How Business Planning Helps Innovation?
You have to organize a company in such a way that the structure allows for as many experiments as possible at the same time. (Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos)
Thus, the conservative, hierarchical, error-free corporate culture is the key reason in it itself for the innovation disdain.
How can the company get rid of this logic?
- One could come up with an idea of asking the right questions to the company’s team members. The so-called “eulogy” (a piece of writing or speech given as a tribute of the dead) could change the attitude to innovation management. “Why did the company/project/idea die?” Arguing about how to avoid the death of your company given the rapid innovative growth of your competitors is critical to the acceptance of the innovation. This way the priorities: to try or to abstain — shift to the favor of the put-it-on-the-cast mode. For instance, lots of screw manufacturers have been once outperformed with the brand screw range initiated by the Würth company, the world market leader in the assembly, fastening materials, and screws, to which they refused their screw supplies. Their casualties are your opportunities.
- Internal and external communication is the next stage in building innovative prospects in the company. It’s about the dispositional share of knowledge, experiences, ideas: from one project group to another inside the company, from the top management to the team members, from one business enterprise to another etc.
There are zillions of different techniques how to elaborate on diminishing the bureaucracy while encouraging the inter-exchange and proper ideation process. I would like to highlight my company’s experience in innovation management. Mostly, what we do is delegate the power of the innovation to our clients. It is called Discovery Driven Learning made through the involvement of the customers in the decision-making process.
Every new financial model we construct is based on the assumptions on which the entrepreneur is eager to scale his business. The interaction gives us quality and appreciation. Hence, we do three things at the same time.
- We leave the space for innovative capacities in our models.
- We impart innovativeness to the core of the business idea.
- We listen to the customers’ say and transform their innovative hypothesis into potential profit.
As Henry Ford mentioned: “If I had asked my customers what they wanted they would have said a faster horse.”
Well, he had given us such. Look outside, perhaps, it is at the parking lot right now 😊!
Anyway, it is just one way to approach the issue of innovation management and strategy with dozens of KPIs existent in this due. Innovation is the idea, means, and market wisdom combined. Only if you can measure it, you can improve it.
