Accelerating Innovation

by Andrea Meyer

Point: Accelerate innovation by finding an analogous solution from a different industry.

Story: Henry Ford's assembly line is often touted as a breakthrough innovation. What's less known is that Ford got the idea by seeing the "disassembly line" process of butchering hogs at the Philip Armour meatpacking company in Chicago. Similar techniques were also already being used by Campbell's to automate canned food production.

Adopting ideas from other industries and applying them to your own industry is a powerful and proven source of innovation. But what if you don't know which industry to examine, or where to look for that potentially breakthrough idea? Solutions may arrive serendipitously as you visit companies and read widely, but how do you accelerate the process and make it systematic?

One exciting solution I came across was described by Jim Todhunter, CTO of Invention Machine at the Open Innovation Summit last month. Invention Machine's Goldfire software uses semantic technology to access a vast collection of scientific principles, patents, articles and Deep Web technical websites (meaning you can't find them via standard search engines like Google). Simply put, Goldfire automates searching for analogous solutions in different industries. I talked with Todhunter to learn more about how Goldfire, an innovation platform, can help a company innovate systematically.

Todhunter described how a manufacturer of plumbing fixtures used adjacencies to remove lead from their plumbing fixtures. Companies have long known the dangers of lead and have substituted copper pipes for lead ones and stopped using lead-based solders for plumbing. But most of us don't realize that fixtures like brass faucets also contain lead in the brass alloys. The reason faucets contain lead is because lead makes the brass machinable. A couple percent of lead mixed into the copper and zinc of the brass makes it easier to mill attractive surfaces, drill clean holes, and create smooth pipe threads on the brass. In short, the lead helps a faucet manufacturer create attractive, high-quality faucets. But over time, some of the lead in the brass leaches out into the water that flows through the faucet, which poses some health risks.

The faucet maker realized they needed help to solve the problem and turned to Invention Machine's Goldfire software to find feasible external innovations. "Goldfire helped them in two ways, Todhunter said, "in terms of what are called adjacencies and proof points."

Adjacencies involve finding potentially analogous innovations found in other industries. For example, faucet makers aren't the only companies worried about producing quality products from hard-to-machine materials. "On the adjacency side, when the company started to examine the problem with Goldfire, they were able to discover that there were technologies and methods used in other industries that could obviate the need for lead in brass," Todhunter said. In particular, the manufacturer discovered that woodworkers have clever techniques for milling wood. These techniques could be adapted to machining lead-free brass.

The second help to accelerate the innovative solution is called proof points - tangible examples that prove a solution is commercially feasible. In terms of proof points (i.e., "are there ways to do this?"), the manufacturer was able to discover a very clear proof point through Goldfire: someone had already discovered a way to make millable lead-free brass. "The client didn't even have to go invent this material - they were able to find a supplier," Todhunter said. "As a result, the faucet maker accelerated their time to market for delivery on this kind of concept tremendously because this discovery created a partnering opportunity."

Action:

• Clearly define the problem at hand (e.g., lead-free brass AND attractive, high-quality machined features)


• Survey adjacent industries or applications for ideas that overcome the problem (e.g., tricks for milling a hard-to-mill material)


• Survey external innovations and suppliers for proof points (e.g., a commercially available, lead-free brass alloy that is machinable)


• Combine externally-found adjacencies and proof points (i.e., use the best adjacent methods on the best proof point solutions)

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Author of more than 450 company case studies and contributor to 28 books, Andrea Meyer writes & ghostwrites about innovation, IT and strategy for clients like MIT, Harvard Business School, McKinsey & Co., and Forrester Research. Follow her at www.workingknowledge.com/blog and twitter.com/AndreaMeyer.

Do you know your 3 F's of Innovation?

Interview - James Todhunter - Invention Machine

I had the opportunity to interview James Todhunter, Chief Technology Officer at Invention Machine about engaging employees in a successful open innovation effort. Invention Machine is a software company that drives sustainable innovation across global organizations. In his blog Innovating to Win, Todhunter regularly offers insights and observations on building high-performance teams that can drive sustainable innovation across organizations.


