This document outlines 7 truths that can kill corporate innovation. The truths discussed are: 1) having the wrong people working on innovation, 2) being stuck in your own bubble, 3) moving too slowly, 4) incentivizing people incorrectly based on short-term goals, 5) using the wrong tools that don't allow for quick experimentation and iteration, 6) expecting quick silver bullet solutions, and 7) both benefiting from and being burdened by a company's proud legacy and history of success. The document advocates for bringing in outside perspectives, moving faster through experimentation and iteration, focusing on long-term innovation over short-term goals, and being willing to disrupt a company's own legacy when needed to drive innovation
4. Truth #1: You’ve Got The Wrong People
Working On It
Identifying and deploying the right people —
internally and externally — will make or
break your innovation efforts. Do you have
the right people working on your innovation
team? Are you sure? Would you be willing
to bet your future on it?
It shouldn’t be a perk or a rotating post or
someone’s 20%-part-time job.
6. Truth #1: You’ve Got The Wrong People Working On It
Look for the employees you’ve seen taking
calculated risks and who aren’t afraid to
experiment.
If you’ve hired well, you’ll find these game-
changers at all levels of your organization.
They are inquisitive, pick up new skills
quickly and aren’t afraid to rock the boat.
8. Truth #2: You’re Stuck In Your Own Bubble
You have to shake up the gene pool and bring
in smart people from the outside.
To do this you need to drink a little “startup
juice.” These startup outsiders don’t have
baggage, don’t know what’s been tried before,
will see your blind spots and aren’t beholden to
the status quo. They’ll come with fresh
perspectives and observations that never would
have occurred to you.
10. Another misstep is soliciting outside expertise
from within the bubble of the same industry. Many
corporations’ networks are weak and industry-
dependent. Smart problem-solvers from a
completely different field can bring valuable
insight.
If your company is open to this but doesn’t know
where to look, a matchmaker can find startups to
partner with you.
Truth #2: You’re Stuck In Your Own Bubble
12. Truth #3: You’re Moving Too Slowly
A lot of corporations do a great job collecting new
ideas from employees or other sources, but move
too slowly, lacking the ability to experiment,
iterate and execute quickly. There are many
reasons for this, such as the complexity of
running a huge company, but even large
companies can imitate the rhythm of a startup.
14. Many corporate executives say things just
can’t move very fast in their organization,
mostly because of the need for consensus. If
you’re in this boat, the way decisions are
made at your company needs to change.
Truth #3: You’re Moving Too Slowly
16. Truth #4: You’re Incentivizing People All Wrong
The larger and more public the company, the
more it’s probably focused on short-term or
quarterly results. Executives and other leaders
are expected to deliver on these cycles and
press their employees to do the same. Thus
compensation tends to be based on what best
serves that rhythm.
The problem is that short-term incentives lead
to short-term thinking and short-term risk
taking.
18. Truth #4: You’re Incentivizing People All Wrong
Innovation, on the other hand, requires longer-
term patience — and a lot of risk and failure.
Innovations will not return a profit next quarter,
next year or maybe ever, but when they do hit, it
can be game changing.
23. Truth #5: You’re Using The Wrong Tools
How do you experiment quickly, when it
takes forever to build the technology? The
answer: Don’t build all the technology
yourself (or don’t build technology at all — test
and iterate with a minimal viable product
process).
Look for the tools that offer fast ways to
launch and learn quickly and worry about the
technology scaling only after you’ve
determined the parts you really need to
scale.
24. Truth #5: You’re Using The Wrong Tools
Many corporations are hesitant to play with
hacked-together, off-the-shelf-software, opting
instead to stop and build internal proprietary
systems or wait until all of the features are “just
right” before launching. In the time it takes to do
that, a thousand startups will have bought, built,
or hacked together software, launched,
experimented, and repeated the cycle with real
customers in the real market.
27. Truth #6: You’re Expecting A Silver Bullet.
By Next Quarter
While corporations can be as slow to turn
as the Titanic, in other ways they are
impatient, probably due to those quarterly
financial demands (see above). There is
unfortunately no silver bullet.
It’s not enough to only hold innovation
training and expect everyone to suddenly
become “Intrapreneurs” with instant results.
It’s not enough to try a single solution and
give up when it doesn’t work.
28. Truth #6: You’re Expecting A Silver Bullet.
By Next Quarter
Corporations need to get into the habit of
long-term thinking with short-term execution.
It takes time and patience to launch,
measure, iterate, launch, measure, iterate.
Over and over and over. This “slow down to
move fast” methodology requires time,
patience, and the talent to execute.
30. Truth #7: Your Company’s Proud Legacy
Is A Blessing And A Curse
Your decades-old company may have enjoyed
incredible success. It may have defined a
generation, monopolized a lucrative industry —
changed the world even. That’s the blessing
part.
The dark side of legacy is when it becomes
baggage, and baggage is something start-ups
do not have.
31. Truth #7: Your Company’s Proud Legacy Is
A Blessing And A Curse
Source
32. Truth #7: Your Company’s Proud Legacy Is
A Blessing And A Curse
Disrupting what you’ve been so good at for
so many years can be extremely hard to
do. Setting out to transform it may seem
sacrilegious, but a necessity. Use your
size, resources, and relationships to act
quickly and execute.
33. In the end, the path to disruptive
innovation can be scary, but it’s even
scarier when you’re unprepared or slow
to respond.
Don’t let those ravenous, rule-breaking
startups make you another statistic in
the long line of those who acted a little
too late. The choice is yours.
Read More About The 7 Truths Here
34. Thanks for reading — We’re Econic and we give
companies the spaces, skills and strategies to
accelerate innovation.
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