Canon of Knowledge
Chartered Institute of Marketing
Innovation
Objectives
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The Canon of Knowledge is a focused, dynamic
reference and inspiration source for Marketers. The
Canon covers a number of subjects - Innovation is
just one of them.
The aim is to identify and promote the information
and knowledge about Innovation, which is critical to
successful marketing practice.
Contents
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The basic questions
Innovation management
Inspiring innovators
Software and innovation
Practical innovation knowledge
…and what to know about creativity
“The
business has…two basic functions:
marketing and innovation. Marketing and
innovation produce results; all the rest are
costs”
Peter Drucker
Why innovate?

Innovation is a crucial source of competitive
advantage:
Nokia, Intel, Sony, Seiko, Corning & Motorola have all generated sustained
competitive advantage. These firms have generated 49% of their revenue
through new products versus 11% for mediocre performers.
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Without innovation core competencies can
become core rigidities
What is Innovation?
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A Choice of Definitions:
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Innovation is the sum of invention plus the commercialisation of that
invention. (D.R. Ireland)
A major innovation is one that sparks further innovations and
investment (e.g. the computer) as opposed to other innovations which
are primarily improvements (N. Rosenberg)
Innovation is a process by which a company
 Builds insights about its customers
 Identifies and evaluates unique market opportunities and prepares
a plan to seize them
 Develops a stream of winning products (JP Deschamps)
An Invention is a new product; an Innovation is a new customer benefit
(P. Doyle)
What is Innovation?
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A Choice of Definitions:
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“..the ability to look where everyone else is looking and see what no-one
else can see.” Richard J Duggan
Innovation is the practical application and use of creativity
“Creativity is thinking up new things” .“Invention shows it can be made”
“Innovation is making it commercially valuable”
Research is the Transformation of Money into Knowledge - Innovation
is the Transformation of Knowledge into Money
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A.C./ McD
What is Innovation?
Commercial Innovation
New Products
New Services
Business
Processes
Manufacturing
Processes
What is Innovation? Terminology
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“Dimensions” of innovation
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product
service
process (manufacturing or service delivery system)
business process
Degrees of innovation
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incremental
radical / fundamental
Where does innovation come
from?
While the sources for innovations are literally all around us, there
are two avenues to harness them:

Formal Innovation Processes
 External Innovation, such as innovation outsourcing or a
formalised external scouting structure / network.
 Institutional Innovation
 Internal R&D
 NPD processes
 New Venture Division / Internal Venture Capital mindset
 Cultural innovation
 Innovation is at the centre of management efforts (3M,
Rubbermaid)
Where does innovation come
from?
Informal Innovation Processes
 Individual ideas and observations (often the source of
entrepreneurship)
 Innovation Camps (professionally orchestrated, strategically
directed idea generation sessions).
 Brainstorming sessions (‘let a 1000 flowers bloom’; weird &
wacky & all is welcome
Innovation Management
Managing Innovation
Innovation Strategy
Creativity / Ideas
Management
Portfolio
Management
• Goals
• Communication
• Technology
• Measures
Implementation
(NPD, etc)
Human Resource Management
• Culture
• Motivation
• Appraisal
Market
-Products
-Processes
-Services
Innovation Strategy
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Has innovation been introduced as a fundamental part of your company
philosophy and values?
What is the role of technology in innovation?
Does top management spend sufficient time supporting all stages of
innovation?
Are competitors’ innovation rates known/monitored?
Are innovation goals / measures defined - for new products, services
and processes?
Is there a good balance of truly innovative projects as well as product
improvements?
Does your innovation strategy integrate all five areas of innovation
management?
Creativity & Knowledge
Management
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Are creative ideas collected on a regular basis from all
employees?
How many ideas for new products, services and processes
were developed in the last 12 months?
Do ideas originate from all departments, often from contacts with
customers?
Are ideas quickly developed into new product / service
concepts?
Are creativity techniques and workshops used?
