Defining Innovation

I think we can all agree that innovation is a buzzword today. It seems like everything is an innovation and everyone is an innovator.  Yet, innovation means different things to different people, depending on their perspective or profession. People often talk about innovation being a good idea and a company is judged by the number of patents filed. Is that innovation?

Let me take a moment to share with you my definition of innovation and ROI as it pertains to our business and clients.  

To me, innovation is transforming ideas into market-leading, practical products – products that are affordable and impact life and society every day. Innovation for innovation sake is wasted investment. Innovation must be useful to a company’s target audience not just be a ‘cool’ idea that will hopefully find an audience. As for patents, they must be monetized so they add value to a company’s bottom line and give the company a competitive-edge.

Innovation is also about identifying new markets, improving existing systems and product evolution. Given the recent economy, many companies chose to invest in new market opportunities for existing products or expanded into emerging countries. Improving products is just as important. Often, you might be able to solve a problem by repurposing concepts from another industry or even learning from nature, a growing field called biomimicry. Despite the Latin translation, innovation doesn’t have to be something new.

But most importantly, innovation has to be repeatable and sustainable. It’s not about one brilliant idea but being able to sustain the product innovation process. And, innovation happens across the company not just in the R&D department. Today’s innovation community includes new business development, strategic planning and competitive analysis teams, among others.

Given our economy, innovation must result in revenue growth and increase market share within an accelerated timeframe. Therefore the innovation agenda and ROI must be tightly integrated with a company’s corporate goals.

That’s my opinion. What’s yours?

Invention Machine’s Innovation Agenda

I have been writing regularly about innovation trends and the importance of executives championing a company’s innovation agenda. Now let me share with you my company’s innovation agenda and give you a taste of what’s to come in 2010.

Our innovation agenda is pretty straight forward. Hire and retain the best minds. Help drive and sustain our customers’ innovation initiatives and boost their return on innovation. Our technology is designed to strategically infuse innovation into every step of the product development process and deliver the right products, quickly and cost effectively — which in turn positively impacts a company’s bottomline.     

Like many CEOs, I meet with customers regularly to learn about their challenges and achievements. I then share the information with my team so they can create new technology or programs to meet our client’s innovation goals. Each week I also meet with my executive team and collectively design and shape our corporate agenda. Here are Invention Machine’s focus areas for the year:

Product Development

As leaders in our industry, we pay close attention to our customers needs and act on them quickly. Several months ago, they told us that collaboration and identifying experts were important to their business. We delivered Invention Machine Goldfire 6.0, with automatic expert identification and collaboration functionalities, along with other new features. Now global teams can use the technology to better collaborate and work outside their silos.

As the role of innovation is expanding, so is the usage of Goldfire, our innovation intelligence platform. Initially thought to be the exclusive domain of scientists and engineers, companies now recognize that innovation happens across the organization, every day. Mapping to this shift, we have decided to broaden Goldfire’s innovation workflows and are looking to add new workflows for tasks such as tracking user sentiment and technology landscaping. 

We will also incorporate additional capabilities to manage broad deployments while making the software easier to adapt across multiple departments. New language support will be added to expand Goldfire’s current multi-lingual offerings of English, French, German and Japanese. 

Client Services

This year, our focus is shifting from just successful software implementations to becoming a trusted advisor. To ensure our customers success, my team has created roadmaps to empower users to easily design an Innovation Intelligence Ecosystem, build high performance teams and see return on innovation  within 90 days. Our innovation experts will work closely with individuals to tailor the use of Goldfire to their specific job functions as well as design customized workshops for broader groups that will help the team further accelerate the innovation process.

Marketing

As innovation practitioners and champions, our clients are dedicated to delivering successful projects.  As we all know, just delivering great products and processes are not enough. One must effectively communicate the value of innovation initiatives to their peers and other potential communities across an organization. Therefore I have asked my marketing department to engage with our clients and their internal communications team to create campaigns that will effectively spread the word of their innovation success. This will also help attract people from other departments and geographies who may be able to pitch in as well as learn from best practices, all of which will foster better collaboration and impact revenue.

These are some highlights. Obviously I am not giving you every detail of our corporate strategy. Would you? In the meantime, I’d love to hear how you help drive your company’s innovation agenda.

