Innovation is one of an organization's vital signs

For too long, many companies have made innovation a job of the few, seen as a “bright shiny object” with disjointed tools and methods rather than making it a core business function that stays consistently on the agenda of the C-suite.

It is time to shift from a focus on innovation as a destination, often vague and misunderstood – to a focus on the practice of how we innovate. Companies who want to remain relevant must develop this practice across their organization and demonstrate a commitment to innovation by making it a concrete priority of leadership.?

In one of my last conversations with Clay Christensen, he and I discussed the topic of Disruptive Innovation. From my perspective, it seemed that many people talked about Disruptive Innovation or set out to disrupt, but when pressed to show the work – the conversation froze. Few could explain the theory of Disruptive Innovation, and even fewer could show their organization’s system for innovating.

As my friend Roy Rosin offers Roy Rosin , one cannot know if something will be disruptive or not, so rather than focus on the outcome of disruptive innovation, why not have a system that identifies the struggles within the business model for the consumer, customer, and the company?

Scott Anthony Scott D. Anthony once defined as something new that creates value . I like that, and to that I would add that innovation within an organization is also “the process that creates something new and valuable to the consumer and company.” Clay and his team taught us that the outcome of the innovation process can be efficiency impacts or a sustaining or transformative (sometimes disruptive) business models.

I boil it down to two focus areas: efficiency innovation and business model innovation. I don’t think one can deliver sustaining or transformative (sometimes disruptive) outcomes without following a process of business model innovation. Karen Dillon In my current role, my team and I have developed a system for business model innovation that we call Design for Impact. We have found that this shared language and methodology helps teams work more effectively together.

Regarding efficiency innovation, I recently read that a large corporation is launching a Simplicity Sprint to get ideas on how to improve the company’s efficiency during “uncertain” economic times. I certainly applaud the effort, but one question comes to mind - why a sprint? This announcement magnified an issue that I believe is endemic of many innovation programs and especially true in healthcare. Rather than embedding innovation in the DNA and structure of an organization, many companies have knee jerk reactions that result in fragmented and often disappointing innovation initiatives. Can you imagine if finance, HR, or other vital functions were handled that way?

I believe that innovation is as vital as those other functions, because without it your company is doomed to maintain the status quo. Status quo will not win with customers and consumers, and it will not perform well financially. Competitors and new entrants to the market will find ways to do it better and cheaper, and if companies want to continue to exist, they must ?innovate.

How can you tell if innovation is a part of a company’s core operations? One way is to look at the types of innovation and approaches they are investing in. A program that rewards what Peter Sims calls “Little Bets” – small experiments and iteration – is essential to innovation becoming part of a company DNA. Organizations need systems that are broader and more engaging than a limited focus on large Six Sigma or lean projects.

Another way to tell - how much time do employees get to do innovation? A colleague of mine, Karim Lakhani from HBS once shared with me that the key ingredient for innovation is time! How much time do key leaders discuss innovation with their teams and organization? How much time is spent asking employees to solve problems in a structured way? How much time is spent on assessing current business models and whether they can win in the future? How much time do leaders and others spend in the true context and natural habitat of customers and consumers? These questions can start guiding an organization assessment and indicate if more work is to be done.

With success, it is easy for organizations to forget the necessity of continuing to innovate on multiple dimensions. Innovation is vital to the now and future. I am grateful that the company I work for has made a cultural commitment to innovation: “We innovate to better the now and create the future.” May we all deliver on that commitment for our organizations.?