Overcoming Barriers to Enterprise Innovation

Transcription

1 Overcoming Barriers to Enterprise Innovation October 2010 Webinar Luis Solis EVP Growth/Innovation Imaginatik plc

2 Manufacturing The Perfect Storm May

3 Driving Innovation Supply Innovation supply refers to the quantity flow and quality of ideas over a sustained time period. When supply is low, two risks emerge: (i) idea inflation or (ii) inferior investments. Supply is stimulated by: Broad-based training: teach employees how to stretch thinking along new lines; provide tools to discover new insights; effectively use e-training Social media platforms: create an innovation democracy using the Web; personal profiles plus rich collaboration tools combine to bring out the best; capture diverse voices versus merely collecting suggested ideas Coaching and mentoring: many successful programs create skilled innovation advisors who then coach managers and employees; likely requires 1-2 weeks of annual training, plus separation from former job Reward and recognition: whether it is peer recognition, points, reputation ranking or a CEO awards luncheon, this dimension is among the most powerful to achieve commitment, diversity and team behaviors May

4 Driving Innovation Demand Leaders are responsible for innovation. Innovation demand can be stimulated a few different ways: Leader Accountability: hold senior and mid-level managers accountable and responsible for innovation via incentives (in annual plan) to mentor and nurture prospective innovators (e.g., how many certified Champions were contributed to the innovator pool?) Innovation Tournaments: what happens when the CEO requires each business unit to deliver one Breakthrough proposal per quarter to grow the business at least 5-10% p.a.? Demand stays high. Ambitious Goals: highly ambitious goals compel leaders to innovate, otherwise they will miss their goals. Leaders are driven to innovate when they must count on their people for innovation bridges to deliver results. May

5 Innovation as a Service May

6 Our Guests from Pitney Bowes Allison Dahl, Communications Lead Jeff Pierce, Challenge Architect May

7 Design for Change Overcoming barriers to Innovation at Pitney Bowes October 2010 Allison Dahl & Jeff Pierce May

8 EMPLOYEE INNOVATION & IDEANET CEO mandate: Engage. Innovate. Grow. Initiated out of R&D and Corporate Innovation Philosophy: Open, Customer-Centered and Iterative Mission: 1. Engage employees to participate in innovation 2. Foster a Culture of Innovation 3. Drive ideas to action to create organic growth Employee Value Proposition: Having a voice, being part of change and having the ability to influence the company, networking across the organization. May

9 QUICK FACTS 31,000 employees around the world 18,000 are wired Employee audiences are diverse in function, skill set, and location Commitment across the company with representation from all business units and corporate areas Business Units International Corporate Functions HR IT Legal Strategy & Innovation Finance May

10 QUICK FACTS 6000 employees around the world have logged into IdeaNet (33%) 50 Challenges in 2009 & 2010 Over 3000 ideas submitted, over 700 ideas have been committed to action to date May

11 KEY DESIGN ELEMENTS FOR CHANGE Its not about the tool - program design is the difference: 1. Understand the barriers to Innovation 2. Initial design to address the barriers 3. Iterate as you learn, active interventions keep it on track 1. Open Access 2. Senior Level Support 3. Challenge Architect 4. Communication Designer 5. Active Project Team 6. Decisions & Feedback May

12 1. OPEN ACCESS Barriers Lack of transparency Breaking down silos Attitude that leadership has all the answers glossing over problems Approach All Challenges are visible to all employees, invitations are targeted Objectives, ideas, and decisions are visible to all Highlights Ideas from all places: Engineering Intern s idea leads to pilot in Marketing services group Connections made from cross-pollination between business units May

13 2. SENIOR LEVEL SUPPORT Barriers Extremely limited dialogue with leadership Resistance to new methods of solving problems Perception of Program du Jour Approach CEO as sponsor: Innovation as part of his legacy and personal brand Senior leader objectives cascade from the top Created an executive steering committee (EIG) - embedded across the org Highlights CEO support: We absolutely need this as an objective because this won t happen overnight. EIG member presented progress at an SLC meeting (top 140 execs) Objectives success Year 1 100%, Year 2 designed to encourage behaviors we want to see, e.g. measuring progress/value May