Green Innovation in a Struggling Economy

Despite the state of the economy, companies must incorporate green innovation process and design eco-friendly products. In fact, an Aberdeen Group study found 62% of manufacturers are pursuing green product development initiatives. Yet, most companies are unsure about where to begin, how to prioritize investments and justify the high cost of going green. 

Needless to say, going green is a business imperative that drives a company’s bottom-line and competitiveness.  Green innovation is primarily about new product development and redesigning existing products so they are environmentally compliant.

Here are some tips on going green the right way, based on observations and conversations with leading innovation companies:  

• Identify a sustainability executive to champion and measure green innovation initiatives. The program must tie to the company’s business objectives and drive revenue.     
• Operationalize green across the enterprise so ‘design for green’ becomes part of the standard innovation process – whether it’s new product development or redesigning products, they must comply with the sustainability guidelines.
• Assess and understand what percentage of your company’s intellectual property portfolio is green compliant and quickly transform those patents into market-leading, eco-friendly products.  
• Use innovation software to generate concepts that identify green compatible material substitutions to upgrade strategic products so they meet environmental and regulatory standards.    
• Utilize semantic technology to research and apply revolutionary principals such as biomimicry to design eco-friendly products.

In short, companies that adopt and drive green innovation initiatives will gain financial and competitive edge, which in turn will help foster people, planet and profitability. 

What are your thoughts on going green?

Stimulating the Innovation Economy

We have long known that the best way to spur the economy is via job retention, job creation and executing on a strong innovation agenda. In most cases it’s up to the CEOs, not politicians, to design the agenda and drive the innovation economy.

Lately we’ve been hearing some positive news that show the economy may be mildly stabilizing. Several companies have reported strong earnings results and America’s GDP rose by 5.7 percent at the end of 2009, the best economic growth in six years. Yet, many people are still losing their jobs and struggling to pay their mortgage.

Granted, turning a global economy around is a Herculean task. I am glad the president is talking about job creation and the economy. But as some of the CEOs advising the government have said, we need policies and programs to sustain economic growth, not just short term stimulus projects.

As politicians and advisors tackle the issue on a macro level, let’s look at what companies can do to stimulate the innovation economy:

Focus: As I have said before, 2010 is the start of an innovation decade. We are on the cusp of major breakthroughs and America could once again top the list of most innovative countries (U.S. is currently #8). But in order to succeed, CEOs must continue to drive the innovation agenda and stay focused on the end game, i.e. profitability and growth. CEOs must encourage teams to create an innovation process that’s sustainable, adopt technology that empowers engineers to deliver the right products the first time and mitigate risks associated with product innovation. No company can afford 12 product failures for every one success, which is the case today.

Practical innovations: CEOs are the catalyst for delivering innovative products and services that impact our world today, from life saving medical technologies to planet saving green products. I often hear about interesting new ideas that claim to be breakthrough innovations. However, if a majority of users won’t adopt the product or can’t purchase it because of high price points, the product is not a useful innovation. And, the company is simply wasting resources and money. Successful innovation should address both functional and economic criteria.

Expand to retain: To succeed in a global economy, companies need long term planning that will mobilize teams and sustain cutting-edge product delivery. If you have happy customers, look for opportunities to expand product usage within your customer base. If you have a successful product line, identify adjacent market opportunities to bring in additional revenue. With sustained profitability and growth, a company can expand its employee base, and an innovative company will find it easier to attract and retain best talents.

Personalization: It’s all about relationships and knowing what your customers really want. This help companies design products or programs that closely match consumer needs. For example, for a B2B business like ours, we have to understand what ‘innovation success’ looks like to our enterprise customers. In most cases, they want to show innovation milestones within 90 days. So we created a “90 Days to Innovation” customizable program that allows Invention Machine Goldfire users to demonstrate success and ROI within 90 days.

Running a company isn’t rocket science and these concepts are not new. I strongly believe that it is our responsibility as CEOs to deliver the results we promise to our employees, customers and shareholders. So, I am sharing the philosophies I use to run my company, philosophies that have made Invention Machine a successful and growing company.

Now that you know my views, I’d love to know yours. What else can companies do to stimulate the innovation economy?

Seven Years and Counting

I recently passed the seven year mark as CEO of Invention Machine. You’d think that I’d get the ‘seven year itch’, reevaluate my life and look for the next opportunity. Frankly, I can’t imagine separating myself from Invention Machine given the global innovation trends and the traction we’ve built and are seeing in the industry.

