10 Insights to Be an Effective Innovator

Innovation is really difficult. That's why I love it actually. I love to do difficult things. My personal goal is to structure the front end of innovation to improve effectiveness. That's why I try to make innovation less complex, so others will be able to innovate their product – and service portfolios and organizations – themselves.

This is my 100rd post about innovation the last eighteen months on LinkedIn. I have deducted 10 practical insights to inspire you to be an effective innovator. Some are provoking. Others are simplifying. Please use them to lead your organizations in innovation:

1. Managers say yes to innovation only if doing nothing is a bigger risk. So pick the right moment. Innovation is risky. Only one out of seven innovation projects is successful. Saying yes to innovation is a step into the unknown. Many managers wait in reality until not innovating is not an option anymore. I like to quote the CEO of BMW AG, the German luxury car producer, Dr.-Ing. Norbert Reithofer. When asked why BMW started the risky E-car project with the BMWi-3 and i-8 he responded very honest: "Because doing nothing was even a bigger risk" [Autoweek 41-2013].
   
2. Innovators need the patience of a hunter to wait for a shot that you're sure you can make. As innovator, one of your most important roles is to build awareness that your company needs to innovate. Do not tell your managers they need to innovative, that is way to direct and will not be appreciated. You need to let them draw this conclusion themselves. They will only change their conservative views if they get fresh new insights. An effective innovator in a large organization acts with the patience of a hunter.
   
3. An organization is just like a herd. Focus on the slowest animals because they determine the pace. When they start running your organization really gets innovative. If the non-innovators lean back nothing moves. They determine the pace of the company. From the old English proverb "necessity is the mother of Invention" we learn that change starts with urgency. So the way to get non-innovators more innovative is to respect them, to understand them, to connect with them and to let them experience innovation is necessary. Talking to customers with changing needs, discovering new upcoming competitors, exploring new technologies will 'open them up'. They will realize our company will have to innovate.
   
4. A big idea is a new simple solution for a relevant customer problem or dream. We are all stuck into our habits. Reading the same journals for years. Driving the same car brand for years. Being insured by the same company for years. The only reason for us to change, is when we see a simple new solution for a problem or to make a dream come true.
   
5. If you don’t get new insights you won’t get new ideas. When do you get your great ideas? What strikes me most is that hardly anyone ever says "in a brainstorm" or "at my desk". It seems that if we STOP thinking, our best ideas pop into our minds. In my profession this is called incubation. It is defined as "a process of unconscious recombination of thought elements that were stimulated through conscious work at one point in time, resulting in novel ideas at some later point in time". So go out yourself exploring opportunities, discovering new trends and technologies and write down write down everything which comes to your mind early in the morning, while driving or walking in nature.
   
6. You can invent on your own, but in an organization you can never innovate alone! You can invent on your own, but in an organization you need an awful lot of colleagues and bosses to share your vision before a big change can truly take place. You need R&D engineers, production managers, IT staff, financial controllers, marketers, service people and salesmen to develop the product, produce it, get it on the market and service it. Therefore you have to give them a chance to discover for themselves, what different paths are possible, what can be developed and what is realistic. If you want to be an effective innovator integrate all disciplines in a team already at the front end of innovation.
   
7. Think outside the box and present your idea inside the box otherwise nothing will happen. I saw a lot of innovative people present ideas in a very original way: playing a movie, writing one huge post-it, and even by doing a flash mob. Of course the management in your company asked you to be innovative and expect you to break patterns. But when you present your idea to them it is wise to keep in mind that they are still as conservative as ever. Although they might have asked you to bring them revolutionary new ideas, present them something better: our next logical step with realistic potential for growth!
   
8. Nobody buys innovation from a clown so bring back a new business case. In the boardroom your idea will be evaluated from at least four perspectives like: The Customer: will they like it? The Business model: will it be profitable for us? The Technology: can we produce it? The Risk: what if it's a failure? What if it's huge success? You might answer these questions in the earliest phase of the innovation pipeline in a mini new business case. This is a clear, strategic, commercial, professional and financial plan for new initiatives; more of a ‘preview’ of the full business case.
   
9. The voice of the customer is your best support for a new concept. Companies which are need seekers, make a point of engaging customers directly to generate new ideas are the most successful. They develop new products and services based on superior end-user understanding. As innovator you better use the excellent assessments of your new product/service ideas within your company to get internal support and move your innovation initiative along the stage-gate innovation funnel.
   
   
10. Innovation does not stop at the first “No”. That’s the moment it really starts. Getting internal support for your innovative ideas, concepts, prototypes and business models is essential. Otherwise nothing happens. So be prepared for 'the firing squad' every innovator will meet on his/her way. In my early days in big corporate cultures I felt the resistance of others as a personal attack on my attempt to move the company really forward. I got too excited, too emotional, too upset and at the end of the day I was very disappointed in my company, my colleagues and myself. Then, when rationality came back, I stood up again and made a second attempt, and a third, and a.... Innovation does not stop at the first “No”. That’s the moment it really starts.
    

Wishing you lots of success with your innovation projects. Remember: real innovators never give up!