Here is the text from the interview:

1. When it comes to open innovation, what is the biggest challenge that you see organizations facing?

In general, I don't see organizations struggling to find an entry point into open innovation. Rather, the struggle comes in understanding the critical success factors that must be met, and how to face these challenges. While we are all aware of certain high profile companies that have achieved interesting results through open innovation, I hear many more organizations complain that they are not deriving value from their efforts. After an initial flurry of activity, the programs stall. The quality of input from the innovation communities is low and often characterized as shallow and immature. The reliability of value network partners is sometimes weak, and there is a great gulf between indentifying an interesting idea and delivering value in the form of a new product or market innovation. Overcoming the issues of authority, alignment, and actualization spells the difference between open innovation as just a big suggestion box versus being a source of value. This will be the focus of my session at the Open Innovation Summit.


2. From your experience, what are some of the keys to successfully engaging employees in an open innovation effort?

To engage employees in the open innovation initiative, it is critical to understand the roles of the many constituencies of innovation and communicate those roles clearly to internal communities. Every organization must take the time to look at the various communities, both internal and external, that contribute value to the corporate innovation programs. Internal communities such as engineering, marketing, production and all have distinct roles and functions to fulfill in the value creation and delivery process. The external communities include supply partners, production partners, logistical partners, and customers. When the roles and interaction points of these communities are understood, the open innovation system can be presented as a powerful tool to help employees be more successful and not be viewed as a source of noise or, in the extreme, a threat.


3. Do organizations need a centralized innovation group? What authority do they need?

Well, this is one of those questions must be answered with both a yes and a no. First, let's consider the no aspect of this. For a company to truly establish a sustainable and high performance innovation culture, it must first understand that innovation is everyone's job. That doesn't mean that everyone should go off and try to create the next great thing. Rather, it is a realization that the only constant in any business is change. Even as we establish best practices for operational efficiency, we need to consider how to tear them down and redefine best practices and the methods of execution in order to operationalize innovation as a force of change to help us achieve the continuous improvement we must always seek. This constant and continuous every day innovation is just one end of the innovation continuum. For others in the organization, innovation takes on progressively higher orders of meaning as our individual roles define the classes of innovation activities that we each must pursue. With this in mind, organizations should consider how they steward the development of innovation skills within the company and help individual worker grow their own innovation capabilities. Broad engagement in the innovation culture also has the benefit of preempting the NIH attitude that can prevent the diffusion of innovation when new concepts are foisted upon the workforce by what can be viewed as an ivory tower body.

However, even in such a ubiquitous innovation environment, it becomes clear that an organizing force is needed to create alignment and get everyone pulling the wagon in the same direction. This is the yes part of the answer. Companies that believe such systems will self organize as grass roots initiatives are fooling themselves. There are critical factors that are simply out of the scope of the rank file community and thus limit the traction achievable at the grass roots level. Providing a corporate wide innovation skills development program, building the infrastructure for knowledge enablement of innovation workers, ensuring the alignment of all innovation activity with corporate strategy, and making the trade-offs of resource allocations are just a few examples of activities that require some higher-level visibility and attention in the organization. It is for this reason that truly successful innovation cultures begin with a mandate from the top which is not merely expressed in words, but experienced by all through the consistent and constant reinforcement of action.

It is important to note that there is a lot of latitude on how such a central capability can be expressed in a company. It doesn't need to be an explicit organizational unit; it may be a managed matrix function. It is also not necessary that the central capability is the body doing the innovation per se, in many cases the central function is an enabler - a catalyst with the organization - of innovation.


4. What are some of the secrets to achieving organizational alignment when it comes to innovation?

The single greatest tool to achieve organizational alignment is communication. Communication must flow in all directions: top-down, bottom-up, and side-to-side. The communication must be rich and open. Management must communicate to employees the strategy, objectives, and relevance of each employee's job to the strategy. I remember walking around the production facility of a global semiconductor manufacturer. As I talked with different workers, the clarity and consistency of understanding of the strategic goal and each person's ability to impact that goal was remarkable. It is no wonder that this company is the leader in their space.