Portfolio Management
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Is there a good balance of ideas for new products, services and
processes?
Are concept reviews held regularly?
Are choices made quickly?
Is there a good feedback mechanism from actual product
performance to ensure screening decisions
Does the responsibility for screening decisions lie too high in
the company hierarchy?
Implementation
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Is this a bottleneck stage, because too many projects are
attempted?
Are best practice techniques such as simultaneous engineering
applied, where appropriate?
Is your time-to-market comparable to your competitors?
Are manufacturing ramp-ups fast and efficient?
Does manufacturing regularly develop new processes?
Are project reviews effective and used to improve performance?
HRM - People Management
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Is the broad meaning and importance of innovation-new
products, services and processes- understood by all
employees?
Are clear innovation targets set and known by all employees?
Do human resource policies support a culture of innovation
through stimulating a creative, problem-solving working
environment? Are organizational structures flexible and
effective?
Is innovation covered by employees’ appraisals?
Innovation Strategy
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Has innovation been introduced as a fundamental part of your company philosophy and values?
What is the role of technology in innovation?
Does top management spend sufficient time supporting all stages of innovation?
Are the innovation rates of competitors known and monitored?
Are innovation goals - for new products, services and processes - defined?
Is there a good balance of truly innovative projects as well as product improvements?
Does your innovation strategy integrate all five areas of innovation management?
Creativity Management
• Are creative ideas collected on a
regular basis from all employees?
• How many ideas for new
products, services and processes
were developed in the last 12
months?
• Do ideas originate from all
departments, often from contacts
with customers?
• Are ideas quickly developed into
new product / service concepts?
• Are creativity techniques and
workshops used?
Portfolio Management
• Is there a good balance of ideas for
new products, services and
processes?
• Are concept reviews held
regularly?
• Are choices made quickly?
• Is there a good feedback
mechanism from actual product
performance to ensure screening
decisions
• Does the responsibility for
screening decisions lie too high in
the company hierarchy?
Implementation (NPD, etc)
• Is this a bottleneck stage, because
too many projects are attempted?
• Are best practice techniques such
as simultaneous engineering
applied, where appropriate?
• Is your time-to-market comparable
to your competitors?
• Are manufacturing ramp-ups fast
and efficient?
• Does manufacturing regularly
develop new processes?
• Are project reviews effective and
used to improve performance?
Human Resource Management
•
•
•
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Is the broad meaning and importance of innovation-new products, services and processes- understood by all employees?
Are clear innovation targets set and known by all employees?
Do human resource policies support a culture of innovation through stimulating a creative, problem-solving working
environment? Are organizational structures flexible and effective?
Is innovation covered by employees’ appraisals?
Upstream innovation
definition
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Jean-Phillipe Deschamps argues that Innovation can be managed as a
linear process and split into two major parts:
upstream innovation - the process of developing and cultivating ideas
for new business creation and evaluating their merit
downstream innovation - the process of converting selected
opportunities from concepts to market-ready products or services.
Most companies have a formal downstream process, but very few
manage the upstream process in a formal way, which creates fewer
ideas and fewer innovations linked to business goals. He details three
stages to the upstream process:
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Fertilisation: Envisioning Opportunities (usually a top mgmt. task)
Seeding: Generating & validating the Idea Flow (innovation teams, etc)
Incubation: Managing the early feasibility process (budgets, feedback, time
frame)
Upstream innovation
Some ideas for getting upstream results:
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The 3M example of allowing certain employees up to 20% of
their paid time on independent research efforts
Insist on working with people who have their ear to the
ground, who ‘have seen the ocean’ and who have the
ability to network with intelligent purpose.
Professionally managed Employee Idea Schemes (caution:
many fail because they are poorly conceived and managed).
‘Thinking Communities’ and ‘Knowledge Forums’ as
Intranet’s within the organisation
Upstream innovation
Some ideas for getting upstream results:
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Mixing cultures, skills, functions, age and gender within idea
teams
Creating an Intrapreneur structure / philosophy
Creating a New Venture Incubation unit / division.
