by Robyn Bolton | Mar 22, 2023 | Innovation
How do people react when you say “innovation?”
- Lean forward, eyes glittering, eager to hear more
- Stare blankly and nod slowly
- Roll their eyes and sigh
- Wave their hands dismissively and tell you to focus on other, more urgent priorities.
If you answered C, you’re in good company.
Innovation is a buzzword. Quick searches of Amazon and Google Scholar result in 100,000+ books and 200,000+ articles on the topic, while a scan of the SEC’s database yields 8,000 K-1 filings with the word “innovation” in 2020 alone.
“Innovation” is meaningless, like all buzzwords. There’s a reason that practitioners and consultants insist on establishing a common definition before starting innovation work. I’ve been in meetings with ten people, asked each person to define “innovation,” and heard 12 different answers.
But all this pales in comparison to the emotional response it elicits. Some people get incredibly excited, bouncing out of their seats, ready to bring their latest idea to life (whether it should be brought to life is a different story.). Some nod solemnly as if confronted by a necessary evil, accepting a fate beyond their control. Most roll their eyes because they’ve been through this before and, like all management “flavors of the month,” this too shall pass.
“Innovation” is killing Innovation
The emotions and opinions we tie to “innovation” overwhelm the dictionary definition, making it difficult to believe that the process and, more importantly, the result will be different this time.
We need a different word.
One that has the same meaning and none of the baggage.
This may feel impossible, but if “literally” can mean “figuratively” (do NOT get me started on this 2013 decision) and the Oxford English Dictionary can add 700 new words in 2022, surely we can figure this out.
10 alternatives to “Innovation”
The following options are sourced primarily from conversations with other experts and practitioners.
- Invention
- Ideation
- Incubation
- Improvement
- Creation
- Design
- Growth
- Transformation
- Business R&D*
Yes, #10 is intentionally missing because…
What do you think?
Finding a new word (or maybe changing how “innovation” is perceived, understood, and pursued) is a group effort. One person alone can’t do it, and a few people on a call complaining about the state of things certainly won’t (we’ve tried).
What do you think?
Do we need a different word for “innovation,” or should we keep it and deal with the baggage?
If we need a different word, what could it be? What do YOU use?
If we keep it, how do you combat the misunderstanding, eye rolls, and emotional baggage?
Let us know in the comments.
* This option came directly from a conversation with a client last week, and I kinda love it.
We discussed the challenge of getting engineers to stay in a discovery mindset rather than jumping immediately to solutions. Even though they work in R&D (the function), he observed that 99.9% of their work (and, honestly, their careers) is spent on the D in R&D (development).
That’s when it clicked.
Research begins with investigation and inquiry to understand a broad problem and then uses the resulting insights to solve a specific problem. It is a learning process, just like the early stages of Innovation. And, just like in the early days of Innovation, you can’t predict the result or routinize the work.
Development focuses on bringing the “new or modified product or process to production,” Just like the later phases of Innovation when prototyping and experimentation are required, and risk is driven out of the proposition.
Traditional R&D focuses on technical and scientific exploration and solutioning,
Innovation focuses on market, consumer/customer, and business model exploration and solutioning.
It is R&D for the business.
Business R&D.
by Robyn Bolton | Mar 17, 2023 | Podcasts
by Robyn Bolton | Mar 16, 2023 | Speaking
by Robyn Bolton | Mar 14, 2023 | Innovation, Leadership
Last week, as news of Silicon Valley Bank’s losses and eventual collapse, took over the news cycle, attention understandably turned to the devastating impact on the startup ecosystem.
Prospects brightened a bit on Monday with news that the federal government would make all depositors whole. Startups, VCs, and others in the ecosystem would be able to continue operations and make payroll, and SVB’s collapse would be just another cautionary tale.
But the impact of SVB’s collapse isn’t confined to the startup ecosystem or the banking industry.
Its impact (should have) struck fear and excitement into the hearts of every executive tasked with growing their business.
Your Portfolio’s Risk Profile Just Changed
The early 2000s were the heyday of innovation teams and skunkworks, but as these internal efforts struggled to produce significant results, companies started looking beyond their walls for innovation. Thus began the era of Corporate Venture Capital (CVC).
Innovation, companies realized, didn’t need to be incubated. It could be purchased.
Often at a lower price than the cost of an in-house team.
And it felt less risky. After all, other companies were doing it and it was a hot topic in the business press. Plus, making investments felt much more familiar and comfortable than running small-scale experiments and questioning the status quo.
Between 2010 and 2020, the number of corporate investors increased more than 6x to over 4,000, investment ballooned to nearly $170B in 2021 (up 142% from 2020), and 1,317 CVC-backed deals were closed in Q1 of 2020.
But, with SVB’s collapse, the perceived risk of startup investing suddenly changed.
Now startups feel riskier. Venture Capital firms are pulling back, and traditional banks are prohibited from stepping forward to provide the venture debt many startups rely on. While some see this as an opportunity for CVC to step up, that optimism ignores the fact that companies are, by nature and necessity, risk averse and more likely to follow the herd than lead it.
Why This is Bad News
As CVC, Open Innovation, and joint ventures became the preferred path to innovation and growth, internal innovation shifted to events – hackathons, shark tanks, and Silicon Valley field trips.
Employees were given the “freedom” to innovate within a set time and maybe even some training on tools like Design Thinking and Lean Startup. But behind closed doors, executives spoke of these events as employee retention efforts, not serious efforts to grow the business or advance critical strategies.
