Knowing that the markets are very unforgiving and will always continue to be unfriendly, and that embracing innovation is not an option, the next logical question might be obvious. What must CEOs do to embrace innovation while managing the associated risk and overcoming the barriers?

First, answer lies in developing clear Innovation Mandate - a strategic statement that describes innovation in the context of your business, the value it promises to generate for growth and disciplined process by which to get there.

Innovation Mandate must be vividly clear for everyone in your organization; it must be concise to help drive alignment to business unit initiatives, and it must help articulate specific employee behaviors necessary at all levels for innovation climate to take root. When designed correctly, it is clearly linked and driven by the business strategy.

From our experience, keys to becoming innovative are highly dependent on your ability to address four critical barriers that are incumbent in most organizations. When not addressed together, the journey towards sustainability and value creation invites a higher risk of failure, potentially minimizing the results of innovation investments.

• The first barrier is that most organizations do not have the mindset to harvest ideas and manage those ideas.
• The second barrier is not recognizing and then not aligning the abundance of resources available to large organizations for investment in innovation.
• The third barrier is to recognize the sheer size of the human capital assets that are under-utilized and disengaged from an organization's creative capacity. 
• The fourth and final barrier relates to the broad product and delivery capabilities that large-scale organizations possess.

Of course, this is not the exhaustive list, but the primary list of obstacles that must be managed and mitigated so you can develop a proper framework for innovation within your firm.

To learn more about my firm's commitment to innovation and our work, please visit http://www.desai.com/ and also look at information on our Strategy-Driven Innovation framework.

In our work at The DeSai Group, we have observed that an organization can achieve sustainable growth through innovation by:

1. Having a clear strategic intent – a unique direction for the company that will generate a specific value (Top-Line, Bottom Line, or Other).
2. Value creation strategy – Depending on the value target, creating a vertical and horizontal organizational alignment for everyone to see themselves in the vision and mission is essential for future returns.
3. Developing deep insights – commercially savvy perceptions to help develop great ideas that can be ventured profitably. Without insights, organizations will predictably migrate to Commodity Island with other industry laggards.
4. Mobilizing strategically with discipline – vision, strategy, leadership, and ideas are all required for growth, but they don’t guarantee success until you execute with discipline.
5. Having high performing innovators – innovation can occur by having innovators who can generate real wealth and not just come up with great ideas. People who over-utilize resources and under-deliver value, cannot be called real innovators.
6. Selecting top-talent with optimum financial behaviors - or developing talent by creating self-awareness about what specific corrective actions executives can take to develop optimal behaviors.

As I have said before, organizations MUST begin to take innovation as a serious tool for survival.

Innovation is no longer a choice - should we or should we not. It is only about WHEN you choose to commit to it.

It is not a surprise that revenue growth is the primary driver of shareholder value and the number one challenge for every business sector around the world. Yet today, growth objectives for most industries are tempered by a continuing focus on cost containment.

For U.S. companies, after tremendous focus on "optimizing the bottom line" and losing the competitive edge to other parts of the world, it is time to reclaim the innovation edge. Only way to achieve this, is to point innovation activities to growing the Top-Line (revenue).

Revenue doesn't mean focus on product development alone. That isn't the sole answer either. For example, financial institutions looking for a competitive edge generally focus on product innovation, but most have little sustainable competitive advantage. Many new products never generate a profit. And those that do are often quickly copied by the competition – negating any long-term advantage. The result? Massive investment in product development, without a commensurate improvement in market share.

To achieve sustainable growth, companies must better integrate product innovation with process and service innovation – finding new ways to improve efficiency and customer service. That’s the kind of innovation customers want. And it’s the kind of innovation your competitors will find hard to duplicate. Yet some financial services companies have focused on product innovation for so long they don’t know how to innovate any other way.

Transforming a company into an innovative enterprise is a major challenge that generally requires new strategies, new tools and new behaviors – as well as a dedicated process for nurturing and commercializing good ideas. That deep commitment to innovation is the surest way to achieve meaningful and lasting differentiation.

Institutions with broad-based innovation capabilities enjoy higher customer satisfaction, greater loyalty, faster revenue growth, stronger earnings, and ultimately, dramatic lifts in investor returns.

Do you agree?

Did you see the movie Incoveniant Truth by Al Gore?

How do you 'power' the business and still fight the global warming (corporate intangible assets) inside of your business?

Does your business have the 'energy' to create peak performance?

What are you going to do when your 'internal natural resources(people)' run out (the door) caused by X-Gen middle management shortage and the Boomers leave for retirement?

Looking at the X-Gen and Y-Gen value systems, what "alternative resources" are you experimenting with to keep the G&A expenses low?

Most businesses have a huge 'climate' problem in their culture. Global Warming in a business culture is reality. Innovations to create Living Organizations fueled by creative energy from with-in, strong leadership at the top, and holistic corporate policy are sorely needed if we are to cope and compete in the new(but getting old fast) flat-world.

Here is brief Mega Story and my Purple Cow (Seth Godin expression-my American-Marketing Idol) solution. Ready? Here it goes:

Mega Story on Global Warming(GW):

1) A prerequisite for life on Earth, the greenhouse effect occurs when infrared radiation (heat) is retained within Earth's atmosphere.

2) Most of Sun's solar energy reaching the Earth is absorbed at the Earth's surface.

3) The warmed surface emits infrared radiation back up into the atmosphere and keeps us warm.

4) Like a blanket, atmospheric green house gases absorb and reradiate the heat in all directions, including back to earth.

5) Human activity has increased the green house gas in the atmosphere and thus at the amount of heat returned to the surface. In consequence, global temperatures have risen.

Mega Story on Global Warming Organizations(GWO):

1) A prerequisite for sustainable life of a company, the 'living' effect occurs when the cultural fabric of any organization, explicitly, integrates human values(the heat energy) into all processes and products.

2) Most of company business (solar energy) reaching company turns into extraordinary compensation for the top, and unequal regard to the rest of the organization.

3) The over cost-cutting and focus on rear-view mirror items, such as process automation, continuous improvement, etc., has created workforces without a clear alignment to the purpose, vision, values, and the brand of the company (the warmed surface).

4) This warm surface, creates unwritten rules and misunderstanding with unplanned constant change initiatives in the climate. This climate emits infrared radiation(unclear, unwritten communication) back up into the atmosphere(culture) and heats up the environment, causing stress, anxiety, and lack of accountability.

5) Like a spiral downwards, atmospheric 'black' cloud of negativity in the air, reradiates and begins to impact your top talent back into other parts of the organization.

6) Human activity in the workplace, in form of pride, jealously, attachment to personal gains, lust, anger, and selfish acts has increased the 'black' house gas in the atmosphere and thus the amount of innovation and creativity is reduced. In consequence, organizational temperatures have risen.

Are you feeling the heat? You may not be. But just like Global Warming, its real and its there in your company.

What is your plan to keep your Organizational Carbon(negative culture) in check?