Innovation Task Forces for Product, Services, Processes,
Technology,
Setting Strategic Innovation goals as major management
focus (Rubbermaid’s goal to have 50% of their products less
than 5 years old)
Upstream innovation
Some challenging views:
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Brian Quinn, Amos Tuck Business School, having studied GE,
IBM, Polaroid, etc. found that not a single major product
innovation has originated from a company’s formal planning
process.
Karl Kalcher, MindFolio Ltd, having worked with Clarks, LEGO,
Motorola, HP, Polaroid on innovations believes that companies
must encourage rebels and missionaries, revel in managing
creative tension and strive to obtain results through a parallel
process of quick experiments and disciplined innovation
methodology. And they must insist on managing a tight AfterAction-Review for every try.
Upstream innovation
Some challenging views:
.
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Motorola believes in creating new avenues through ‘learning by
doing’
Most practitioners agree that ‘cross-functional project teams’
are the only way…
Intel insist on ‘staying scared’, believing that they are, at all
times, only two years away from bankruptcy.
Dana requires employees to generate two ideas for process
innovations each month (and supports them with corresponding
training too)
Pocket guide to ‘Poor Innovation
Management’
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Here is choice of actions or omissions which will guarantee ‘The Poor
Innovation Management Prize’:
Do not communicate with employees about Innovation objectives, goals,
etc.
Make clear to staff that Innovation is the task of R&D only and everyone
else should just ‘work’.
Give R&D even more money, but because they are ‘creative’ they can’t
be held to tight deliverables or transparent After-Action Reviews.
Don’t permit ideas to surface because they may threaten the existing
business
Close your eyes to the costly habits of ‘gilding the lily’, over- perfection
and over-specification, all in the name of ‘good quality’.
Innovation is all about products; not services or processes.
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Do believe that NIH - the ‘not invented here’ disease - has been cured!
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Pocket guide to ‘Poor Innovation
Management’
Send the Wrong signals
“It’ll Never Work”
“We Explored That Thoroughly 10 Years Ago”
“OK, If We Can Get Somebody Else to Pay for It”
“We’re Too Shorthanded to Work on Blue Sky Ideas”
“It’s Not in the Business Plan”
“It’s Not Your Job to Talk to Customers”
A.C./ McD/3M
Pocket guide to ‘Poor Innovation
Management’
Rules to avoid Innovation
• Be Suspicious of Every Idea that Originated Below You
• Insist that People Go Through All Levels
With a New Idea
• Express Criticism and Withhold Praise
• Make a Decision to Reorganise in Secret and
Maximise Surprise
• Be Control Conscious
• Never Forget that People at the Top Know Everything
A.C./ McD/3M
Pocket guide to ‘Better Innovation
Management’
Rules to improve Innovation
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Increase base of knowledge upon which innovation can be based
Education should not focus on specific skills
Make change based on what you want
Blur distinctions between jobs
Base salary on what someone can do (potential)
Don’t shield information - good or bad
Daily team meetings
Give logical and compelling reasons for change
Establish favorable workplace climate for change and trust
A.C./ McD/3M
Pocket guide to ‘Better Innovation
Management’
To activate Innovation
• You need to know where you want to go - VISION
• You need to know where the rest of the world is going
- FORESIGHT
• You need ambition - STRETCH GOALS
• You need freedom to achieve your goals - EMPOWERMENT
• You need to draw from and work with others COMMUNICATION, NETWORKING
• You need to be rewarded for your efforts there is nothing more rewarding than
RECOGNITION from your peers
A.C./ McD/3M
BEST PRACTICES IN
INNOVATIION
Inspiring Innovators
Innovation in Manufacturing Trends
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Was focused on products, NPD processes and time-to-market
Now moving to more flexible NPD processes (faster less formal);
auditing innovation performance
Greater focus on choosing the right innovation projects (portfolio
management)
Clever use of process and service innovation to strengthen
competitive advantage
Innovation in Service Industries Trends
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High level of interest in improving performance
Focusing on better/documented “living” processes
Conducting innovation audits to determine current performance
levels
Moving to look at other types of innovation - not just product and
delivery
Attempting to implement more effective cross-functional teams
Inspiring innovators – 3M
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3M The company:
3M is dedicated to the innovation of products in over 28 sectors – from adhesives to
products for cars. 3M is an American company with global offices. Most employees
are hired locally because they know their markets, customs and culture better than
anyone – their global network helps bring customers innovative and useful products.
