WorldWide Drilling Resource

Seven Steps to Innovation Success Adapted from Information Provided by newsandexperts.com Everyone claims to want innovation in their organization, yet innovative ideas from aspiring employees are often shot down. According to Neal Thornberry, Ph.D., faculty director for innovation initiatives at the Naval Postgraduate School in California, “Senior leaders often miss the value-creating potential of a new concept because they either don’t take the time to really listen and delve into it; or the innovating employee presents it in the wrong way.” Thornberry recently published the book Innovation Judo , based on his years of experience teaching innovation at Babson College and advising an array of corporate clients, from the Ford Company and IBM, to Cisco Systems. He says, “Innovation should be presented as opportunities, not ideas. Opportunities have gravitas while ideas do not!” Thornberry outlined a template for innovation including seven steps which promise to bring innovation success: 1. Intention: Once the “why” has been answered, leaders can begin map- ping a real path to innovation’s end result. This is no small task and it will require some soul searching. “I once worked with an executive committee, and I got six different ideas for what ‘innovation’ meant,” he said. “One wanted new products, another focused on creative cost-cutting, and the president wanted a more innova- tive culture. The group needed to agree on their intent before anything else.” 2. Infrastructure: This is the step where you designate who is responsible for what. It’s tough because the average employee will not risk taking on new responsibilities without incentive. Some companies create committees specifically devoted to innovation, while others try to change the entire com- pany’s culture to foster innovation. According to Thornberry, “Creating a cul- ture takes too long. Don’t wait for that.” 3. Investigation: How much do you really know about the problem? Never underestimate the value of collecting and analyzing data to find new solutions to old problems. 4. Ideation: The fourth step is the most fun. Unfortunately, companies often skip the first three steps to get here. This can be dangerous; because although you may uncover many good and exciting ideas, team members cannot get on the same page if the right context and focus aren’t provided upfront. Don’t waste your company’s time; intention must be the first step. Innovation should be seen as a set of tools or processes, not a destination. 5. Identification: This is where the rubber meets the road of innovation. Whereas the previous step was creative, logic and subtraction must now be applied to focus on the end result. Again, ideas are important, but they must be grounded in reality. An entrepreneurial attitude is required for this step; one which enables picking through ideas, leaving only those with real, value-creating potential. 6. Infection: Will anyone be excited about what you’ve come up with? Now is the time to find out. Pilot testing, experi- mentation, and speaking directly to potential customers will begin to give you an inkling of how innovative and valuable an idea is. This phase is part selling, part research, and part science. If people can’t feel, touch, or experience your new concept, they probably won’t get it. This is where the innovator has a chance to reshape their idea into an opportunity, mitigate risk, assess resist- ance, and build allies for the endeavor. 7. Implementation / Integration: While many talk about this final phase, they often fai l to address the integration aspect. Implementation refers to tactics employed to put an idea into practice. This is truly a perilous phase. For imple- mentation to be successful, the idea must be successfully integrated with other act ivi t ies in the business and aligned with strategy. Despite support from the top, an innovation can still fail if a department cannot work with it effec- tively. 50 AUGUST 2018 WorldWide Drilling Resource ®