Innovation is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration. –Thomas Edison
I’ll probably get in trouble with my wife on this post about executing innovation (since she reads and critiques all of my posts), but I am a brave man (and we have been married long enough) so I’ll venture on. My wife is very creative and she has suggested several business ideas to me over the years as new technologies and processes emerged. As she reminds me still, a couple of her ideas have turned out to be very lucrative. Unfortunately, those dollars went to someone else, however, who had the same ideas and executed them. I won’t put it in writing here and memorialize those missed opportunities, but they really happened. I delayed acting on several of her ideas and well she occasionally reminds me of my lapses in judgment. You’ll have to trust me on this!
While I know I am not the only husband who has lived to regret not listening to his wife on a course of action, my delay in acting shows an important truth about innovation. Many people have the same good ideas but it is what we do with those ideas that matter. How many companies invest significant resources in brainstorming efforts and strategy development only to fail in the execution stage? Clearly, many firms fail in execution–either because they fail to move the ideas forward at all or because they poorly implement the ideas that they do move forward. As the quote above from Thomas Edison shows, it’s making creative ideas work or the innovation part where most of the effort lies. Creativity is the 1%; innovating creativity is the 99%.
To address the execution of innovation, I want to share another video from Dr. Vijay Govindarajan. In the previous video, How to Create a Culture of Innovation, Vijay provided some useful strategies for leaders to use to create an innovation mindset in their organizations. It is a useful complement to the video I am sharing today that addresses this difficult problem of executing innovation. Like his other video, Vijay provides some useful insights that reflect his real world work with managers and leaders. These insights can help managers handle that devil that dwells in the details. As you listen to this video from Harvard Business Publishing, look for these seven key points that Vijay makes:
- Innovation is more than coming up with great ideas. The real challenge is making the ideas work!
- Every innovation is an experiment that involves uncertainty.
- Testing assumptions is critical to successfully executing innovation.
- Organizational memory is often an impediment to innovation. Organizations must be willing to forget the past way of operating to create a future that is successful.
- Most businesses do not lack good ideas: they lack the ability to commercialize their ideas.
- Business teams have to be structured properly for innovation to occur.
- Businesses must focus on innovation and growth during recessions–not after recessions.
For more information about innovation see my other articles here.
What do you think of Vijay’s advice? What can you do differently to better execute innovation in your organization?
About the Author
Robert Tanner is the founder of the Management is a Journey Blog and Principal Consultant at Business Consulting Solutions LLC. He is a certified change management consultant, management mentor, trainer, and an Adjunct Professor of Management. Robert has a passion for helping managers and leaders fulfill their potential. Connect with Robert on Google+ and Twitter. To join the mailing list, subscribe here.
