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7 Signs That Your Innovation Process Is Doomed to Fail

There are certainly more than 7 reasons why an innovation process may be incapable of doing what it is supposed to do. But if you don’t make these 7 mistakes, you are already a long way ahead:

1.

Ideas are the starting signal for innovation and without ideas the innovation process does not even begin.

Better:

Use existing ideas, but don’t rely on them. Random ideas are good. Well suited for continuous improvement and company suggestion schemes. It is better to start innovations with a clear focus. The results are more reliable, better suited to the company and market and have a higher success rate. The focus can be of different types: Field of application and major customer pain, a targeted technology innovation or the new development of a previously untapped market.

2.

Strategy paper, vision and corporate management are not used at any point in the innovation process.

Better:

Do not see innovations as separate from the company. Industrial companies are not start-ups. Starting up on a greenfield site with no connection to the company core is risky. It means not using the advantages that an established company has over a start-up. Establishing innovations within the company without a strategic focus generates strong resistance. Most of these “rebellious” innovations fail at the latest when they are developed to market maturity.

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3.

The boss forms the team by declaration, instead of on the basis of voluntariness and self-motivation.

Better:

Use the employees’ own drive. Bring together those employees who are passionate about a specific field of innovation. After all, ten people who have to do something don’t achieve as much as one person who wants to. The concerns of many companies that no volunteers will be found are usually not confirmed. Employees are almost desperate for the company to finally turn some big wheels. And that they are allowed to participate. Of course, communication from the top has to be coherent.

4.

Lone fighters or development teams are supposed to create innovation – a comprehensive team is not planned.

Better:

Bringing together diverse skills, backgrounds and CVs. The greater the diversity in a team, the more far-reaching the innovation. Expertise can be brought in selectively where it is needed. Specialists do not have to be permanently represented in the team. The important thing is that all team members are passionate about the topic and are willing to embrace new approaches. An experienced innovator, as project manager or external facilitator, helps to stay on course and achieve the goal.

5.

Sales and customer service are the sole interfaces to the customer.

Better:

Avoid any separation between the customer and the innovation team. No analysis or interview conducted by deputies can replace a personal conversation. The team must immerse itself in the customer’s world and develop a genuine understanding of the situation, needs and sensitivities. However, this approach often has a threatening effect on sales: “The innovation team is definitely NOT coming to the customer!” Untrained contacts on the customer side can be a way out.

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6.

Less than 50% of their time can actually be devoted to the project team and innovation.

Better:

Focus, focus, focus. No founding team in the world gets two or more disruptive start-ups off the ground at the same time. But industrial companies dare to keep 120 innovation projects running with 80 developers. … which all fail in the end, fizzle out or at best produce only marginal further development. Sort them out mercilessly. If you want to create real innovation, you have to spend at least 50% of your working time on it. Everything else is window dressing!

7.

The innovation process takes more than 6 months to develop a marketable, convincing concept* (solution, finances, market).

Better:

Focus all activities on a minimum time frame. Six months is a good start. Innovation is the business of uncertainty. Are we on the right track? What will our colleagues say? Have we made the wrong assumptions? What happens if it doesn’t work after all? Is the solution visionary enough? Can we manage that? A team cannot withstand this state of tension for longer than six months. Once annual leave, Christmas and business trips are added to the mix, nothing can be saved.

An effective innovation process is an important cornerstone in ensuring that your company can achieve innovation success in a predictable and repeatable manner. There are many examples of innovation processes. A capable business process requires a link to the company processes. A “standard”innovation process is therefore a good template and only half the battle. Do you want to have innovation as well under control as the preparation of your annual financial statements? An innovation process as a building block in the innovation system should ensure exactly that.

*Market-ready concept: customer problem identified, solution idea developed, technical feasibility proven, market acceptance tested, business case calculated, overall concept presented to management, realization decision made

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TOM SPIKE develops innovation processes for companies

As an innovation consultancy, TOM SPIKE helps companies to lead individual innovations to success and to make success stories repeatable. Through all fields of the innovation system. The basis can be an established innovation process, acute competitive pressure, a change of management in the company, a good idea or the pain of a failed innovation. Our clients are particularly technology-related companies. These include manufacturing companies as well as software companies, service providers and others who struggle with technical challenges at the core of their business. This could be a mechanical engineering company, a regional electricity supplier, an insurance company or a B2B app developer. There is only one hard basic requirement to make collaboration worthwhile. The will to innovate and to support ambition and a spirit of optimism. We provide everything else.

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