Employees must also feed information up the ladder. None of us are immune from the trap of our own personal experience. Management needs the input of the company's communities to have a complete picture on which to base its strategic assessments and properly understand the trade-off dynamics as they make both tactical and strategic decisions that will have far reaching affects on the company.

And of course, side-to-side communication and collaboration are fundamentally important for a complete alignment in the company's innovation programs.


5. What are some of the keys to validating ideas in order to pick the ideas to fund?

A great place to start is to examine the three Fs: fit, feasibility, and finance.

By looking at fit, you should asking questions about how well the subject concept meets the needs. Have you identified and qualified the customer pain you are going to address through your innovation? How differentiated is your concept relative to other potential solutions (including non-consumption)? What are the deficits of your approach? What are the change dynamics and hurdles to innovation diffusion that you may encounter and how does your concept address these? These and similar questions are all about assessing the scope and nature of your future value proposition.

When considering feasibility, the questions are now oriented towards understanding the implementability and market timing aspects of innovation. What technical challenges must be overcome to realize you vision? Do you have potential solution paths identified? What about freedom to operate? Do you have an open field, or are there intellectual property hurdles to be cleared? What is the time line to deliver on your concept and is that compatible with the market?

And of course, business is all about finance. What is the size of the opportunity? What is the path to monetization? Is this use of resources aligned with your objectives? Is this a strategic move or a distraction? What is the opportunity cost of pursuing this path as compared to others? How will you achieve a positive contribution to margin in the shortest time? How does this innovation contribute to the long range objectives for corporate valuation?


6. What are some ways that organizations can accelerate their innovation efforts?

Of course the specific needs of every organization are different. But in general, I would advise companies to walk the walk and not merely pay lip service to innovation. This means making the corporate commitment to innovation palpable at every level. Executive management must be visibly and meaningfully engaged in the innovation process. They must also show their commitment through investing in people, giving them the time, latitude, and support they need to successfully meet the corporate innovation goals. Workers must be provided with access to innovation skills training. Of course, the tools and infrastructure for innovation are essential. This is why Invention Machine's global clients invest in the Goldfire innovation platform. All of this must be in service of a comprehensive and connected high-performance innovation system that balances every day and strategic innovation, and ties all efforts back to the corporate objectives.


7. What skills do you believe that managers need to acquire to succeed in an innovation-led organization?

It is essential for managers to be able to properly value innovation and assess innovation strategies. Related to this, managers must be able to articulate the value of innovation to the various internal constituencies they touch. Finally, managing the dynamics of change within the organization is a key skill in maintaining a healthy innovation environment.


8. If you were to change one thing about our educational system to better prepare students to contribute in the innovation workforce of tomorrow, what would it be?

A shift towards teaching critical thinking and learning skills is sorely needed. These are the building blocks of success in a future that will be defined by rapidly changing dynamics on a global scale. We aren't doing an adequate job of equipping the next generation of knowledge and innovation workers with these essential skills.


Tell Me More

If you'd like to hear more of what James Todhunter has to say about the challenges of open innovation and hear strategies for overcoming them, he will be leading a panel at the Open Innovation Summit, taking place December 2-4, 2009 in Orlando, Florida along with several other open innovation leaders, authors, and consultants. James Todhunter's talk is currently titled:

"Hands-On Strategies For Overcoming the Key Challenges Of Open Innovation"

September 18, 2009 is the last day for the $400 early bird discount.

Blogging Innovation readers can save an extra $300 by registering using the discount code - NXB458. More than enough to add Workshop B to your innovation experience.

See you there!

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Braden Kelley is the editor of Blogging Innovation and founder of Business Strategy Innovation, a consultancy focusing on innovation and marketing strategy. Braden is also @innovate on Twitter.