The Illusion of innovation

0. Abstract

In this note, I’ll Discuss How can we look behind the curtain of the latest shiny new practice and tackle the core issues that truly will transform our organization.

1. A convenient lie!

I’ll make a couple of polarizing statements here, and I’m well aware that I’m opening up to some criticism as some part of my work contrasts with what I’m about to say.

When we talk about Innovation, most people believe it is reinventing the wheel and creating something entirely new and novel. And to achieve that, you need the latest new advance technique/technology/workshop or strategy.

To me, Innovation is not making something entirely new.

Innovation Is about solving a problem differently. Most of the time is solving problems that previously didn’t exist.

Innovation is about solving a problem more originally and effectively. Furthermore, Innovation is rarely absolute; it is mainly specific. We should ask ourselves. How can we solve a specific problem differently?

Here is where things start getting complicated. The real problem is not using the latest Technology or running a fancy workshop. These are all tools. Most of them are Fantastic tools but useless if we are not tackling the real problem.

This is why I always say that nowadays, problem finding is more important than problem-solving.

I believe that virtually every business problem comes down to four factors. 1. Purpose, 2. People, 3. Processes, or 4. Products. The hard part is identifying which of these factors or combination of factors needs improvement.

Creativity won’t solve the problem, Design-Thinking neither, Technology? Nop! Not even that.

Billion-dollar industries have been built on convincing you that there is an easy, effective what to make you become innovative. That there is an easy five steps process. I’m sorry to tell you. There isn’t. It’s hard work.

2. How can we actually tackle innovation?

The only real factors that enable innovation are culture and practices. It is the engrained corporate or organization culture that drives purpose, people, processes, and products to improve consistently.

It might sound simplistic but believe me; it is not.

Success is the result of what sociologists like to call “accumulative advantage”. Economists call it compounding interest. In biology there is an analogy, it’s the “ecology” of an organism.

So, why are there so many misconceptions about innovation?

One of the main reasons is that our Hyper-Dynamic and Hyper-connected world made us believe that significant change happens quickly. It doesn’t.

Anything important worth pursuing happens slowly and gradually.

Now here is the catch, this doesn’t mean that we need to ‘’rest on our laurels’’ and wait for inspiration to strike or letting our ideas brew.

Quite the opposite, we must act swiftly on setting a system in place to make change happen. But we also must acknowledge that this change of mindset and culture requires time and effort.

We must seize every single opportunity that presents to leverage the effect of the accumulative advantage. It is through this process of constant refinement that one learns new habits and ideas.

3. Compounding is a B****

Without exception, every time I advise leaders or organizations or give a speech and I discuss the compounding effect, everyone, absolutely everyone, gives me the nods of approval. They do that until I start hitting them with the Reality stick.

Everyone wants to be innovative. And no one is ever mundane or unimaginative. So, how is it possible that we have so few innovative organizations and so many ordinary ones?

Well, it is because the compounding effect is universal. It works whether we compound upwards or downwards. The marginal cost of doing something wrong “just this once” always seems alluringly low.

But the bad habits of not finding the best solution for the problem, to let people “figure it out” without support, delaying that advancement because we have other things to do. It compounds, making our organization slower and slower and slower.

There is a famous quote that states.

“The Chains of Habit Are Too Light To Be Felt Until They Are Too Heavy To Be Broken”

Innovation can’t be a spot project or activity but must become a pervasive practice within the organization, and it must become a milestone in the corporate culture.

4. The practice of Innovation

There are infinite practices to foster Innovation. Far too many to fit in one single note. But here is a small exercise that I often use when coaching leaders or students. It’s called reframing the challenge.

The single most detrimental statement that I heard in any organization is “We’ve Always Done It This Way.”

It is often said with good intention because it follows the other famous maxim “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” This is where the sneaky negative compounding sets in.

If we are afraid of change, there are precisely ZERO chances to instill a culture of Innovation. But Innovation doesn’t have to be always radical.

We can instill this mindset in a reasonably graceful way.

As a new challenge approaches, try to ask yourself, how can I reframe this challenge? This is a small exercise to reframe a challenge; it’s called the tangible outcome.

So let’s say you want to increase the company Sales.

So instead of folding back to what you have always done. (Make discounts, invest in marketing, hire more sales) try this.

List 3 to 5 tangible ways to increase sales

1….

2…

3…

4…

5…

Now list 3 to 5 tangible ways to NOT TO... (increase sales or lose sales)

1….

2…

3…

4…

5…

Draw your conclusions by reframing the challenge.

With this method, you might discover that, instead of doubling the sales force or investing in marketing. Having a better website or more responsive customer service are the actual root causes of the lack of sales. You can see now how a reframed challenge leads to more efficient and effective results.

There are hundreds of ways to reframe a challenge. The point here is to instill a practice and culture of embracing change by solving familiar problems in new ways.

5. Innovation is a duty

In his fantastic book Align, Professor of Management Practice at University of Oxford’s Jonathan Trevor explains in a much more sophisticated way that the seed of innovation lies in the alignment between Purpose People, Processes, and Products.

“Strategically aligned enterprises have a much better chance of winning in today’s challenging business environment. To win, enterprise leaders must find their own distinctive approach to aligning their business strategies, organizational capabilities, valuable resources, and management systems to fulfill their enterprise’s purpose. However, when confronted by the scale of their enterprise alignment challenge, we believe many leaders balk at the opportunity for positive but difficult change because of the unrelenting pressure for short-term results. The penalty is unsustainable performance and an uncertain future.”

When we embrace the innovation mindset, we create a culture and practice of innovation in our organization. Only with creativity and discipline, understanding the underlying system that drives our organization, will we harness the power of strategic compounding.

Becoming sustainable and long-lived.