Just some of 3Ms’ products
(picture)
(picture)
The post –it notes.
The inhaler
Inspiring Innovators – 3M
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The culture of innovation
Innovation is encouraged from the top – 3Ms motto is “we are forever new”.
Cross-functional teams work in the products sectors, e.g. automotive products, office
products.
New ideas are encouraged within those sectors
Constant tweaks are made to those products to fulfil customer needs
Ideas are sought from outside 3M to improve the quality of upstream innovation
There is continual measurement of the innovation process through the 6th Sigma
software system
Give it
a go
attitude
Give a
person a job
&the
freedom
to do it
Recognition
Tolerance
of mistakes
Teams
3M
Defiant
role
models
Tolerance
of
bootlegging
THE
CUSTOMER
Self
appointed
innovators
Management
by
walking
around
15% rule
Growth
with the
business
30% new
product
rule
A.C./ McD/3M
Inspiring innovators - DYSON
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The company
Dyson emerged during the 1990s as one of the leading vacuum cleaner
manufacturers through the creation and production of the paperless bag
vacuum cleaner – no other manufacturer’s vacuum cleaner came close.
The Products
(picture)
The most powerful upright
45% more suction than a Dual Cyclone
(picture)
The only 2-drum wash action
Inspiring innovators - Dyson
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The Culture of Innovation
Leadership:
James Dyson, the creator of the dual cyclone vacuum
cleaner and founder of Dyson gives sets the tone for innovation at Dyson.
The teams: Design staff work in teams and wear casual clothing, so
that they have nothing to hide behind. Ideas are continually brainstormed
and then built accordingly. Every member of staff when they join Dyson
has to build one of the vacuum cleaners.
Design teams are within easy reach of the production lines, so they can
walk over and talk with those manufacturing the vacuum cleaners to ensure
that any problems are countered early on.
Inspiring innovators: Dyson
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Control Mechanisms
Dyson vacuum cleaners are constantly taken to homes and users
are asked what their likes and dislikes are. Changes are mad to the
vacuum cleaners in accordance with the customers wishes. Design
changes are made in the cross-functional teams.
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New products and New ideas
In the words of James Dyson, you know the feeling when some
everyday product lets you down. “I could have designed this better
myself”. Each employee is encouraged to think in this manner.
The product is then designed and redefined accordingly.
Inspiring innovators: Convergis
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The Company
Convergis is a world-wide leader in innovative billing systems. The
billing software is used by large organisations to bill their customers.
Convergis is renowned for the scalability of its products.
In the fast moving telecom sector constant innovation is vital.
Organisations that do not innovate will die.
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The Products
Software for billing. The products and business to business
Inspiring Innovators: Convergis
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The culture
A vision of innovation comes from the top
Cross functional teams
Trusting culture in a market area where there is constant breakthrough
innovation
The products are constantly tried and tested by customer and the product is
tweaked accordingly
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The Control
Convergis get constant feedback from customers, market research teams,
such as the Yankee group. Speaking at conferences gives them the
opportunity to discuss their products with others in the sector
Inspiring Innovators: MBNA
The Company
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MBNA (Maryland Bank National America) is an American company
specialising in lending credit card lending to the consumer markets.
Over the last 9 years MBNA has captured over 13% of the market in
the UK and is still growing strongly.
