Understanding the Process of Change
Without a structure, the innovation process can seem complex, big and unachievable. However when you use structure, you simplify the process.
Companies look at innovations as breakthroughs and fail to think about incremental innovation. A good example is what happened concerning electric light using the Edison design. The design of the bulb did not change for 16 years after it was created. When a product and process improvement took place, the price of the bulb was reduced by about 80%.
Executives and managers break away from traditional ways of thinking and use change to their advantage. It is a time of risk but even greater opportunity if that risk is calibrated with process. The world of work is changing with the increase in the use of technology and both companies and businesses are becoming increasingly competitive.
Having methods for an open mindset is essential for a creative culture. A sense of inquiry, of curiosity for innovation. And the quickest way for removing curiosity is to have organizations that are too inward-facing. Taking the time to understand the world that they would like to have clients in. And clearly a sense of openness, and empathy for the world, for people whose problems they might be trying to solve-that’s essential.
The environment of trust must be created, where risks can be taken, mistakes will occur, and the extent of the risks is agreed and agreed upon. We tend in our operationally minded view of the world to try and mitigate and design out as much risk as we can, but if you want to innovate, you also have to stay open to change. And to stay open you must have a clear and true level of trust within the organization.
If people get penalized for failure, then there is no room to learn from trying something new, therefore change is not worth effort, in which case you’re not going to adopt any innovation.
In the organizational context, innovation may be linked to positive changes in efficiency, productivity, quality, competitiveness, and market share.
However, recent research findings highlight the complementary role of organizational culture in enabling organizations to translate innovative activity into tangible performance improvements. Organizations can also improve profits and performance by providing work groups opportunities and resources to innovate, in addition to employee’s core job tasks. Peter Drucker wrote:
Innovation is the specific function of entrepreneurship, whether in an existing business, a public service institution, or a new venture started by a lone individual in the family kitchen. It is the means by which the entrepreneur either creates new wealth-producing resources or endows existing resources with enhanced potential for creating wealth.
According to Clayton Christensen, disruptive innovation is the key to future success in business. The organization requires a proper structure in order to retain competitive advantage. It is necessary to create and nurture an environment of innovation. Executives and managers need to break away from traditional ways of thinking and use change to their advantage. It is a time of risk but even greater opportunity. The world of work is changing with the increase in the use of technology and both companies and businesses are becoming increasingly competitive. Companies will have to downsize or re-engineer their operations to remain competitive. This will affect employment as businesses will be forced to reduce the number of people employed while accomplishing the same amount of work if not more.
While disruptive innovation will typically “attack a traditional business model with a lower-cost solution and overtake incumbent firms quickly,” foundational innovation is slower, and typically has the potential to create new foundations for global technology systems over the longer term. Foundational innovation tends to transform business operating models as entirely new business models emerge over many years, with gradual and steady adoption of the innovation leading to waves of technological and institutional change that gain momentum more slowly.
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