Better basics, better innovation
Want to get better at corporate innovation?
Then focus on developing your general business and industry acumen.
Questions of navigating the organisation, cultural issues, securing budget and executive support, creating strategic alignment, and finding the right talent have been answered many times before.
Surely some of that knowledge can be reused, even in the corporate innovation arena?
As I was reading the Benchmarking Innovation Impact 2023 research report, I couldn't help but notice that seven out of eleven challenges with corporate innovation are of rather generic nature:
| Challenge | 2023 |
|---|---|
| Politics / turf wars / no alignment | 35.80% |
| Cultural issues | 32.90% |
| Inability to act on signals or developments critical to the future of the business | 32.90% |
| Lack of budget | 32.40% |
| Lack of strategy, vision | 25.40% |
| Lack of executive support | 24.30% |
| Not adopting emerging technologies | 21.40% |
| Recruiting / not enough of high-demand skillsets | 19.10% |
| Other | 17.30% |
| Inability to pick up on signals or developments critical to the future of the business | 12.70% |
| Lack of CEO support | 4.00% |
Data source: Benchmarking Innovation Impact 2023, InnoLead
And I've experienced similar questions when working with my clients. Hence I keep advocating for the basics, since they create a sound foundation.
What good is innovation if the business itself is just a house of cards that will blow over at the slightest sign of trouble?