MBNA has been truly innovative in the way it has developed the
customer service processes and channels to customer
Products
MBNA Credit Card
Insurance
Inspiring Innovators: MBNA
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The Culture
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MBNA believe that “employing the right people leads to acquiring the right customer”
Employees are given career path
Salaries are well above the local and industry norms
Customer service staff are empowered through training to give customers the right
advice and solve their problems
55% of customer service staff’s time is spent in training
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The Control Mechanisms
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MBNA monitors the activities in the customer services department on a daily basis
Customer service department know how they are performing on a daily basis.
Excellent service is rewarded accordingly by the company
Customers are constantly asked their opinion, MBNA’s 5% customer attrition rate is
the lowest in the business, it speaks for itself.
Inspiring Innovation in Insurance
First-to-market?
Commercial Innovation
+?
New Insurance
Policies
New services
+
Customer
Profiling
Pre-sales
+
+
Use of
3rd Parties
+
Channels
Software for innovation
Case studies of software support
Software-based innovation
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Software provides the critical mechanism through which managers
can lower costs, compress time cycles, decrease risks and increase
the value of innovations.
Software can be used to:
Define how people interact
Dictate the information they use
Determine what they communicate about
Identify where they can be located
Enhance the skills
It can become integral to the organisation
Innovation software
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What type of innovation software exists:
Innovation software exists to support the innovative thought and processes of
the company. Usually software can only support one part of the process,
either the initial ideas creation, the portfolio management or the new
product development phase.
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Creative and New Ideas: Software exists to assist a small team bouncing
ideas of one another. Generating new ideas is very often the biggest
challenge for companies so, having software gives the teams support and a
structure.
Portfolio Management: Developing new ideas, then leads to having to
create a selection process by which only the best ideas get through. An
example of this type of software is at Oxford Assymetry where software has
been developed by Steve Davies to identify new compounds which are
more likely to be made into drugs.
Innovation software
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Knowledge Management: Managing data and ideas within a
company is another means to improving the quality of innovation in
a company. Software gives employees access to other employees
documented findings. Companies such as PA consulting, Cap
Gemini and McKinsey specialise in developing and implementing
such software.
Measuring software: Software also exists for companies to pinpoint
their progress on specific projects. Such software is developed by
such companies as Q Management, Fishbone and Kaiser.
New Product Development: The stage gate process usually
requires various teams working in parallel and a considerable
amount of resource allocation. Such software provides information
on who is working on which project and also gives a cross
comparison.
Innovation software - selection

There is a wide selection of software available, each has the potential to
help with a different part of the innovation pathway. Some of the software is
only suited to a particular size of company. A website giving you a list of
different types of software is as follows:www.zdnet.com
How to decide to purchase software:
 Identifying why you need the software
 Listing the costs versus the benefits
 What are the advantages of using software rather than other nonsoftware processes
 How long will the implementation take
 Is the software suited to the size of the project
Innovation software: KODAK
The company
Kodak produces films and cameras for both the
commercial and industrial markets. Such a company
constantly needs to evolve.

The software:
 Kodak have a worldwide system, WIN. This is a
database which generates cross-functional ideas. The
company wanted to stimulate ideas in an informal
manner
 96% of the ideas generated through WIN were unusable
Innovation software: KODAK
What was the problem with WIN?
 96% of the ideas generated through WIN were unusable
 WIN was modified by installing “idea focus”, this served
as an early filter. It focussed on real customer needs,
advocates and short proposals
Innovation software: Hewlett
Packard
Hewlett Packard
Computer company that constantly seeks develop new products for this
ever burgeoning market.
The software:
To assist new concepts and ideas Hewlett Packard use the intranet.
This system enabled employees to exchange ideas and the email
was programmed so that if one employee wrote an email on a
specific subject they would be put in touch with another employee
who had written an email on a similar subject.
Innovation software: CGEY

The Company: CGEY
CGEY is one of the largest management consultancy firms in
the World providing effective solutions through every part of the
business cycle from first ideas to long term operations.
