David Thodey Warren Centre Lecture on Innovation

I was at the Warren Centre Innovation Lecture this afternoon at Faculty of Engineering - University of Sydney , where the esteemed David Thodey offered his reflections on what makes a difference in the field of innovation. He openly admitted it wasn’t his Social anthropology and Mediaeval English degrees! While the economy in Australia was not going 'too badly', he was concerned that we have a very ‘narrow economy’, concentrated in very few industries. Compared to the innovation centres of Sweden, Singapore, US, UK (he didn’t mention China or India), we are doing poorly Australia. He said Australia ‘30th on ‘the list’’ and ‘we need to do more and take a longer-term view.’ He didn’t comment on an audience question whether the short 3-year Federal Government’s terms or the complex Federated model of government in Australia, holds Australia back. He is concerned that R&D spend as a % of GDP is falling, over the last 4-5 years?he said we have seen a ‘reduction from 2.2% to now around 1.7%-1.8%, while other countries are at 2.4%+’. Why is that he asked?

He commented on our culture here being risk averse, with a need for better public policy while being more collaborative. Mr Thodey commented that the future of most things will include digitisation and skimmed across the theme of big data, LLM’s, Gen AI, connectivity/ low orbit satellite concluding with how we ‘live and work will changed by a plethora of technology converging’. He said 'the evidence of improvements is clear in most industries from better farming to better health, and the impact of technology will be felt everywhere. But we must remember that ‘technology is only an enabler, and we need to remain outcomes focused’'.

He commented that ‘Australia has not progressed as much in innovation as we had hoped for and we need to build the ‘Innovation eco-system’ for the long-term, where we see innovation happening consistently’. This is where he added that “he is worried about innovation at a country level, at a company level and at a University level'. And, that we need to “stare into this”. He mentioned that people should go into meetings with a holistic view of what is possible rather than a very narrow view. But that you ‘need a system that enables us to create this environment.’ So how do you create a culture of innovation and get things delivered he asked rhetorically.

I thought it was insightful that Mr Thodey then said verbatim, 'you need to use these words……and this is one of the most disciplined things to do…..and we don’t talk about this enough….Process, Discipline, Rigour, Accountability. You need these characteristics to be able to execute on innovation’. David referred to revered management guru Gary Hamel to ‘build an enabling network’. In Howwe’s world that is a micro-delegation methodology rather than the suffocating or inhibiting micro-management. With a better process, a determination to be accountable, and the discipline to hold others accountable, the company will be better at what it chooses to do.

‘Start things in a new and interesting ways’, he said. He’s an advocate for Government establishing a structure which is consistent over time, with a backbone of funding. Universities needing to be better at collaboration, while being open externally and to also invest in their own research. Industry has to be closer to universities and be able to build the rigour in execution to be a powerhouse in innovation.

He started wrapping up with we ‘need a vision for this great country’ and that ‘aspiration and execution go together’; combined with the needed discipline and rigour. He referred to his time at Telstra Enterprise where he felt he was accountable to help staff move forward and not hold them back. ‘How can I help?’ he would ask. He is worried that there is cultural inertia in companies, and that the challenge of changing culture can hold everyone back, for instance by trying to hide bad news rather than making sure it is escalated quickly.

He finished with 'we need to be bold' to not be afraid of failure as he said 'you want to create the company culture where good news travels fast but you want bad news to travel faster’.?I like that. #innovation #execution CSIRO Xero David Thodey Howwe ANZ Pty Ltd Howwe Technologies #Sweden