So can an established successful company create a level of innovation that will allow them to compete with their more nimble competitors, or are they all destined to become dinosaurs, either squishing little mammals beneath their clawed toes, or just dying off quietly.
One answer could be an internal startup. Here's how it could work:
All employees are invited to contribute ideas.
This should be open to everyone and every idea. Projects that directly relate to the existing business are probably more likely, but creative ideas that at first glance might seem ridiculous should not be excluded.
Ideas are refined into project proposals.
This is where ideas should be allowed to have sex with each other and produce cuter, more highly evolved idea babies. Again, everyone is encouraged to participate, contributing suggestions.
Everyone votes
I'm sure this will be controversial, and some managers will be insisting on making the final decision, but if you are really smarter than all of your employees combined, then why are you hiring so badly?
One or more projects are put into an incubator.
Each project will have a pair of founders who are able to display the same passion for the concept that any start up founder would have, short of having their house on the line. They will be able to "hire" staff by stealing the best personel from other projects. This might seem crazy, but there's no such thing as being partially committed. Members of the existing management team will play the part of investors, receiving regular updates and mentoring. Other than this though, the project will be left alone to develop a minimum viable product as quickly as possible.
Present and pivot
The startup team will present their idea to the rest of the company, and based on the feedback, the "founders" and "investors" will decide whether the project should continue, be re-integrated back into the main business, or be thrown back into a new round of ideas.
This model gives innovation a chance to grow within your organisation without being subjected to the usual processes, which are likely to dilute ideas, if not destroy them entirely. The visionaries within your company have something to aspire to. They get the opportunity to work on new ideas in a less structured environment for a period, without the associated risk that comes with working for a start up. You will be able to attract a different type of employee, encouraging innovation throughout the company. Who wouldn't want to work for a company that does this?
Of course not every project is going to produce your next killer product, but the willingness to fail is essential to innovation, and unlike a real world startup, the lessons learned from each project will then disseminate throughout your organisation, so in this case, there really is no such thing as failure.
What do you think? Could this work?
For some real world examples see:
Microsoft Gets A Clue From Its Kiddie Corps - The Daily Beast
Wells Fargo relies on internal ‘incubator’ to spur innovation - San Francisco Business Times
One answer could be an internal startup. Here's how it could work:
All employees are invited to contribute ideas.
This should be open to everyone and every idea. Projects that directly relate to the existing business are probably more likely, but creative ideas that at first glance might seem ridiculous should not be excluded.
Ideas are refined into project proposals.
This is where ideas should be allowed to have sex with each other and produce cuter, more highly evolved idea babies. Again, everyone is encouraged to participate, contributing suggestions.
Everyone votes
I'm sure this will be controversial, and some managers will be insisting on making the final decision, but if you are really smarter than all of your employees combined, then why are you hiring so badly?
One or more projects are put into an incubator.
Each project will have a pair of founders who are able to display the same passion for the concept that any start up founder would have, short of having their house on the line. They will be able to "hire" staff by stealing the best personel from other projects. This might seem crazy, but there's no such thing as being partially committed. Members of the existing management team will play the part of investors, receiving regular updates and mentoring. Other than this though, the project will be left alone to develop a minimum viable product as quickly as possible.
Present and pivot
The startup team will present their idea to the rest of the company, and based on the feedback, the "founders" and "investors" will decide whether the project should continue, be re-integrated back into the main business, or be thrown back into a new round of ideas.
This model gives innovation a chance to grow within your organisation without being subjected to the usual processes, which are likely to dilute ideas, if not destroy them entirely. The visionaries within your company have something to aspire to. They get the opportunity to work on new ideas in a less structured environment for a period, without the associated risk that comes with working for a start up. You will be able to attract a different type of employee, encouraging innovation throughout the company. Who wouldn't want to work for a company that does this?
Of course not every project is going to produce your next killer product, but the willingness to fail is essential to innovation, and unlike a real world startup, the lessons learned from each project will then disseminate throughout your organisation, so in this case, there really is no such thing as failure.
What do you think? Could this work?
For some real world examples see:
Microsoft Gets A Clue From Its Kiddie Corps - The Daily Beast
Wells Fargo relies on internal ‘incubator’ to spur innovation - San Francisco Business Times
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