The Software: Knowledge Management
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Employee Structure: Professions divided into communities
Community Portal:
Discussion forum set up where community members can share
knowledge.Primarily used to integrate and implement gain access to
knowledge on projects and clients.
Components are generally purchased off the shelf from existing partners.
Practical Innovation
Knowledge
Starting with the Mindset
The innovation mindset
Effective innovation management starts with you and your mindset.
Here are some ‘Lessons Learnt’ from practitioners who have
developed many new businesses and products.
• Innovation is a company wide process and involves all aspects of
the Value Chain on an on-going basis. Too many managers have a
very narrow view of Innovation, i.e. it only concerns New Product
Development or R&D.
• Marketers carry the ‘Duty of Initiative’ for innovations. The key
driving force for innovations are customer benefits and, therefore, it
is the Marketer who should identify and galvanise the business to
seek new solutions.
The innovation mindset

“Life is too short to wait for Eureka”. New thinking, idea generation,
innovations do not, for the most, rely on sudden flashes of brilliance.
A disciplined, creative innovation process will yield surprisingly
effective results and will usually involve a multitude of people. As
with most things, its about smart, hard work rather than ‘hope’.
Specialist Innovation Consultants can be valuable catalysts during a
specific process.
Constraint is the essence of creativity. In order to gain effective
results from an innovation process, managers must clarify
‘essential constraints’, not just budgets. Most innovation teams will
find solutions to the most difficult challenges if the ‘road map’ is
clear from the outset. Moving goalposts several times during a
process will usually kill spirit and outcome.
The innovation mindset
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A generous budget is no substitute for poor or indifferent top
management. Disunity amongst senior managers about the
direction or the priority of a given innovation project will sink any
effort by the innovation team. It is essential, therefore, to ensure that
consensus exists within the management team prior to project
commencement.
Essential Innovation Ingredients: ‘Hard Fun’, inspirational
leadership, internal and external people with different skills and
outlooks, a clear brief, reasonable funds against reasonable
deliverables, some training about idea generation and effective
creative processes and..customer focus.
Mindset: A New Spiritual Goal
In a world of rapid and continuous
change, we must have the courage
and vision to challenge our traditional
assumptions, defy prevailing business
currents, identify opportunities and go
after them, changing the rules of the game,
to bring unlooked-for benefits to
customers
A.C./ McD/L.Burnett
Mindset: A New Spiritual Goal
The Way Forward…
Put imagination before experience
(innovation not optimisation)
“Go against the flow”
Create the future
that we want
A.C./ McD/L.Burnett
Mindset: A New Spiritual Goal
To Create Our Future We Must Be Prepared to...

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Challenge industry conventions
Challenge our own assumptions about the
nature of the business we are in
Learn from others
A.C./ McD/L.Burnett
Mindset: A New Spiritual Goal
To Create Our Future We Must Be Prepared to...

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Create alternative pictures of the future
Create new customer needs rather than
merely satisfying existing ones
Leverage the inherent power of our brand
A.C./ McD/L.Burnett
Measuring innovation

A frequent weakness of management is to think through and set
realistic expectations for a project. Good projects can thus be
damned to failure before they even got off the ground and prevent
the spreading of a positive innovation culture.

There are four categories of Innovation Measurement:
 measuring the internal skill base / efforts
 e.g. patents per employee; R&D expenditure in relation to
competitors, etc
 measuring the results
 e.g. New Product share of total profits; Time to Market, Break
Even Time, etc
Measuring innovation


measuring innovation culture
 e.g. Response Times to competitor action, cross-functional
projects as % of total, etc
management accounts
 e.g. R&D costs as % of revenue, etc; Innovation costs
dedicated to core business, new business and early trials,
etc
Protecting innovation
Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) come in many forms, e.g. patenting a
technical invention, protecting a design, trade marking a logo,
product or service and / or copyrighting of a piece of creative work.
