The Future of Innovation

A study from the ILO (Innovation in Large Organizations) Institute concludes that, in terms of process strategy, the most effective innovation programs

draw the widest possible inputs from all sources, within and beyond a company’s boundaries, including suppliers, customers, and broad networks of other sources; 



place this collection of ideas into competition with each other, with as much judgment coming directly from the marketplace as early as possible in the process;

and base their innovation processes in part on a back-to-front model, with a coherent plan and an effective team identified early in the innovation process for eventually moving successful new products or services from incubation to mainstream production.

The report, The Future of Innovation, is available at the ILO Institute Website. 



In terms of tactics and day-to-day practice, the report highlights three key points of consensus that are widely held among innovation executives at large corporations:

Vocal Support from the Top - - Strong and frequent messages from the CEO of an innovating corporation are essential. The core message must be vivid, perhaps even extreme: without a commitment to innovation, the company has no future. 



Refuge and Champion - - Innovators must be given refuge from day-to-day demands of corporate life to the fullest extent possible, and they need a senior management champion to “fly high cover,” as one former Procter & Gamble executive put it. 



Fight the Immune Response - - No matter how effective and heartfelt top-level support for the messy and threatening work of innovation is, large organizations can’t help but put barriers in the way of innovation. Innovation leaders have to expect this, and fight strategically against the various barriers certain to emerge, including “sales prevention departments” like legal and loss-prevention that will object to important new ideas; “feature creep” that loads good new ideas with too many expectations for performance features; and star treatment for high-performers who will often try to shoot down new projects they find personally threatening.