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Innovation Isn't Just About New Products

  
  
  
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Govindarajan-Jatindesai The innovation mindset isn't just about product innovation.

Some organizations have focused on product innovation for so long they don't know how to innovate in any other areas. For example, in 2010, Microsoft -one of the world's best product innovators for the last two decades - launched a social phone called Kin. The product was a complete disaster. Within six weeks of the launch, the entire product group was shut down, and, according to their earnings reports, Microsoft took at least a $240 million write-off.

How could such a great product innovator strike out so fast? In today's climate, it happens to the best.

Most organizations focus on building short-term product innovation engines. However, most products have little sustainable competitive advantage and never generate a profit; those that do are often quickly copied by the competition, negating any long-term advantage. The result: a significant investment in product development, without a commensurate return on investment.

To achieve sustainable growth, companies must better integrate product innovation with business model, process, and service innovations.

Read the entire article at Harvard Business Review >>

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Recognize Intrapreneurs Before They Leave

  
  
  
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Govindarajan-Jatindesai Any CEO can tell you that finding ideas is not the always the problem. The real issue is selecting and spreading the best ideas, testing quickly, and executing flawlessly. An "innovation engine" is an organization's capability to think and invest in long-term opportunities along with the competence to drive continuous innovations for top-line growth each year.

To build your innovation engine, your firm must excel at operationalizing ideas from your energized people who are willing to do everything they can to fight off internal resistance without creating chaos. This is your bench of corporate innovators: your intrapreneurs.

You already have natural intrapreneurs in your company. Some you know about, but most are hiding. These individuals are not always your top talent or the obvious rebels or mavericks. But they are unique and certainly the opposite of "organization men." When you find them and support them correctly, and magic will occur.

Intrapreneurs can transform an organization more quickly and effectively than others because they are self‐motivated free thinkers, masters at navigating around bureaucratic and political inertia.

In a firm with 5,000 employees, we've found, there are at least 250 natural innovators; of these at least 25 are great intrapreneurs who can build the next business for your firm.

Read the entire article at Harvard Business Review >>>

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U.S. Innovation Leaders need IQ, EQ & CQ (Part Two of "Judas Goats")

  
  
  
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With the U.S. appearing to suck at globalization and largely indifferent but dependent on the domestic market, we need leadership willing to step up and innovate with a capital "I" if we intend to remain in the top 3. It can be done. We are still viewed as the country of freedom and ingenuity around the world, but more and more we are being viewed as resting on our past accomplishments and steering rudderless, albeit arrogantly, through cultural impacts we don't quite understand and don't appear to appreciate.

We Are All Connected - Domestically and Globally

If we figure the world will just accept us the way we are because we are America, we need to examine that attitude and quickly. How much time do you think the Chinese spend learning about America? Cultural impact in the U.S. from voting to job creation and economic recovery, affects us all within and without our borders, and domestic and international markets. We need capital "I" Leaders in the U.S. to embrace not only IQ and EQ, but also CQ (cultural quotient). Consider India; America by no means has an exclusive on innovation.

While JC Penney apparently embraced the risk side of innovation hiring Ron Johnson, at least they tried.  Demographic differences between the loyal Apple consumers vs. loyal Penney consumers relied on an Apple innovation methodology that couldn't make the leap. Yet, JC Penney may still pull a "Coke" - to - "Coca Cola Classic" and now build on the needs and desires of their demographic strengths to bring back a new and improved "classic" approach. Finding the "classic" in emerging markets as well could be a significant and even sustainable coup. But to target effectively they need to know the markets and the cultures, and be set up to strike when the timing is right.

Leaders must move faster regardless of sector. Crowd sourcing like Twitter, makes the whims of the consumer more volatile than ever before, whether it's basics of life like food, or the latest smart phone. Share one weight loss recipe featuring a specific ingredient or nutraceutical; demand changes instantly and involves multiple markets and cultures.

As a leader, if you are acting as the "judas goat" still herding your company to a rigid, specific destination bogged down in status quo, it will be as sheep to slaughter.

What factors are the most critical for emerging achievers and leaders of today when they predict a future for themselves?

"Self-awareness, high intelligence, high emotional quotient, extremely high integrity, multiple discipline knowledge, voracious appetite for new knowledge."  ~ Jatin Desai

Leaders need to loosen up and embrace the reality that "90% of what we call 'management' consists of making it difficult for people to get things done." ~ Peter Drucker 

Need help developing a clear innovation strategy, penetrating emerging markets, leadership development? Visit The DeSai Group. Follow Jatin Desai on LinkedIn and Twitter for juicy innovation ideas and tidbits.

Jatin Desai CEO, and author of Innovation Engine (May 2013 release by Wiley International), addresses C-Suite groups, delivers keynotes, leads workshops and joins with corporations and organizations to design and implement innovation programs and optimize existing programs, in the USA and internationally. Innovation Engine is now available in digital and hardcover versions at your favorite retail online or brick and mortar outlet.

  describe the image

                                 Innovation Engine

"Innovation Engine will help you build a climate and culture of innovation. A must-read for every serious executive desiring innovation as a daily habit in his or her organization and to drive innovation execution."

