Success: Crusher of Innovation

Reignite the Flame of Innovation

You know the story. Two guys (or girls) in a garage come up with a great idea, craft it out of proverbial bailing wire, and after dismissing failures (usually many), they and their innovative product become household names. Success! But then, something unfortunate happens. The fire dims, and the innovative spirit is diminished.

“What?!”, you may gasp. After that first success, certainly one enjoys the spoils that go along with it: Fame. Fortune. Credibility. Market Awareness. These things, not the least of which — Fortune — can translate into capital funding, should make it easier to innovate and create the next big thing.

But it just ain’t so.

The reality is that many things come into play to naturally work to crush further innovation. The creative spirit can become satisfied by finally “making it”; the hunger, both for financial gains as well as self-validation can be satiated. The drive to create something new, innovative and meaningful subversively and subconsciously converts to a desire to evolve or worse, maintain. “If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it”, can become the modus operandi. The fear of screwing everything up that we worked so hard to obtain can be innovation paralysis.

This is the point where true innovative grit is needed. Of course, initial wild success is not as easy as I make it sound, but it is easier than the second wildly successful idea. Or the third. Or the fiftieth.

Lack of innovation is the reason many large, historically successful companies find themselves on the verge of failure — or are heading there in a hurry. The slow moving culture so prevalent in large companies was not a material problem throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. But since the latter half of the 20th century, technology has altered the landscape, creating a punishing environment for companies that do not move quickly and innovatively.

While these perennially large companies epitomize the crushing power past success has had on innovation, oddly they are positioned the best to further innovation. Their leaders need to have true innovative grit, both in creativity and leadership.

Think of the two guys that hit it big in the garage. They focused on creating their dream. They and their families probably sacrificed a great deal to make that dream a reality. But what comes next is an onslaught of challenges of a different nature: Public Relations. Finances. More people. Legal. For many creative individuals, this is unfamiliar territory, one ripe with land mines.

But the larger companies have a significant advantage in that they have already built the infrastructure to support success through innovation. They have PR, finance, HR, and legal departments in place. They are well positioned to leverage innovation, yet it is rarely a strategic focus, giving way to risk-averse strategies that aim for incremental improvement.

Although larger companies may have an advantage (albeit rarely used), leaders of all companies from large to small, must lead innovatively. No, this does not mean to lead by example (“look at me; I’m innovative, so you should be as well”) — that’s not it. It’s far more challenging than that.

To lead innovatively means to leverage the success your company has achieved and eliminate its power to crush further innovation. Sounds easy, huh? But how is this done?

There is no single answer as every situation is unique. But some basic guidelines follow:

• Be as risky as you can without getting fired, then push it a bit further. 99 times out 100, this strategy will pay off and your strategy will succeed. If/when the 1% bites you, ask yourself, would you have rather tried and failed or taken the easy way out.
• Reward your team when they innovate — NOT when they have business success. Reward with fervor the crazy idea people, assuming they have had a successful idea in the past or show promise of having one in the future (but let’s assume if they are on your team you’ve already vetted and know they have potential).
• Acquire innovate companies for their people and ideas. Your ability to do this depends upon your company’s size and resources, but at any level, attempt to expand your pool of innovative thinkers and their ideas.
• Keep innovative thinkers away from everyone else. No, I don’t mean to physically isolate them, but don’t let tactical thinking influence their creativity; allow them to work as closely to the “garage setting” as possible. (Which by the way, doesn’t mean free soda pop, haircuts, and foosball, but that’s another story…)
• Budget something for “What if?”. Allocate resources for something unexpected you may find each year so that, when you find it, you don’t have to “go back to the well.” If you don’t have the power to do this, get it. Or go someplace else where they are interested in something more than just surviving.

Again, these are just guidelines; the “how” to do this will require some innovative thinking on your part. But that’s the point, right?