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Executive Summary
While most organizations recognize the need
for innovation, many are still unwilling to bite the bullet, leap off the deep end, and
truly make sustained innovation a priority in real terms by integrating it into
their strategic goals, processes and day-to-day behaviors.
The findings from both
the 1999 and the 2000 Thunderbolt Thinking Innovation Surveys, along with secondary
research and case studies in the area of innovation, have led us to the following five
insights guiding a sustained approach to innovation:
Innovation happens by leveraging change to
create opportunities that did not previously exist and being prepared to move immediately
into action.
Innovation requires systematization with platforms, frameworks and an
infrastructure that spans the entire organization, integrating goals and strategies.
Innovation demands leadership, this imperative is far more than a function of
leadership; today’s leaders must be accountable for innovation.
Innovation thrives on an organic process of networks and pathways alive from the
front-end to the back-end, customized to fit and work within the corporate culture.
Innovation creates value for shareholders, customers, and employees, thereby
ensuring sustained market dominance.
The 2000 Thunderbolt
Thinking Leadership and Innovation Study sought to probe the issue of Leadership and
Innovation to identify where the gaps exist and what organizations need to pursue in order
to achieve a more strategic, sustained approach to innovation.
Study Objectives:
- To validate what organizational strategies are in place to
facilitate a sustainable, systematic approach to innovation.
- To rank leader’s performance in nine critical competency
areas to determine the extent to which they are consistently and effectively driving
innovation.
- To assess how organizations use existing budgeting processes to
put resource muscle behind their innovation frameworks.
Method:
86% of the individuals surveyed were in senior management and management positions
from organizations worldwide. Surveys were distributed via electronic mail, fax, and
through the Internet. Through the 23-question self-assessment survey instrument, we
gathered feedback on strategies for innovation management, leadership behaviors that drive
innovation, and resource allocation in relation to innovation success. The survey results
and findings from the secondary research we conducted were analyzed to offer a
comprehensive view of how to best close the gaps and reap the benefits of a truly
integrated approach to innovation.
Closing the Gap |
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more ideas? Check out the Thunderbolt Thinking Jump Starts for how-to-steps on using Thunderbolt
techniques, or read our Interviews with Innovators
to learn about clients who've integrated Thunderbolt Thinking into their teams or
organizations and achieved real breakthroughs! |
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have your own copy of the entire report on our 2000 Innovation Study, including
valuable recommendations on what organizations can do to foster and nurture a culture of
innovation, leadership competencies that are critical to building an innovative workplace,
and insight on allocating resources to ensure that innovation really happens. Also
included are case studies tracking the progress of organizations that have integrated a
sustained approach to innovation.
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Read the Executive Summary and notes
from last year's study for more details on the research that
contributed to the findings outlined in this year's report. To order the full 1999
Innovation Report, visit our online store. |
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While Key Findings based on the specific results for each question
are discussed in the complete Study Report, the following summarizes the findings on where
the gaps exist in relation to the five Innovation Insights. Recommendations for closing
these gaps are also outlined in the full report, along with case studies of organizations
that have undertaken comprehensive initiatives to bridge these gaps and achieve sustained
innovation.Closing
the Gap on Leveraging Change…
Successful innovation means redefining the market¾ not just changing the rules,
but, in fact¾ changing the game. A well-known champion of this strategy is Starbucks,
which succeeded in reinventing the coffee game by repositioning coffee as a premium-priced
item. To achieve this type of market dominance organizations must move past the mindset of
managing change to the art of leveraging change.
By looking for opportunities to leverage change, organizations set themselves up to be
visionaries. Setting the pace of change, rather than just trying to keep up with changes
driven by others, allows an organization to pave the way to the future and become a true
market leader.
Yet, 44% of the organizations participating in this study reported that they spend most
of their innovation efforts reacting to change instead of anticipating change,
experimenting with change, or envisioning change. This means that valuable opportunities
to innovate are being lost because these organizations are spending the majority of their
time playing catch-up to the changes happening around them.