Last month we hosted our second user conference in Boston. It was attended by innovators from 10 countries, representing some of the best minds in the manufacturing industry. Right after the two-day event, CTO James Todhunter and I left for a trip to Europe and Asia. There, we met with more than a dozen customers and partners. Needless to say, the discussions around innovation were stimulating. The feedback, outstanding.

Here are highlights of what I heard from our clients at the conference and around the world:

• Companies recognize the benefit of investing in innovation, despite the recession. A quick analysis showed that companies that attended our October user conference outperformed market by 11.5% over the past 13 months. Investing in innovation does deliver results.
• Companies are making Invention Machine Goldfire the standard for concept research and sustainable innovation.
• Invention Machine is meeting their corporate innovation agenda, including identifying new markets, designing competitive products in half the time, and repurposing technology to drive revenue.
• Invention Machine Goldfire is a game changer, they said. It powers an innovation intelligence ecosystem that delivers precise intelligence to scientists and engineers and other innovators across the organization. Translation: companies are saving on labor costs, increasing productivity, delivering the right products the first time, and repurposing existing products into new markets – all of which leads to increased market share and competitive-edge.  
• Resellers are excited to be part of our global network, especially the new resellers who can now meet the innovation demands of small and medium businesses.

 As a CEO, such feedback is music to my ear. And, I’d like to increase the flow of such comments over the next few years. I am proud of Invention Machine and our accomplishments.  More importantly, I am grateful to my Invention Machine team, our customers and the industry influencers.  Thank you for your continued support.

Here’s to 2010 and beyond.

Collaboration Fuels Innovation

This week we are hosting our annual worldwide user conference, Invention Machine Power to Innovate, in Boston. I am looking forward to catching up on our customers’ successes, hearing about their challenges and collaborating on their innovation initiatives. 

I am also looking forward to discussing our technology roadmap with our advisory council members from AkzoNobel, Applied Materials, Boston Scientific, Leggett & Platt, Northrop Grumman and StatoilHydro. Their input is invaluable in designing our future products.   

The theme of this year’s conference is ‘collaborate to innovate’. Therefore, over the next few days attendees will hear a lot about collaboration and the role of knowledge in sustaining the innovation process. As innovators, you know that collaboration is key to fueling innovation and that the right innovation intelligence can boost efficiency and product delivery. I also think it’s time we step up collaboration between companies, government and academia.       

At Power to Innovate, we’ll provide an overview of the Innovation Intelligence Ecosystem™ and how it leads to increased revenue and competitive edge as well as ways to successfully deploy the initiative across an enterprise. Attendees will also hear from a company that significantly increased productivity by designing a process to capture, share and reuse knowledge.  

In addition, the agenda is packed with in-depth innovation sessions and best practices from some of the brightest minds in innovation. We hope participants will find the sessions informative and that the networking will open doors for worldwide collaboration between peers. If you are not attending, but would like to get event highlights, please follow Invention Machine on Twitter or #P2I09.

In the meantime, I’d like to get your opinion on collaboration. Do you think it’s essential to driving and sustaining innovation?

Government Intervention or Innovation?

Government intervention is not a new, untested concept in America. Banks, mining companies, railroads and now insurance companies and automobile manufacturers have been the beneficiaries of government support for economic and social gains. We still talk about the collapse of the entire economy during the 1930s and the savings-and-loan industry implosion in the 1980s – both times the government stepped in to rescue the economy.

History shows that brief and select government involvement can have some positive short-term impact on the economy. To power America as an innovation economy, however, government should step away from longer term business intervention and direct management of corporate operations.

I’m not suggesting that the government fail to intercede for the protection of tax-paying citizens or the environment. But political intervention without sufficient planning, operational competencies and exit strategies can lead to lackluster performance, a “good enough” mentality, lost competitiveness and a dearth of innovation, whether here or across the globe. Take China, for example. Industry reports cite that state-owned commercial banks in China are largely the cause for sluggish financial services profitability. Complacency has replaced competitiveness and innovation is low.

On the other hand, look at India. Since the government stepped back and opened up the market, innovation has soared.  Tata Motors’ Nano, dubbed “the people’s car,” has made headlines. It provides a safer and more fuel friendly alternative to the two-wheelers that have been the standard mode of transportation for families throughout the country. The cost? Twenty-five hundred dollars, the cheapest car on the planet. That’s just one example of affordable innovation.