14 RAISING THE BAR WITH OBJECTIVES 2009 Objective Engaged Workforce: % of units (business & corporate) sponsoring innovation challenges on IdeaNet, with results Engage employees Introduce Practice: Run 2 challenges per unit with actionable outcomes 2010 Objective Shareholder Value: Demonstrate progress and value on ideas for organic growth/process improvement and behaviors that promote culture of innovation. Behavior Change: Meet best practices, demonstrate progress & value 2011 Objective Shareholder Value: Demonstrate action (commitment, progress, and value) on ideas for organic growth and/or process improvements and behaviors that foster a culture of innovation. Tie IdeaNet to concrete business innovation objectives * Unit defined as an SMC member s organization May

15 3. CHALLENGE ARCHITECT Barriers Cultural bias against asking for help to meet objectives Insular and siloed approach to problem-solving Understanding of areas of control, influence, and interest: Fragmented accountability Role Frame challenges with Business Leaders Coach Project Teams Highlights The Vulnerable Leader: My business is shrinking, and I welcome contributions of employees to solve this business problem. Challenges are now focusing on concrete, existing objectives Project Teams are showing marked improvement May

16 4. COMMUNICATION DESIGNER Barriers Role Lack of awareness for innovation initiatives Limited transparency to strategic directions Disjointed global communication network Establish the Innovation brand Define the user experience: Sense of Place site interaction Execute messaging with consistency: Across and beyond the platform - Intranet, executive messages, internal promotions, external communications, outcomes & successes Highlights Regular and consistent messaging internally and externally Reaching offline populations Program events: Innovation Day, Open Space Meeting May

17 4. COMMUNICATION DESIGNER IdeaNet Home Page: Showing activity Attention to Results Resources & Info Brand architecture is used in all comms May

18 4. COMMUNICATION DESIGNER Telling stories about collaboration and results Materials reinforce awareness and process One-page explanations about IdeaNet Checklists for review teams May

19 5. ACTIVE PROJECT TEAMS Barriers Lack of synthesis capability Business Unit and functional silos Fragmented accountability and limited authority to implement ideas Role Conversation, not collection: Engage participants with an active dialogue and listening to meet objectives Evaluate, synthesize and shape ideas to recommend actions Thought diversity from across different organizations and roles Responsibility for the outcomes Highlights Moving from triage to synthesis: better shaped, no snap decisions, actively looking for the nugget Move from being Review meetings to Project Team Meetings May

20 6. DECISIONS & FEEDBACK Barriers Approach Unstructured decision making Lack of transparency and accountability Make a clear and public decision on action: yes or no, if yes, then what, who and in what time frame (Near Term, Long Term, In Progress) Results memo: Summarizes commitments and major actions, public declaration drives accountability Demonstrate program value by highlighting implementation and successes Highlights All challenges have results posted, providing visibility into actions Demonstrate long-term value by tracking successes May

21 ROI & Results Supply Line Organization Increase in Customer Satisfaction scores over 20% in less than one month after implementing a simple process improvement Sales Organization 3 major actions from contributed to a 20% increase in revenue year over year (Enhanced training, improved sales tools, and organizational structure changes) International Collaboration Cross-BU collaboration by two international units led to at least 3 new contracts worth over 300,000 HR Recognition Challenge on how employees want to be recognized produced a new global recognition program, the PB Star Award Branding Team Challenge Team for a new software product solicited ideas to name the product, a cost savings of $20,000 by leveraging employee creativity over hiring an outside firm May

22 FUTURE EFFORTS Embedding Challenges in BU innovation processes Linking to relevant & timely objectives How to build a tighter link to product management? Engaging Offline Employees Building Innovation Skills How can we better set clear criteria for ideas from the beginning? How do we build a capability for synthesis? Portfolio & Tracking How do we provide transparency into the larger innovation pipeline? How can we better track challenge outcomes in a systematic way? May