Innovation – An obvious ingredient of the success recipe

Innovation is an integral part of almost all business strategy discussion at the executive layer today. They also have this unwavering love towards the optimized delivery and customer experience which is hosting their agenda to drive the ubiquitous innovation theme. Here I am attempting to cover few areas that contribute to a successful innovation strategy. We can add many more perspectives to this innovation thought without any limitations

Customer LOCUS: Markets – Modes – Patterns: New possibilities and innovations are going to decide how the business units are going to function. This is going to be a mutual shift of convenience and experience for collateral brand loyalty. Intrinsic and extrinsic Innovation possibilities are already within our line of sight which is being acted upon today. New opportunities are hidden in the data which is already present in the physical and virtual world on every action, demographic patterns, transaction process, cultural idiosyncrasies, personal preferences, geographic requirements, linguistic and textual context.

The word customer is forever related to experience, and this is the area where the possibility of Innovation is maximum. Experience can be further explored into convenience and interface which involve the technology and its constituents. New customer, business, sales, consumer Patterns and physical, virtual, logical, neural channels of doing business which is yet to be discovered or I would rather say imagined which is going to place the firms in a different league altogether.

Design Strategy like Design thinking: Business models have opened up new possibilities by being inclusive and this is now. We need to do a good intelligent guesswork about how and what new business models are yet to be introduced. The operating models are getting progressive and augmented with user, buyer, seller, and promoter which is at every layer of the value chain. Enterprise architecture is that vehicle which is going to create space to accommodate tomorrows new technologies and new operating models for the time to decide. The tactic is to rely on multi-dimensional research and a close study of “augmented technology” and applications into the socio-economic environment.

For instance, Gene therapy is already making news in the medical world which is focused towards understanding the genome structure of a human body and preparing exclusive medicines and diagnosis cycle based on the deficiencies, symptoms and proactive remediation of anticipated medical situations and prevent them from happening in future. Now, this can also be used to suggest consumer products, cosmetics and fashion wear based on compatibility, suitability and preference. 

Explore to Discover the possibilities: On the same note, Organizations have acknowledged and accepted the deficient but crucial capability that can multiply their success possibilities and are fearlessly looking forward to mergers and acquisition. The identified capabilities don’t have to be technological in nature. There are firms that have a vast people networking wealth, Data on a specific business market, Knowledge & educational institutions, leadership mentoring consulting organisation, unique or niche skills, products that are emerging as unicorns and technology agnostic entities. Sometimes the business moves are beyond research and depend on the gut feel and vision of the organisation by walking backwards. We have to accept the shortfalls of these new age technologies with the same emotion as that of old. They go through a hype cycle and have a shelf life unless augmented with new cross-dimensional technologies at the same time leaving an option open to couple with new possibilities which are not ye discovered.

The law of unintended consequences applies everywhere and to all likelihoods of economics, markets and technologies, but what differentiated is the insatiable hunger of finding and creating something new by connecting the dots, creating your own dots on a new surface and who said it has to be lines to connect the dots.

ROI – Research on Investment: Without contradicting the statement that I just made above – the percentage of risks that an organisation or a Leader takes is entirely dependent on the leader’s personality and/or the culture of the organisation. Regardless, there is a hint from research on every investment plan which increases the confidence in the intended steps. This guidance makes you aware of the scenarios that can present itself in coming times. An investment portfolio can include People (Talent), technology(capability), product (Functionality), component(attribute), knowledge(experience) which needs a business case and foresight which can be acquired by research to shortlist the focus areas.

Research on investment is going to express how an organisation is going to stay relevant in the future market, diversify and grow the business. Research Ops is being mentioned and talked about which can define a process for research and quantify the outcomes by linking strategic markers, success factors and performance indicators. This research can prevent anxious and inquisitive investment in products/start-up’s/technologies that might not produce the expected result. Research and investment when seen independently, also define the future road map.

Focus on the talent for tomorrow: Considering the forecasting and future proofing activities, we need to focus on the talent that is going to man these positions and drive initiatives. A list of future jobs, skills and expertise has to be created based on diversification and enhancement strategies laid down by the organisation which will give you an idea on requirements and ways to generate these talents. The discrimination between technical and non-technical skill is fading away by the moment. The expectations from Leadership and Management level executives is also evolving when it comes to strategizing , positioning and branding.

Hiring methods, Training modes, Talent retention approaches should also change. Traditional methods of the interview should open up and become a task and challenge-based employee selection. This gives an opportunity for both parties to know each other if different compositions, situations and conditions. Human psychology & behavior analyzing and evaluating firms are being acquired to add a new perspective to the hiring process and choose the right candidates.

The human resources ability, capability, and availability are still the defining factors and the true wealth of any organisation which has the potential to decide the fate of an entire organisation at all times.