Australian Innovation.. A new perspective?

How to reignite Australia's Innovation output, through the eyes of an innovator.

A response in part to todays interesting article by NAB Business View. An article aiming at suggesting ways Australia can up it's innovation game.

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Dear NAB, and the people of Australia who think that broad overarching statements like "be willing to collaborate", "embrace failure", "take risks", and "make the most of education" are pathways to upping Australia's innovation game. People who are blown away by this advice and believe actioning it will dramatically change the countries trend in going backwards on it's slide on the global innovation index.

This post is for you!

I have a different viewpoint, one built on a long term experiential understanding of the matter.

Let me Explain....

I have been blessed, to have been supported most of my life, by investors, allowing me to invent things, or to help others invent things, and commercialize these things into the big wide world.

I have over 25 years experience in being an inventor, in trying to secure patents, raising capital, being a CEO, CTO, Chairman of many boards, navigating cash burn, offices and staff in different countries, learning the value of corporate communications, how to optimize and operationalize governance and understanding people and cultures from living in different countries, then trying to get these people to believe in the vision of my companies.

Admittedly most of the investment happened overseas but a lot of the angel investment came from Australia.

These days I work with boards and leadership teams across the country in uncovering and operationalizing unrealized value.

This work has given me a perspective on Australia and Innovation compared to other Countries I have lived and work in.

Australia is a beautiful country, it’s a safe country, people in this country generally have a strong work ethic and have a she'll be right mate attitude. People in Australia have a strong belief system, one that challenges the new until it is validated.

Companies and boards think they understand the value of risk and use this understanding and the understanding of BAU to keep going straight ahead as if this method of operations will eventually keep them safe from talking innovation, disruption or “perceived” change in market conditions.

A couple of higher level points that I will bring to light 

• A: Big Australia thinks they are “risk averse” yet they don’t understand fully what risk means when it comes to disruption
• B: People use buzzwords like innovation yet there is no understanding of these buzzwords or no ratified understanding of them
• C: A lot of the people who talk innovation have not innovated anything other than their title, a title created after completing some sort of course.

Let me address each point 

Changing the Risk Profile on Innovation

Point A in my summary above

A: Boards manage a lot of things, including the future vision of the company, they protect the company and manage the companies value. They do this using Experience, 3rd party experts and Governance, yet my understanding from the work I have done with a lot of boards, tells me that most companies Governance has been band aided for so long, it has become so overly complex, and because of this, it has become ineffective and a noose around the companies neck, one that freezes it from moving any direction other than in a straight BAU line, adding to this most boards do not understand their own governance rules, and the power and protection that governance provides if harnessed correctly.

Boards manage risk in a number of ways, some via the use of subcommittees with non executive directors or with 3rd party firms/ consultants that provide specific expertise to help boards make informed decisions.

Most innovation subcommittees I have met have been run by “John” in purchasing because he understand how I cloud works, most consultants advising boards have never invented anything new and gone through the process of taking it to market.

Ask a board the following

“List the top 3 companies that might disrupt you in the next 90 days?” And wait for the answer, if they can’t “how is that managing risk?”

Ask them to “explain what innovation means?” If they can’t “how is that managing the vision of the business?” 

My point is : If the boards at the big companies don’t have experienced innovators helping them understand how to manage risk in a risk averse organisation what hope is there for innovation. Boards need to understand the methodology that

“innovation led by experienced innovators is far less risky than not innovating at all”

*John* in purchasing, running innovation, just as having *John* in purchasing, managing your legal department makes no sense. Each function needs people with experience providing valuable intel so boards can make "informed" decisions.

The problem : Where are the innovators with experience?

Point B

Buzzwords

Innovation : a What does it mean?

How can we be innovative when it's understanding is not ratified?

To me innovation is : The CREATION of something that is new and novel and that has REALISED value for others. 

Creativity is : The thought of something new and Novel.

As people agree or disagree with my hypothesis it showcases the lack of fundamental understanding of what innovation is.

Point C

A lot of people who talk innovation are people who have not innovated anything other than their name tag.

This is by no way a criticism of people who have analyzed researched or studied innovation, this in itself could be classified as innovation if new or novel, my point here is 

Why are we not not developing groups that advise government, financial institutions corporations and startups, groups that include experienced innovators?

Vocal aspirational experienced innovators who can get out in the market as start to rally people around a common understanding ?

IMHO the more fragmented we are in our understanding of the core fundamental promise, value and experience that innovation brings, the more we spend talking not doing.

Sorry for the long blurb, I am nearly there, this is a topic I am super passionate about.

In wrapping up the reason I mention boards so much, is I believe Australia's Large organizations have the capability to drive the innovation ecosystem because it manages their risk, provides better value for the organisation and provides a stronger future footing, not because boards need to do more for the innovation ecosystem.

This is purely a commercial viewpoint I put forward.

Once boards understand the value of innovation, and how it fits with their vision and risk profiles, they may just unlock value in driving towards tomorrow 

The ability to acquire, partner with, develop organizations that are in the forefront of innovation with a strategic understanding and vision of how that capital expenditure protects and grows their own long term value, is something that has not been fully developed yet.

Here is something I will leave you with in regards to how I see 1st principle innovations.

If you add something to a problem you create a conceptual rut, if you remove something from a problem you’re on the path to innovation.

Thank you for getting this far.

I wish you a beautiful Sunday

Be Amazing

Fin

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