the innovationagenda for 2017

> About us> Sudden death> Labs> Metrics> Working with startups> Networks of champions> Business unit relationships> Governance> Culture change> Your questions

> About us

We’ve built the largest community of corporate innovators, strategy execs, and R&D leaders — and we work hard to help them achieve real impact in their organizations. We’re an unbiased source of research and case studies. A convener of the best events on corporate innovation. And we curate the best guidance and insights from our partners below…

www.innovationleader.com

> Sudden death

Patience remains a challenge for large organizations investing in innovation…

Coca-Cola’s Founders program, to create and fund new ventures in partnership with entrepreneurs: 2013-2016

Alaska Airlines’ Customer Innovation Team: 2012-2015

MassMutual’s “Society of Grownups,” financial education space: 2014-2016

> Sudden death

Things that can kill innovation initiatives:

• Executive champion leaves the organization; strategy changes.

• Team tries to do too much at once.• Market pressures: Falling stock price, organizational cost-

cutting, increased competition, etc.• Poor staffing choices.• Lack of alignment between innovation & senior

management, or the business units.• Lack of funding to scale past proof-of-concept/pilot stage.

Our full list: innovationleader.com/things-that-kill-innovation-initiatives/

> Labs

Shifting from showcases and meeting places to collaborative workspaces.

> Metrics

Most programs start by tracking “activity metrics” (# of patents, # of ideas, # of workshops, etc.) To survive, you need to capture “impact metrics” (revenue, market share, app downloads, store traffic, expanded geographic reach, etc.)

> Working with startups

”Kissing babies” makes for good photo ops. Serious companies are getting focused on what they need and setting up real structures for investment or running pilot tests.

> Networks of champions

Companies like Pfizer, Vodafone, Merck are creating global networks of innovation champions or catalysts…a new way to identify, train and cultivate high-performers.

> Business unit relationships

How are you ensuring that you’re working on something that matters to the business units? What incentives do they have to support it once you transition it to them for launch?

> Governance

The innovation committee, with representatives from all the functions and business units, isn’t working. Smaller councils can often be more supportive as ideas scale, but avoid having one single supporter — even if it’s the CEO.

“Too many cooks in the kitchen,” one survey respondent told us.

http://bit.ly/gov-survey

> Culture change

Changing culture is a squishy thing. It’s hard to measure. But it can be key to creating an environment that attracts top talent, and makes innovation a standard operating procedure in the company — an imperative, rather than a “nice-to-have.”

> Your questions? (…and what’s next for us)

February: Governance and reporting survey open (bit.ly/gov-survey)March/April: Conference calls with VF Corp., Starbucks, StaplesApril 25-27: Atlanta Field StudyMay: Research report on “Changing Culture in Large Organizations”June: Next issue of our print magazine