INNOVATION
Innovation Unicorns
By Senorine Wasike
Mark Payne , the founder of Fahrenheit 212 , a global innovation consultancy firm , defines unicorns as ideas that are lovely to think about but do not make it to market , and if they do , are not commercially viable . Unicorns look great in the beginning but only make profit in an imaginary world .
Many project managers can attest to leading unicorn projects and , despite intuitively knowing that these initiatives may not be successful , have proceeded on to launch . The big question is why and how can we spot such ideas and ensure that they do not derail the overall innovation agenda ?
Pet Projects
A pet project is an innovation that has someone ’ s personal preference resulting in personal attachment . Pet projects may be hard to abandon because of personal or career interests . For example , the sponsor may be a senior leader in the organization , forcing those involved to feel the need to make the project successful . This makes it easy to overlook certain aspects of the project that could be detrimental . The result ? Failed launches and loss of business revenue .
Pet projects may not be obvious but can be spotted . A project manager can start by looking at projects that are initiated despite very high risk and potential negative results . The other characteristic of pet projects is those that receive large amounts of attention that is unjustifiable from the sponsor . The last aspect is innovations that launched for a strategic reason but not discontinued when no longer needed .
Quick Fixes
One of the core reasons for innovation is to offer creative solutions to the existing consumer challenges . More often than not , innovation offers a solution to business problems . A well-justified project may get approval to launch but may not be as successful , resulting in risks such as raw materials expiry . Solution ? Launch another new product to mitigate the risk . Result ? A fully packaged new product that may not be grounded in real consumer insight being pushed through to the consumer . The new product experiences slow shelf off-take , no repeat purchase , expiries , and product returns . What appeared as a quick fix becomes a loss for the business at the end of it all .
Insight only refers to consumer
There are many models of generating insights that vary from company to company but most look at the functional and the emotional benefits of the new offerings to the consumer . Consumer insight is a profound truth about the consumer based on their needs , beliefs , behaviour , experiences , and desires .
Most companies assume that once the consumer insight is figured out , the launch has a high chance of success . Research has proven that , whereas consumer insight is critical for innovation , commercial insight is equally vital . The commercial approach offers insights into the organizations , their operations , finances , portfolio , technology , category , and competition . To increase the commercial viability of a new launch , clearly articulate the consumer insight ( consumer ) and the commercial insight ( route to consumer ).
Bringing it all together
Inspiration powers innovation , but the true measure of innovation is in the marketplace when the real value is realized . Innovation unicorns exist in the inspiration space where ideas are exciting to imagine and think about . A clear understanding of the risks of such projects is important in ensuring that priority is given to the mission-critical initiatives that are doable and profitable in the real world .
Senorine Wasike is a Strategy and Innovation scholar with over 10 years ’ corporate experience . She currently heads innovations at Kenya Wine Agencies ( KWAL ). You can commune with her on email at : Senorine . Wasike @ gmail . com .
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