In the September 24 Wall Street Journal Technology Special Report, there is an interesting Q&A feature. The item, titled “Managing Innovation”, features four senior managers answering questions from Scott Thurm, management-news editor for The Wall Street Journal. Martin De Beer, Cisco Systems’ senior VP of the emerging technology group; Judith Estrin, chief executive of Packet Design; Douglas Merrill, Google’s VP of engineering and CIO; and Douglas Soloman, IDEO’s chief technology strategist participated in the Q&A.
The opening question addressed in the article probed the concept of thinking long term – specifically, “In a big company, how do you get people to think beyond 18 months if the whole company is focused on 18 months?” This is an interesting and provocative question as it cuts to the heart of the dilemma all companies, big and small, face: the need to balance short term needs with long term objectives. In the context of innovation, how can you build momentum around future strategic initiative when you are busy fighting the fires of today?
Both Ms. Estrin and Mr. Solomon correctly identify that the answer is more than just mounting a project to go define the future, but rather the answer lies in changing the cultural fabric of the organization to foster the seeds of innovation. While it would be easy to say that such a response is obvious, it is nonetheless a very important point. The need to innovate is a constant and compelling force in business.
Market climates change. Economic cycles have far reaching impacts. Competitive landscapes continuous evolve. Global dynamics create new demands almost daily. The innovation of today may not be pertinent twenty four months hence. Thus, there is a constant need to innovate and re-innovate. The companies that understand this and develop the disciplines and stamina to mount a permanent, sustained innovation program are the companies that will dominate their markets in the future.
Establishing a sustainable innovation program is a means to meld meeting short term needs with the long view. To build on Ms. Estrin’s gardening analogy, the traditional methods of cultivating new ideas in greenhouse environments have been shown to be ineffective at addressing many of the fundamental organizational barriers to innovation. As Ms. Estrin puts it, “…transplanting is the trickiest part of growing things.” How and when to reintegrate new concepts remains a major issue. This approach also compounds the fracturing of intellectual leverage by promoting the creation of knowledge silos within the organization.
A sustainable innovation program is a departure from the greenhouse mentality and is more akin to intensive gardening systems. Each plot in the garden grows a variety of crops. Each unit of the enterprise becomes equipped to drive innovation: both incremental innovation and radical innovation.
As Mr. De Beer notes, people don’t cease to be innovative thinkers just because they become part of a large organization. However, the organization must provide both the infrastructure of process and tools as well as the cultural support to allow these people to be effective at innovation. Often, the challenge for a large organization is simply knowing what it knows. If every worker is empowered with the means and knowledge to allow them to assess the relevance of each issue they address, the organization will be more effective at surfacing key innovations when and where they are needed.
The degree to which organizations understand the importance of taking this long view of innovation and develop innovation as a core competency will be a key factor in determining how effective they grapple both with today’s urgencies and tomorrow’s strategic needs. Sustainable innovation programs are the solution that will lead to the right balance for sustained success.
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