Future Proof
How to develop innovation prowess
There are four things that you, as a leader, can do:
Invest heavily to develop and retain talent
in innovation activities. The willingness to do
this on a sustained basis is the big differential
between growth leaders and laggards.
Nurture a culture that learns from
disappointment and failure. In healthy,
growth-orientated cultures, there’s a
syndication of risk rather than one person to blame,
which can be devastating for an organisation.
Accept that consistently above-average
growth cannot be achieved entirely through
your own resources. Growth leaders support
collaboration and partnerships and recognise the
strength that can be leveraged. This is another source of
scarce talent.
Tie rewards and recognition to
innovation results. This includes a having
dashboard that focuses on the effectiveness
of innovation activities. For example, measuring
innovation methods (inputs such as R&D, spending);
those that deal with effectiveness (did we achieve
targets?); and outcome measures (for example,
percentage of sales to come from new products in the
past three years).
Average firms tend to say they will support growth
investments, but short-term issues take priority and
resources are pulled away. In the recession, there was
a survival mandate but growth leaders did not cut
those programmes dramatically. They showed a steady
commitment to growth.
Demonstrating leadership
commitment
The highest priority for you as a leader is to show a
steady commitment to an innovation agenda that will
deliver superior organic growth. This is demonstrated
in three ways:
Engagement: Leaders have a growth strategy with
clear aims, and ensure these are understood. In many
firms, most staff don’t understand the growth strategy.
Leaders also insist on accountability for hitting
growth targets.
Support: Ensure there are enough resources to hit
growth targets. If you want to grow by 3% faster than
GDP, follow this up with the right resources.
Protect: Once you have committed to investments in
long-term growth initiatives, stick with them. People
are averse to risks from major innovation and will not
engage in a growth agenda unless they know you stand
with them.
Issue 1 - 2017
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