As a chief executive you must be prepared to take an objective view of your business and its potential, and be prepared to make a major investment of sweat, effort and capital if you wish to strengthen the organisations innovation thrust .
In our experience, there is a practical and effective approach to achieve the above. It depends on taking four steps in order to create a purposeful and strategically framed program for building innovating performance. These steps are summarised below. The actions required to achieve them and the barriers that may interfere are discussed in the rest of the chapter.
Recognise the symptoms. Take a hard look at customers and a hard look at competitors. You have to understand your starting pointnot as you would wish it to be, but the hard reality. This means you need to understand what your customers want and how you can meet those needs. You also need to keep a vigilant eye on your competitors and their potential.
Your own objective analysis may be sufficient, but do not overlook the value of external observation and analysis. You must dispassionately understand your current position, the trends that impact on it and the size of the prize that you seek.
Having understood your starting point, you then need to understand the gaps in your organisation and what it will take to fill them (that is, the managerial and organisational changes and the scale of the commitment that it will take). When undertaking this process, we recommend you seek advice about how organisations actually work in practice, preferably from someone who has experience in advising CEOs and who has sound, balanced judgment.
In our experience there are several useful frameworks for this analysis.The key areas to examine are:
Structure .Are the roles in the business appropriate? Does the structure enable the value-creating processes in the business? Is the governance framework suited to your ambitions? Does the structure provide the right balance of advice?
Systems and processes . Are your planning and performance processes serving you well? Is the purpose of these systems clear and appropriate? What systems are missing?
Culture . Does the culture support innovation, focus on customers and encourage speed and agility? What parts of your culture are holding you back?
Quality of your people and leadership . Do you have enough horsepower and the right skills among your people? What skills and capability do you need?
Client development . What processes do you have to develop a high level of customer needs and business drivers?
Set out a program that will deliver the requisite change. Manage todays business but also manage for the future.
Work with your people to build a shared understanding of the imperative for your businesss innovating thrust. Work with your top team to craft a program for change that has their commitment and active support.
As you implement the program, ensure you manage the current performance of your business. The bottom line is a constant imperative.
Mobilise your people and get going.
Above all, developing an innovating enterprise depends on winning the commitment of your people. Clear communication about the direction of the business and how the vision can be delivered together is essential. Building the leadership at all levels that engages your people will deliver sustained results. The prize for the business depends on engaging all employees in developing the businesss innovating thrust. The effort spent in mobilising your people will lay the foundations for successful innovation.