Innovation Management: Design Thinking Is Not Enough (PART 2)

Image Credit: www.torrentconsulting.com 

Before starting Part 2, I would like to note up front that in business modelling and organisational design there is no one-size-fits-all-permanent-patch. There are only tools that fit at a given time and for a given purpose. This is because the variables in business and in an organisation constantly evolve and solutions also have to adapt to fit.

In PART 1 of this series on Transforming your business, we recommended expanding the design thinking approach by adopting a Systems Thinking approach to help provide a much-needed understanding of the underlying issues which often derail innovation agendas because they are ignored or not adequately framed and understood.

I received useful offline feedback from a few senior folk across different industries who showed business model fatigue having tried several over the years.

Most agreed poor implementation was a major cause of either lack of progress or partial success of their innovation agenda. Hopefully, the innovation management approach to business transformation which I will be referring to will be able to help provide needed guidance and course correction to re-energize your business transformation mission. 

STEP 2: Learning to Innovate.

Innovation is probably even more of a buzz word than design thinking – everyone knows it but very few succeed at it. Often this is because the organisation is trying to do too many things at the same time and not ensuring the necessary structures and systems are in place to support the desired innovation. Thoughts of innovation and what it can achieve – especially when you see rapid and exciting innovation in tech-focused businesses or sectors.

From my experience over the past 17 years in marketing and business development and working with some of the biggest brands in the world I have seen and experienced the painful attempts at innovation some businesses go through. On a few occasions, I have also experienced the joys of successful innovation.

To take you my readers through the simple tool to guide your innovation process better (it's not easier but simpler) let me introduce you to the Innovation Ambition Matrix developed by Bansi Nagji and Geoff Tuff as shared in their Harvard Business Review article: Managing Your Innovation Portfolio.

Innovation Ambition Matrix developed by Bansi Nagji and Geoff Tuff

Having looked at the Innovation Ambition Matrix model you could get pumped up and want to deplore all resources to the segment called TRANSFORMATIONAL.

Not so fast.

Contrary perhaps to popular thinking about innovation, it does not always pay to aim straight for the stars with a radical transformative solution from the get go. 2 reasons:

1. Organisational readiness: Can your organisation’s systems and culture as is today, support and drive the high transformative agenda that will turn your business into a unicorn in the long term?

2. Critically, there is often huge untapped value in your core business which guided optimisation will unlock. This is called the CORE section in the innovation ambition matrix model.

Any tested approach to the innovation ambition matrix?

Bansi Nagji and Geoff Tuff in their article refer to a 70:20:10 ratio which their research suggests successful companies like Google use when implementing innovation agendas. However, they share some important caveats which have to do with desired goals – you decide what is important in the short term and use the appropriate strategy and resources and same for long term goals.

The innovation ambition matrix is not a prescriptive model but its beauty lies in its ability to liberate business drivers and owners to rally around what really is practical, necessary and to phase it. As the authors summarise in their article:

The power of the Innovation Ambition Matrix lies in the two exercises it facilitates:

• “First, it gives managers a framework for surveying all the initiatives the business has under way: How many are being pursued in each realm, and how much investment is going to each type of innovation?” (This for me is why system thinking should be incorporated to ensure the implications of what is happening across the organisation or corporation are well understood).
• “Second, it gives managers (importantly C-Suite – emphasis mine) a way to discuss the right overall ambition for the company’s innovation portfolio.”

Point No.2 above is critical to succeeding at innovation and especially with this model.

If the organisation agrees to pursue the CORE approach first and focus on optimising existing products, then it should not simultaneously attempt transformational innovation at the same time UNLESS it has the resources and capacity to take that on - since Transformational innovation will often require lots of R&D and capital for that R&D. Many companies and corporations often don’t go through these analyses thoroughly and end up stopping mid-way or even not long after leaving the starting blocks when the implication and requirements of going straight to Transformational Innovation hit home.

While not new, the advantage of the Innovation Ambition Matrix is that it allows the organisation, regardless of its size and scope, to identify what is CORE, what is ADJACENT and what is TRANSFORMATIONAL Innovation to it so it can move at a pace it believes it can execute well and timely. 

These exercises alone are worth their weight in gold as they help create a sense of passion with strong purpose and focus. Innovation that almost everyone can rally around and implement. Innovation that works and is sustainable.

For the exercises and innovation ambition model to work however there are other important conditions that must exist within the organisation/corporation:

• Willingness to unlearn and re-learn
• Agreement that innovation processes at some measurable level are life or death for the organisation since change as we agreed earlier is relentless so innovation must be as well
• Commitment to execute in a guided yet adaptive way - know what is possible in a time frame and execute it like hell. Don’t take on too much under the influence of innovation euphoria
• Agreement at the C-Suite level that collaboration trumps confusion any day of the week

Read more about the Innovation Ambition Matrix by Bansi Nagji and Geoff Tuff at the link below: Managing Your Innovation Portfolio

Thank you for reading. I hope you find it useful as you try to chart your organisation's business transformation in today's ever-changing business environment. Please share your innovation stories and experiences so we can all learn more and keep transforming businesses in Nigeria, Africa and across the world.

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Dayo is an experienced business leader and consultant with extensive experience in marketing, technology for business and business development.