly innovation that is having a life cycle, a routine of beginning, middle and end, but a process that facilitates its appearance.

This refers to the theme of the chapter. Actually, the WHEN INNOVATION response should be ALWAYS, but the innovation process must be introduced in an organized way in the timeline. While the routine innovation benefits in direct proportion to these processes, disruptive innovation can have benefit from events, incentives to seek renewal of talent and a culture that provokes creativity.

The questionnaire response will give you tips on how to create a strategic plan, a model of innovation and provide maturity, the culture of innovation in your company. In many cases, it is a medium to long process, so get started as soon as possible.

Thus, some actions may be well defined according to the current maturity of the company:

Linking business objectives with the promotion of ideas, formalizing a rewards program. Seek with the commercial and marketing groups a formula to evaluate and quantify the introduction of innovations in the market.

Create a center of excellence for innovation. This center will take direct care of the formal innovation process (where applicable), oversee the implementation of innovations, communicate the process, and seek internal collaboration so the process gains a framework that touches all key company processes.

Create events where key business processes are reviewed – with end-to-end participants, including vendors, partners and even customer representatives.

Establish with HR, events with freer themes, aiming to think outside the box, through specialized facilitators

Review the routine of acquiring talents – especially in certain positions – looking for people who demonstrate creativity during the hiring process or via curricular / social profile analysis.

Establish an exchange program with universities and other talent trainers, where a well-defined roadmap can be useful to both parties. On the business side, creating the habit of listening a lot, being aware of the insights of young talents is rewarding.

(To be continued)

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