The 4 Assumptions of Innovation are:

  1. Innovation as it is currently practiced is good enough.
  2. Innovation is for executives
  3. Innovation is for practitioners.
  4. “Innovation Planning” is an oxymoron.

 

  1. Innovation as it is currently Practiced is good enough

Innovation as it is currently practiced is good enough, is a common assumption and the reality of the situation is that, “current innovation practices don’t reliably deliver breakthroughs.” I believe this has to do with the way companies approach the product development process. More often than not our current processes are designed to provide incremental features to existing products. Those processes break down when companies attempt to explore innovative solutions to undefined needs in rapidly changing marketplaces. Due to the ambiguous nature of opportunities in emerging marketplaces; existing tools need to be evaluated based on the need that is trying to be fulfilled. In short, if the only tool you have in your tool belt is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

  1. Innovation is for Executives

Another assumption is that innovation is for executives. This assumption relates to the commonly held belief that executives are primarily responsible for the strategy and direction a company takes therefore they must own innovation initiatives as well. In truth, the people doing the day-to-day work that often develop innovative ideas with the products they are developing. However, they need structures and processes to help them plan and define innovation.” When a team has made the decision to move forward on an innovative initiative, it must be defined with a well thought out plan on how to bring the product to the market place.

  1. Innovation is for Practitioners

While the seed of innovative ideas often resides with the marketers, designers, researchers and engineers that develop the products for a company; to be successful practitioners must work with executives.“The designers and technologist developing new offerings must not only know how to innovate on a tactical level, they must also comprehend the strategic objectives and wider implications of their work.” For a product to be truly innovative in an emerging marketplace, practitioners and executives must both have an understanding of the strategic and tactical business decisions. They must work together to develop a plan.

  1. “Innovation Planning” is an Oxymoron (two words used together that have opposite meanings)

Product development often involves documents detailing the business requirements, specifications and objectives outlining the scope, measures and criteria of success. The commonly held belief that innovative products are produced purely out of “out-of-box thinking” which leads to the final assumption of “innovation planning” is an oxymoron. Very few companies can afford to invest large amounts of time and money without a measure of control. For companies to be innovative, they must develop new and structured approaches.

Innovation isn’t magic, it’s a discipline. Asking a product team to be innovative without having the proper tools and processes in place will more than likely result in failure.

The lesson learned is that before you move forward on an innovative initiative have a plan or you may find yourself in the position of having to hire an expensive expert to clean up the mess. As the saying goes, “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.”

Barriers of Innovation

Key Obstacles To Innovation

Obstacles that will need to be addressed if you expect to establish a sustainable culture of innovation:

  1. Lack of a shared vision, purpose and/or strategy.
  2. Short-term thinking/focus.
  3. Lack of time, resources or staff.
  4. Lack of “spec time” to develop new ideas and opportunities.
  5. Innovation not articulated as a company-wide commitment.
  6. Lack of ownership by senior leaders.
  7. Leadership expects payoff sooner than is realistic.
  8. Lack of a systematic innovation process.
  9. Management incentives are not structured to reward innovation.
  10. No reward and recognition programs.
  11. Constantly shifting priorities.
  12. Belief that innovation is inherently risky.
  13. Internal process focus rather than external customer focus.
  14. Inadequate understanding of customers.
  15. Focus on successes of the past rather than the challenges of the future.
  16. Unwillingness to change in the absence of a burning platform.
  17. Unwillingness to acknowledge and learn from past “failures”.
  18. Politics – efforts to sustain the status quo to support entrenched interests.
  19. Rewarding crisis management rather than crisis prevention.
  20. Hierarchy – over-management and review of new ideas.
  21. Micromanagement.
  22. Under-funding of new ideas in the name of sustaining current efforts.
  23. Fear that criticizing current practices and commitments is a high-risk activity.
  24. Risk a version.
  25. Addiction to left-brained, analytical thinking.
  26. Absence of user-friendly idea management processes.
  27. Innovation not part of the performance review process.
  28. Lack of skillful brainstorm facilitation.
  29. No creative thinking training.