
This is the final installment of the first podcast in my series of conversations on innovation and innovation practice with leading innovation practitioners. In this three part discussion, I have been chatting Vincent Lyons, Vice President of Engineering & Technology for Leggett & Platt. Vincent joined Leggett & Platt in 2006 to head up the company’s Innovation Redefined initiatives and has achieved much in a short time.
In the first segment, Vincent and I talked about the universal challenges encountered by global 2000 companies when trying to create a sustainable innovation engine. In particular, we discussed how companies:
- have few if any models for repeatable means of innovation
- are pushed to rush to a solution by competition & time pressures
- lack the ability to leverage of internal corporate wisdom
- have limited visibility to relevant knowledge outside their domain of expertise
In the second segment, we explored the strategies for successful deployment of sustainable innovation practice. In particular, we touched on how to think about culture, personnel, process to drive innovation, communication, and impacts on the organization.
In this final discussion, we delve in to how these strategies are being put into action at Leggett & Platt to power their Innovation Redefined initiatives.
(Podcast length: 14:36)
I hope you have enjoyed the discussion series as much as I have.



Does Size Matter?
Over on Innovate on Purpose, Jeffrey Phillips discusses recent comments from Andy Grove regarding the ability of very large corporations to capitalize on disruptive opportunities by looking outside of their current market. However, small enterprises should take note as well.
Andyâs point is that with the critical mass of the mega-enterprise often come certain competencies that can be exported to new markets as innovations. But this concept can be generalized.
Companies have key competencies, whether these are business processes or technologies, which can be viewed as novel when applied outside of their primary market space. This is true regardless of size. The key is developing the disciplines to identify the intersection points between you organizations capabilities and the opportunity spaces of other markets. These intersections represent potentially disruptive opportunities.
Repurposing your process or technology assets can be a fairly painless way to find a huge opportunity in a new market where you can take the innovation high ground.
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