We’re experiencing unprecedented change and disruption and rapidly changing technology is adding even more complexity. Innovation is no longer a choice, it’s a requirement. As Peter Drucker famously declared, ‘innovate or die’. But innovation requires new ways of doing things and at some point we run into resistance and roadblocks. Have you ever had a great idea but every step feels like a struggle?
Here are the most common roadblocks I see with my clients:
- Outdated policies preventing progress
- Test environments are locked down
- Too much time spent gathering ideas and no real delivery
- Technical expertise is not available
- Vendor engagement takes too long
- Can’t get access to the data you need
So how to you get around these roadblocks? Here are my recommended approaches:
1. Innovation leader. Sounds obvious but all too often I see innovation promoted as an empty goal without someone leading the innovation charge. Without leadership, innovation gets lost in other priorities. You need an innovation champion who sends a clear message on why innovation is critical to business success and helps free up resources.
2. Start small. Follow Intuit’s example of starting small with straightforward questions to spark innovation. How can you simplify a process? How can you remove a point of friction? How can we improve a product or service? Doing something is better than nothing and something often leads to innovation.
3. Get to yes meetings.
Instead of getting frustrated with what can’t be done, organize a ‘Get to Yes’ meeting and collaborate with each team to come up with workarounds. Separate the problem from the people and find solutions that work for everyone.
4. Test and scale fast. Use test environments segregated from production systems and sanitize corporate data. Once you can demonstrate results with test data, people will be motivated to help scale with production data.
5. Find Intrapreneurs in your organization. Intrapreneurs are your internal resources who love solving problems and creating new products and services. Harness their energy and point them at your biggest problems.
6. Align to company goals. For innovation to get traction, it must be tied to one or more of you company goals. Be clear on how your innovation contributes to improving safety, reducing cost or growing revenue. 3M and Google give employees free time to innovate. This works because clear company goals provide guidance to employees on how to spend their innovation time.
“If you want something new, you have to stop doing something old.” Peter F. Drucker
Innovation is not easy, especially in large companies with established ways of doing things. It’s often difficult for people to break free from existing work habits and process. But start small, scale fast and all it takes is a new technology and an open mind to create something amazing!