Successfully Embedding Innovation: Strategies and Tactics

--Marisa Brown, innovation and R&D senior program manager, APQC

It takes time and focused effort for enterprises to shift their paradigms and integrate innovation into their business strategies and cultures. What does an organization do when employees cling to the way things have always been done? How can leaders convince employees that innovation represents something other than more work?

With thought leadership by IBM, it was examined how best-practice organizations create a strategy to embed innovation, define roles and structures to support innovation engagement, understand the cultural and technical enablers of innovation, design ongoing communication and change management tactics, and evaluate key innovation measures.

Key Findings

    * Overarching cultural frameworks and strategic guideposts help establish the foundation for an innovative culture.
    * Clearly articulated strategies and road maps can provide transparency and direction for innovation.
    * Establishing innovation specialty groups--in addition to centralized ownership--helps to broaden engagement.
    * Internal events and competitions provide recognition for innovative thinking and behavior.
    * Organizations are deliberate in how they allocate resources depending on the amount of risk involved.
    * Collaborating through internal and external alliances can strengthen innovation and idea generation.
    * To strengthen the innovative culture, organizations are hiring employees who meet criteria outside of functional capabilities.
    * A critical ingredient to get innovation to "stick" is visible participation and active involvement from leadership at all levels.
    * Designating physical and/or virtual spaces dedicated to innovation can encourage creative thinking.
    * Encouraging risk taking is essential for innovation to thrive.
    * Encouraging employees to collaborate with those outside their specific peer groups can facilitate idea generation and problem solving.
    * Proper selection of software tools can facilitate the innovation process.
    * Employing a diversity of communication vehicles is necessary for a relentless focus on innovation.
    * Knowledge and change management techniques can facilitate the embedding of innovation.
    * Offering both formal and informal training courses improves internal competencies related to innovation.