-Vijay Govindarajan, coauthor of the New York Times and
Wall Street Journal bestseller Reverse Innovation
.

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Innovation USA - Leaders or "Judas Goats?" U.S. Leadership Please Step Forward

  
  
  
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Innovation USA - Leaders or "Judas Goats?" U.S. Leadership Please Step Forward

Here in the USA the one question begging to be asked and answered is, "Are we simply sitting too comfortably where we are?" The up and coming countries and markets are busy manufacturing most of what we consume. While they are motivated, innovating and expanding, we are well - sitting.

Not only are many organizations still stuck in their chairs instead of examining the effectiveness and long term feasibility of status quo, but even worse, it appears that while a lot of lip service has been given to the term "innovation" action has been blatantly MIA.

Touting innovation officers, teams, strategy and even innovation "days," doesn't mean companies are actually engaging in innovation. Setting aside the publication of numerous books on innovation and the mention of the "I" word over 33,000 times in annual reports filed with the SEC, it appears likely that using the "I" word is mainly a ploy to convince investors that "change" is taking place, even though by self-admittance most executives concede their companies still haven't developed clear innovation strategies.

What does it take to initiate real change? What kind of intervention is necessary? Look at the complaining and excuses presented by US companies when challenged, such as:

  • Our business is more complicated…
  • We need less regulation…
  • That's not how we do things…
  • We can't afford to re-tool, invest in new tech…
  • Our customers are happy the way things are… 

We need to ask: "Really? No need to innovate?"

What about new markets, evolving customer needs and wants, trade deficit with China, run-away growth in world markets, stagnant growth in U.S. markets, and limited U.S. penetration of world markets? What about VISION for the future?

There is plenty of evidence portraying a very different picture and begging for leaders to step up to the task of implementing real innovation in U.S. companies, instead of just lip service.

Domestically, it's been said that while around 30% of companies think they have introduced a major innovation within the past 6-12 months, only 5% of consumers agree. Presently, for instance, the perception is Google is beating the pants off Apple with innovations and methodology - brilliant new stuff, like "Glass." Consumers want to be seen, heard, listened to, responded to and enticed with "new" - note the T-Mobile inspired discussion on contracts - finally.

While we sit in our big chairs at home focusing mainly on domestic markets in largely an unresponsive way, we are losing big in global markets. Director of Tuft University's Institute  for Business in the Global Context, Baskar Chakravorti, recently released a paper detailing statistics and an argument as to why U.S. companies lag far behind in penetrating emerging markets. 

Although American brands are ubiquitous abroad, U.S. companies actually realize only around 7% - 10% of their overall revenues from emerging markets. In 2010 those markets represented 36% of global GDP - why is U.S. share so small while our "global peer average [is] 17%" according to HSBC estimated revenues.

Perception is Everything . Real leadership is multi-faceted, and above all based on communication, concern and relationship with real people - domestically and globally, and within and without an organization.

The great "growth" chasm between West and East cannot be filled by just moving our manufacturing east, negatively impacting even more jobs in America. That only makes Americans in this already high unemployment climate, well, angry. Emerging economies are still the ever-growing elephant in the room. Could it be that many U.S. corporations don't really care about the needs of Americans as workers or consumers in spite of bail-outs?

The combination of continued job decline stateside, along with demand for low priced goods by consumers hit with shrinking wages, plus U.S. companies' addiction to cost cutting to raise the bottom line, may ultimately be our undoing. Additionally, complications like China's government control of their currency, seemingly gives the U.S. a lose/lose situation, while the 3rd largest economy in the world, China - has the largest population and largest potential market, in the world. The Chinese people won't indefinitely accept a lower standard of living. When do we get to sell to them?

What do U.S. Leaders need for success in domestic and world markets?

We are still viewed as the country of freedom and ingenuity around the world, but more and more we are being viewed as … 

See Part Two of "Judas Goats": U.S. Innovation Leaders Need IQ, EQ and CQ

Need help developing a clear innovation strategy, penetrating emerging markets, leadership development? Visit The DeSai Group. Follow Jatin Desai on LinkedIn and Twitter for juicy innovation ideas and tidbits.

Jatin Desai CEO, and author of Innovation Engine (May 2013 release by Wiley International), addresses C-Suite groups, delivers keynotes, leads workshops and joins with corporations and organizations to design and implement innovation programs and optimize existing programs, in the USA and internationally. Innovation Engine is now available in digital and hardcover versions at your favorite retail online or brick and mortar outlet.

  describe the image

                                 Innovation Engine

  "Innovation Engine will help you build a climate and culture of innovation. A must-read for every serious executive desiring innovation as a daily habit in his or her organization and to drive innovation execution."

-Vijay Govindarajan, coauthor of the New York Times and
Wall Street Journal bestseller Reverse Innovation

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