Continuous Innovation: Is your Innovation Factory Humming?

Innovation: ?“the introduction of something new” – Merriam-Webster Dictionary.

This article is written in the context of emerging tech-based innovations. It includes a story of a partially successful program and shares summary insights on how successful companies innovate.

Emerging tech was a hot topic, with Quantum occupying the top spot at a virtual event I was attending. IoT, Blockchain, AI, Immersive, and Quantum technologies were discussed. Innovation adoption and frustrations with implementing an effective innovation program were passionately discussed.

“We have a few emerging technologies programs that are accelerating growth”, said a technology executive with pride. I understood the reason. He was the key to the innovation program at his company. ?In, addition, we had just discussed how difficult it is to establish a successful program. We complimented the executive on his accomplishments.

“What technologies are you using?” I asked curiously.

“Blockchain, IoT, and AI” the executive responded. Others listened intently.

“I am not surprised that you did not mention Immersive tech as your industry is not high on the immersive-tech adoption.” pitched another executive.

The topic shifted to discussing immersive technologies’ adoption. We agreed that the Automotive, Retail, Education, and Healthcare industries were the leaders as AR/VR is almost mainstream for them. The conversation shifted back to the innovation structure and failure of many companies in launching a successful program. It appeared that this was a challenge uppermost on the attendees’ minds.

“Do you have an innovation structure where your teams launch emerging-tech-based products continuously?” I asked the executive who had successfully started the program at his company.

“We can improve on it. ?We are bringing new innovation-driven products to the market at a decent clip!” He said.

"How difficult was it to implement the program at your company?" asked another executive.

"It was difficult. When profits are high, things are working well, innovation appears to be an expense to executives not involved in technology. Besides, automation and disruption to modus operandi silos cause grief. People get intimidated by change and they resist it." the executive explained. "For us, it was a slow introduction, prove as you go kind of concept before we reached the stage where confidence built." He added.

We resonated with his explanations. Any change is hard. Change management becomes a key to managing expectations within a company. We discussed a few more topics including multi-cloud environments, 5G, and Blockchain technologies. The video call ended.

After the virtual event ended, I thought about the challenges of implementing a successful innovation program. Without a coherent innovation structure, companies struggle with generating impacting use cases. A few make it to MVP/POC (Minimum Viable Product/Proof of Concept) and fail there. Many cannot move past POC to a product and market launch. That the successful executive at the virtual event could muster support internally and succeed is commendable. ?His company aspires to drive innovation-driven growth and develop new business models. His company is definitely in better shape than many others still trying to figure out emerging-tech innovation. However, his company risks losing market share to the ones that have a robust innovation structure. After all, disruption is the norm.

The payoff from a robust innovation methodology is compelling. Companies with a strong innovation culture command a strong market position. ?They know how to harness emerging tech’s power. With practice, these companies become a humming innovation factory launching emerging-tech driven products from a metaphorical “innovation assembly line”.

These companies are aware of difficulties in the innovation factory stage. They know that a well-thought-out Innovation structure needs to be implemented and constantly updated. A partner ecosystem has to be developed and nurtured. Management support at all levels is crucial to its success. Innovation is a company-wide commitment and everyone is responsible. These companies also know that emerging-tech-based innovation does not mean ripping out conventional technologies altogether. They know how to introduce emerging-tech-based solutions in their operational systems. And, these companies are aware that innovation is not a one-off thing started by an enterprising executive or innovation enthusiasts inside a company. It is hard for competition to catch up with such a company.

Contrast the disciplined approach to innovation with companies still on the fence about it, don’t understand the opportunities innovation can bring for them, or don’t know how to implement a successful program.

Consider a scenario where a company’s executive management approves to “test” innovation program before committing to it. A limited budget is allocated, and a few innovation enthusiasts raise their hands to get involved.?These employees spend their personal time innovating as their company still expects them to meet their job commitments. Management involvement is more curiosity than support. The deck is stacked up against the program’s success.

The innovation enthusiasts have to acquire partners who can support them on a shoestring budget. This eliminates high-profile partners who would rather discount their services to programs they believe will succeed. If the innovation enthusiasts manage to develop an MVP and conduct a successful POC, roadblocks emerge. There is no existing infrastructure to support their path forward. The company may have to acquire emerging-tech savvy talent, retool its processes, and consider several other factors before the product reaches the market. The rest of the organization is not behind them, or they don’t even know that emerging-tech innovation experimentation is in progress. The POC never converts to a product and reaches the market!

I view such experiments as simply a checkmark against the box that innovation was tried and failed. Or, they claim that the company is profitable, has been around for some time, and doesn’t need innovation. Innovation is a fad and it will pass away.?

Some companies are unaware of what innovation can do for them. Business models that worked before may pale in front of disruption-driven newer models. IT departments using conventional approaches to support these find that their competition leveraged emerging-tech to better support their business models. ?

Two recent conversations related to these aspects come to mind. In the first one, a company CIO (Chief Information Officer) was unaware that Blockchain-based digital identity verification circumvents costly and cumbersome identity management using conventional technologies. Identify verification errors related to fraud was costing them. The company was able to save millions by introducing the right solution to its existing operations. The second conversation is that of a company with an innovative core revenue-generating platform. Competitors entered their market over time and price wars turned their business into a commodity. They re-established their market leadership by embracing innovation. In both cases, the cost savings and revenue impacts were big.

In conclusion, innovation is imperative. A structured innovation program and adoption is necessary to reach a humming innovation factory stage. Innovation is not an experiment that can be used to support entrenched theories. It can fail a company. Buggy whip manufacturing and the naysayers of yesteryears come to mind. Sincere emerging tech adoption is required for a company to respond quickly to changing market trends and shifting customer preferences. New technologies can improve efficiencies and accelerate growth, an aspect that is lost on companies using emerging-tech buzzwords and don’t understand what these technologies can do for them.

How is your innovation program doing at your company? Is your innovation factory humming? Please share your thoughts here.

JP Batra is an Interim CTO/CIO for small to mid-sized companies and a functional executive leader for large corporations. He is also an emerging-tech innovations consultant assisting companies to implement a robust innovation process to accelerate growth and reduce costs. JP’s Twitter handle is@jpbatra?and he can be reached at?[email protected]

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