The following sources can provide further assistance:
 Patent Office
www.patent.gov.uk
 Chartered Institute of Patent Agents, London, 020 7405 9450
 IPR helpdesk
www.ipr-helpdesk.org
 Government
www.intellectual-property.gov.uk
 EU registrations Lovells-Boesebeck-Droste, Alicante, Spain
+34 96 514 41 05
Outsourcing innovation
The basic premise of Innovation Outsourcing is the fact that no single
company can hope to possess all the resources, skills, eyes and
ears and, especially, time, to grow the business successfully.
The decision to outsource is preceded by a strategic process in
which the company examines their Value Chain, their processes
and activities in order to determine the scope for Innovation
Outsourcing. The basic objectives are to:
 lower innovation costs
 speed up development cycles
 gain untapped knowledge
 spread risks
 know more and act faster than competitors
Outsourcing Innovation



The most popular avenues for outsourcing are in Basic Research and Supplier
Integration. Cisco Systems is a much quoted example. Johnson Control has led the
car industry in forward integration, delivering ever more complex sub-systems to car
assembly lines.
Some ‘golden rules’:
 Give and Take; the partner must benefit, too
 A chance for talented intrapreneurs to head the process
 A cross-functional approach; superior communication facilities, accessible
software process tools.
 Respect the ‘centres of gravity’; be very clear about the ‘what & when’, but be
tolerant about the ‘how’.
Scanning for feasible New Opportunities or the management of certain elements of
the Innovation / New Product Development is provided by specialist Innovation
Consultant firms or universities. Some very large companies finance their own
‘scanning unit’.
New Product Development
Detailed descriptions of NPD processes exceeds the scope of this
Canon, save to say that the task remains one of the constant battles
for improvements for most companies, however here are some
useful hints for ‘Best Practices’:
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The Stage / Gate process is still amongst the most popular methods
There is increasing focus on fast prototyping and accelerated
exposure to customers
Cross-functional teams are de rigueur, however, accountability
problems have dogged some teams. One response is to extend the
responsibilities of the Project Team beyond the launch period.
New Product Development
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NPD processes are notoriously ‘individual’, even undisciplined to
the point of amateurish. Companies are now looking to invest in the
‘very best practices’, increasingly supported with software, and
then insisting on standardising the process throughout business
divisions.
Innovation Directors, heading Project Offices are new organisational
positions to facilitate this development.
Reflect on the study that it takes 3000 raw ideas to equal 1
commercial success (G.Stevens).
Intrapraneurs
Defined as ‘entrepreneurs within a larger business’, Intrapreneurs
are people who provide a strong stimulus to the innovative (and/or
commercial) activities of a company by leveraging the might of a big
business with the skills and nimbleness of a self-employed business
creator.
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Consider a company-wide programme to create a intrapreneur
culture (but with transparent objectives, reward systems, exit
conditions).
It may be more important to search first for latent entrepreneurial
individuals than for ideas, because it is their tenacity and
commitment which may make the real difference.
Intrapraneurs
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Train senior managers to recognise, tolerate and enjoy the
potentially unconventional consequences of giving Intrapreneurs a
lead role.
It is usually better to form teams of Intrapreneurs, as they are likely
to support and stretch each other.
Critically, allow ‘good failures’, recovery and the re-start of another
project.
Protect Intrapreneurs from the iron disciplines (and monkey rules?)
of Big Business, whilst insisting on disciplines foe money and
deliverables.
Internal PR for Innovation
Innovation activities are not automatically welcomed by everybody!
Emotions can range from the Fear of Change, Envy, Disagreement about
priorities to potential ‘Turf Wars’.
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Here are some actions to minimise such potential sentiments:
 Clarify / classify all stakeholders
 Briefly introduce the project / inform about rough purpose / time
 Ask for advice
 Invite visits / make visits (esp. some prior to milestones)
 Create an internal P.R. Plan
 Subtle
 ‘Low to no cost’
 Friendly tone; beware of arrogance, self-promotion, etc.
 Share ‘Lessons Learnt’
…what to know about
creativity
To be completed via the Design Institute