A year ago I was in India to meet with our customers and resellers as well as other movers and shakers in the innovation space, including Dr. R.A. Mashelkar, president of the Indian National Science Academy. It was refreshing to hear their views on innovation culture and the impact of global collaboration in India, which has fostered innovation and attracted multinational companies like General Electric to open labs there. I also believe that the country’s tri-parte consortium – the government, academia and industry — has helped India make the list of top innovative countries, along with Singapore, South Korea and Switzerland.

How does government intervention limit innovation?

• It forces companies to think short term and not about what they have to do in the present to gain a competitive edge once the market turns around.
• Political agendas can target CEOs, make them insecure, resulting in their replacement or shifts within a competent board, leading to executive turmoil and instability.
• Cuts are made to R&D budgets, stalling innovation and reducing investments in sustainable innovation processes.
• Innovation workers are cut arbitrarily while administrative, legal and management positions are saved to work through the bureaucracy.

The dilemma in the United States is in dealing with the “General Motors” of America – the situation where the government owns substantial equity in a company. By selling its assets to emerge from Chapter 11, GM, once a powerhouse of patents and products, will no longer be an innovation leader.   

Even consumers agree.  According to a recent article in BrandWeek, “A post-bankruptcy Rasmussen Reports poll found 41 percent of respondents saying the quality of GM cars will get worse with the federal government as the company’s chief owner, vs. 19 percent saying it’ll get better.”  Without innovation, GM will not have the staying power.

So how does a company evolve into an innovation leader, sustain growth and avoid government takeover? Here are my suggestions:

• Understand that the global landscape is undergoing dramatic paradigm shifts.
• Relate the impact of the paradigm shifts and trends to your company and its positioning.
• Be bold in seeking new ideas and identifying the right people to lead your business model, innovation strategy and product development to accurately meet today’s demands.
• Invest in product innovation, similar to Apple’s strategy, in order to generate dramatic results in a turnaround economy.
• Like Boston Scientific, empower innovators with knowledge-enabled technology to accelerate and sustain every day innovation and deliver the right product the first time.
• Ensure the company retains trust and faith with shareholders, bondholders and others at all times.

Following the above guidelines will guarantee innovation leadership, which in turn will lead to positive monetization, without government intervention. After all, sustainable innovation and corporate integrity are keys to driving business opportunities, growth and market-share.

What do you think?

 

 

 

 

Looking up in a down economy

I have been writing about and providing tips on what companies could do to innovate in a down economy even before the market crashed.  Now that economists are predicting that the end of the recession is in sight and that the U.S. manufacturing orders are rising, it’s time to focus on what companies should do to thrive in a rebounding economy.  

Survival of the fittest
Over the last 12 months, companies and people have been put to the test. The recession has hit the manufacturing industry hard, among others. Yet, best-in-class companies have survived despite budget cuts and reduction of innovation workers.  In fact, these companies have become leaner and learned to do more with less as well as embraced smart technology to sustain the innovation process. In short, the best companies have right-sized themselves, focused their business agendas and retained their best and experienced people to keep innovation moving forward.  These are the people who have been chartered to accomplish the most innovative deliverables in half the time, and help their respective companies attain global market leadership positions – from alternative energy to life sciences.

Innovation mandate
Now that the fittest companies have survived and new leaders emerged, here are some tips on what CEOs should do as the economy stabilizes and emerges from the recession:

• CEOs must continue to drive the innovation agenda.  Reward employees for their leadership and creativity that has impacted the bottom-line.  
• CEOs should take inventory of its operating paradigm, get new perspective on what’s viable and adapt quickly to today’s changing environment.
• Capture and remember the lessons learned from this recession and continue to run lean, innovation-focused organizations.
• Empower innovators with collaboration and knowledge-enabled platforms to boost the innovation economy.

As I tell my employees, every cloud has a silver lining. Even though we have been surrounded by negative news, the recession has made us stronger, smarter and street savvy. Best-in-class companies have retained people with attitude and aptitude to drive innovation. They should be nurtured, given the right innovation platforms and environment. And together, we as a “global nation” can look up in a down economy and prepare to enter a decade of innovation excellence.