The Innovation Dilemma
If you look at the organizational charts of some companies, you can see a traditional attitude: R&D is responsible for new things, including innovation. The consequence? Some people develop new products in the dark, even if there are stage-gate processes, pipelines and all that is modern – the day R&D delivers it all ends somewhere in Nirvana – the people who should take over are not well prepared and it becomes tedious. Who should do what and why is it taking so long? Why is the market not ready yet…
Now it may be clear why we believe there is a difference between an invention and an innovation. The innovators are usually located elsewhere in the company, but not in research and development. Even inventors do not necessarily have to be active in research and development. While innovation is about new technologies, products or things that you can invent, innovation is about commercial success. There’s a reason why innovation research at MIT, not the worst organization on the planet, is located at the Sloan School of Management and not in an engineering building.
If your organization demands or even desperately cries out for innovation, there is hope. We understand how to implement innovations, organize them and even accelerate innovation processes. If you are curious about innovation and its organization, you are cordially invited to the conversation.