In addition, this finding also suggests that some organizations are still relying on a
haphazard, hit-and-miss approach to innovation rather than being strategically driven,
which works against them in the long-term.
Closing the Gap on Systematizing Innovation…
There is a myth in the marketplace that innovation "just happens" when a
truly great idea is borne of extreme creativity. But creativity is only one component of
the innovation process. Innovation is not simply thinking up new ideas, but is the end
result of a process that is integrated throughout an organization.
Commitment to an enterprise-wide infrastructure for driving innovation is a clear
innovation success factor. The good news is that organizations are aware of the need to
make this happen, although consistently adopting a viable and reliable process for
bringing ideas to fruition remains elusive for most. Only 2% of leaders surveyed are
consistently and effectively using a process that funnels ideas from conception through to
development and deployment.
As a result, too many organizations are unaware of potential solutions lying on the
fringes which is worsened by the fact that leaders are also not equipped to communicate
learnings across the organization. Without mechanisms to generate, collect, share, build
on and implement ideas organizations let breakthrough ideas slip through the cracks.
Closing the Gap by Positioning Innovation as a
Leadership Imperative…
As a revolutionary force, innovation requires visionary leadership to flourish and
grow. Leaders are the agents responsible for building a work environment that fosters and
supports innovation.
In our 1999 survey we compiled a set of nine
leadership competencies; driving behaviors that foster, nurture and sustain an innovative
workplace. This year’s survey again assessed leaders behaviors relative to these
areas which include: visionary leadership, aligning for success, strategic decision
making, continuous learning, building a team that thinks effectively,
coaching/facilitation, influence, communication and planning and organizing.
Based on the findings of
this year’s study it is clear that more leaders need to step into a proactive role
and more clearly define areas in need of innovative solutions. They also need to build
practical ways to capture learnings gained while engaging in this process.
Most importantly though, with only 33% of leaders reporting adequate coaching and
facilitation skills, leaders need to refine and enhance their role as a coach to truly
support each and every employee’s attempts to innovate.
Closing the Gap on the Organic Process…
Organizations are living, breathing entities that take on a life of their own.
With that said, the innovation process must emerge from the very core of each particular
organization; it cannot be borrowed. The life-blood of this organic process is ideas. Yet,
too many organizations choke off this vital supply by lacking fluid pathways by which the
ideas can flow; and by stifling thinking by relegating people—their most precious
resource—to working in environments that are not conducive to the creative process.
For sustained innovation to occur, a framework needs to exist that is customized to fit
the specific workings of an individual organization. For innovation to occur in a more
sustained manner rather than just as a "one off" lucky break, leaders need to
focus on growing the innovative organization by creating an environment that allows
innovation to come to life as part of the day-to-day operations of the company.
For this to happen, organizations need to discard
the typical top-down approach to innovation by incorporating everyone at every level into
the process. While organizations may say that they recognize the need to do this, our
survey findings reveal that only 5% of leaders have consistently and effectively fostered
a culture that expects everyone to contribute to the innovation process. This means that
many companies are not maximizing the brainpower of all their employees.
Closing the Gap on
Creating Value…
In today’s rapidly changing marketplace organizations can sustain innovation
by constantly looking for new ways to create value and meet customer needs, even where
none existed before.
To capitalize on the revolutionary possibilities
that this provides, leaders must recognize the value creation capabilities that innovation
presents, leading the innovation process from concept to customer, creating and capturing
value in both the technology and product development pipelines as well as fostering
innovations in operations and service.
To achieve this, organizations must move away from
the traditional perspective of weighting bottom-line results as the significant benefit
derived from innovative activity. Yet 66% of leaders surveyed reported that their
organizations still track impact on the bottom-line as the key benefit of innovation, over
other factors such as employee performance, customer satisfaction, brand loyalty, and
value creation in products/services. |