Employees eventually saw these events for what they were – innovation theater, activities designed to appease them and create feel-good stories for investors. In response, employees either left for places where innovation (or at least the curiosity and questions required) was welcomed, or they stayed, wiser and more cynical about management’s true intentions.
Then came the pandemic and a recession. Companies retreated further into themselves, focused more on core operations, and cut anything that wouldn’t generate financial results in 12 months or less.
Innovation muscles atrophied.
Just at the moment they need to be flexed most.
Why This is Good News
As the risk of investment in external innovation increases, companies will start looking for other ways to innovate and grow. Ways that feel less risky and give them more control.
They’ll rediscover Internal Innovation.
This is the silver lining of the dark SVB cloud – renewed investment in innovation, not as an event or activity to appease employees, but as a strategic tool critical to delivering strategic priorities and accelerating growth.
And, because this is our 2nd time around, we know it’s not about internal innovation teams OR external partners/investments. It’s about internal innovation teams AND external partners/investments.
Both are needed, and both can be successful if they:
- Are critical enablers of strategic priorities
- Pursue realistic goals (stretch, don’t splatter!)
- Receive the people and resources required to deliver against those goals
- Are empowered to choose progress over process
- Are supported by senior leaders with words AND actions
What To Do Now
When it comes to corporate innovation teams, many companies are starting from nothing. Some companies have files and playbooks they can dust off. A few have 1 or 2 people already working.
Whatever your starting point is, start now.
Just do me one favor. When you start pulling the team together, remember LL Cool J, “Don’t call it a comeback, I been here for years.”
by Robyn Bolton | Mar 1, 2023 | Innovation, Leadership
You want and need the best, most brilliant, most awesome-est people at your company. But with unemployment at a record low, the battle for top talent is fierce.
So, you vow not to enter the battle and invest in keeping your best people and building a reputation that attracts other extraordinary talents.
You offer high salaries, great benefits, flexible work arrangements, the prestige of working for your company, and the promise of rapid career progression. All things easily matched or beaten by other companies, so you get creative.
INNOVATION!
Your best people are full of ideas and have the confidence and energy to make things happen. So, you unleash them. You host hackathons and shark tanks. You install idea collection software and run contests. You offer training on how to be more innovative. You encourage employees to spend 20% of their time on passion projects.
And they quit.
They quit participating in all the opportunities you offer.
They quit sharing ideas.
They quit your company,
Not because they are ungrateful.
Or because they don’t want to innovate.
Or because they don’t have ideas.
They quit because they realize one of the following “truths”
They’re not “Innovators”
High performers believe they need to work on an innovation project to progress (because management explicitly or implicitly communicates this). But when they finally get their chance, they struggle. The project falls behind schedule, struggles to meet objectives, and is quietly canceled. They see this as a failure. They believe they failed.
But they didn’t fail. They learned something very uncomfortable – they’re not good at everything.
Innovation is different than Operation. When you’re operating, you’re working in a world full of knowledge, where cause and effect are predictable and “better” is easily defined. When you’re innovating, you’re working in a world full of assumptions, where things are unpredictable, patterns emerge slowly, and few things are defined. Most people are great at operating. Some people are great at innovating. Extraordinarily few are great at both.
Innovation is a hobby, not an imperative
The problem with innovation efforts like hackathons, shark tanks, and “20% Time” is that people pour their hearts and souls into them and get nothing in return. Sure, an award, a photo with the CEO, and bragging rights motivate them for a few weeks. But when their hard work isn’t nurtured, developed, and brought to a conclusion (either launched or shelved), they realize it was all a ruse.
They are disappointed but hope the next time will be different. It isn’t.
They stop participating to spend time on “more important” things (their “real” work). But they still care, so they keep tabs on other people’s efforts, quietly hoping this time will be different. It isn’t.
They grow cynical.
They choose to stay and accept that innovation isn’t valued or resign and go somewhere it is.
Their potential is bigger than your box
“I felt like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz. Before the training, the world was black and white. After, it was full color. I don’t want to go back to black and white.”
For this person, the training had gone wonderfully awry.
The training built their innovation skills but motivated them to find another job because it opened their eyes. They realized that while they loved the uncertainty and creativity of innovation, their place in the organization wouldn’t allow them to innovate. They were in a box on an org chart. They no longer wanted to be in that box, but the company expected them to stay.
But are these “truths” true?
As Mom always said, actions speak louder than words.
- Who does your company value more – innovators or operators? The answer lies in who you promote.
- Is innovation a strategic priority? The answer lies in where and how you allocate resources (people, money, and time).
- Do you want to retain the person or the resource? The answer lies in your willingness to support the person’s growth.
Speak the truth early and often
If a top performer struggles in an innovation role, don’t wait until the project “fails” to reassure them that operators are as (or more) important and loved as innovators. Connect them with senior execs who faced the same challenges. Make sure their next role is as desirable as their current one.
(Or, if innovators are truly valued more than operators, tell them that, too.)
If innovation is an imperative, commit as much time and effort to planning what happens after the event as you do planning the event itself. Have answers to how people will be freed up to continue to work on their projects, money will be allocated, and decisions will be made.
(Or, if innovation really is a corporate hobby, follow the model of top universities and let people participate f they want and give everyone else time off to pursue their hobbies).
If you want to retain the person more than the resource, work with them to plot a path to the next role. Be honest about the time and challenge of moving between boxes and the effects on their career. And if they still want to break out of the box, help them.
(Or, if you want them to stay in the box, tell them that, too.)
Don’t let Innovation! drive away your top talent. Use honesty to keep them.
