Connect
Develop
Grow
InnoQuest - Innovation Management Program
The Entrepreneurs EDGE is a non-profit
economic development organization which
fosters growth in mid-market companies and
develops leadership talent in order to positively
impact the Northeast Ohio economy.
InnoQuest – December 3, 2013
8:00 AM Reflection on Goodyear and InnoQuest Program
Food for Thought
Small Groups
Kichler
 Tony Davidson, President and CEO
 Jack Miller, Director of Product Management
 John Andrisin, Director of Engineering
 Greg Martin, Director of Design
** Break **
Price for Profit
 Chaz Napoli and Jonathan Konkoly
Discussion Groups
11:30
Action Steps / Evaluations / Wrap Up
@11:40 Tour of Kichler
Innovation Management – Three Gears
Culture
• Leadership
• Customs, etiquette,
attitudes, expectations
• Talent Recruitment,
Training, Development
• Facilities / Environment
Process
• Resource Procurement ($, Energy, Time)
• IP Portfolio Management
• ROI & Assessment
Strategy
•
•
•
•
•
What to innovate?
Values
Business Model
Branding
Drivers
Program Overview
Goals:
Share best practices
Foster new connections
“Raise the bar “
 Help companies in managing the innovation process
• Feb. 7
Case for Innovation / Drivers of Innovation
Nottingham-Spirk Design, Cleveland
• April 23
Leadership and Culture
Hyland Software, Westlake
• June 19
Where and How to Innovate
GOJO, Akron
• Aug. 6
Ideas to Implementation
Parker Hannifin and ShurTech Brands at Baldwin Wallace
• Oct. 3
Culture and Change Management
Goodyear Blimp Hangar, Mogadore
• Dec. 3
Mid-Market Innovation / Value Pricing
Kichler, Independence
Goodyear Session Take-aways 10-3-13
“Success” – Define/determine short & long term organizational capacity for innovation
 Innovation is sometimes seen as “nice-to-have” but no urgency
Set time lines for innovation - Get value proposition but don’t spend forever
 Get prototypes out quickly; get customer feedback
 Develop a value prop / business model & get rough prototype in front of customer
 Discovering that an idea is not feasible, possible or valuable is success
Innovation is driven by identifying customer unmet needs
 Need for dedicated resources; field time; get our people out to see our customers.
 Customer-centered innovation; don’t just take the tour
 Observation  data collection and assessment
Keys to a Successful Innovation Manager / Change Agent
 Toughness; don’t be afraid to be wrong; risk-taking
Concept of the “true truth”; are we doing anything about the “true truths?”
 Verified/validated truths from multiple perspectives.
Intentional change is important
Action Steps
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Apply customer-centered innovation learning immediately.
Find ways to get people out to the customer.
Time to lose my patience (to force change).
Set definite goals; schedule everything I do.
Look into our capacity for innovation.
Need to push for time dedication for innovation.
Don’t be afraid to keep challenging the status quo.
Read (i.e. Litchfield Books, etc.)
Meet Erin and James at Goodyear to share practices/knowledge.
Find the resources/people who may help me execute my risks.
Review value proposition and strategic intention.
Identify strategic questions for each of our primary products.
Program Overview
Goals:
Share best practices
Foster new connections
“Raise the bar “
 Help companies in managing the innovation process
• Feb. 7
Case for Innovation / Drivers of Innovation
Nottingham-Spirk Design, Cleveland
• April 23
Leadership and Culture
Hyland Software, Westlake
• June 19
Where and How to Innovate
GOJO, Akron
• Aug. 6
Ideas to Implementation
Parker Hannifin and ShurTech Brands at Baldwin Wallace
• Oct. 3
Culture and Change Management
Goodyear Blimp Hangar, Mogadore
• Dec. 3
Mid-Market Innovation + Value Pricing
Kichler, Independence
60 Minutes
Amazon and Innovation 12-1-13
Ice Breaker
Today is your lucky day.
You have been granted 3 wishes to
accelerate your innovation process.
You cannot wish for more wishes or
for unlimited/undesignated $$.
Tony Davidson, Jack Miller, John Andrisin, Greg Martin
Chaz Napoli and Jonathan Konkoly
Best Practices in Innovation Management
Understand what innovation is, and understand the reasons, motivations,
risks and rewards for being innovative.
Innovation – something new that replicates in a market (or in a process).
Closely related to entrepreneurship. Solves a great problem or creates a great
opportunity, thereby creating great value.
Companies that continuously do this outperform companies that don’t, both in
long- and shorter-term value metrics (profits, brand equity, employee
engagement, etc.).
A company that is good at innovation has both leaders and problem solvers
(or opportunity creators). To be a good leader of innovation, one must be
fluent (and act in) the languages of leadership, business and design.
Foster good leaders and good problem solvers by building a culture of high trust
(low fear) and high creativity.
Best Practices in Innovation Management
Timing is crucial for successful innovation: the market must be ready, but you
must be (near the) first to meet those needs.
Know your customers intimately, and let them know you, too.
Pay attention to trends, technological breakthroughs, political and social forces,
and availability of resources (natural, human, financial).
All of these will help create a strong innovation strategy.
Innovation needs the proper support of internal resources (time, money,
people – including organizational buy-in).
Develop tools to determine ROI/Time that align with business goals,
including all key stakeholders in those calculations. Be objective in making a
business case (will it be worth it? Does it make sense? Do we have the capacity to do
this, and if not, should we build capacity?). Monitor projects frequently. When factors
change, re-calculate and be prepared to change course.
You can shorten time to ROI (or any transaction) by building trust. Trust
comes from alignment of purpose and transparency.
Best Practices in Innovation Management
Companies can find other ways to monetize great ideas or opportunities,
that don’t involve bringing those to market. This includes selling or licensing
Intellectual Property, creating spin-offs, or preventing competitors from seizing the
same opportunity.
There is great value in following fast, modeling solutions from other
industries or other markets, or shopping outside your organization for
solutions.
Celebrate your successes, but do not rest on your laurels. Learn from, but do
not dwell on your mistakes.
Connect
Develop
Grow
InnoQuest - Innovation Management Program
Next Meeting: Thursday, February 20
Mid-Market Innovation
Pressco Technology, Solon
The Entrepreneurs EDGE