Effective Innovation: Why’s It So Hard?

Innovation is a prerequisite in today’s fast-moving business environment. Companies can’t sit back and relish the success of their current products and services; while those products and services are turning profits, management must be looking ahead into an often misty future to figure out how their markets will change and how to respond to that change.

This is not news. We have known that innovation is a critical factor for quite a few years now. But in many enterprises it’s still more holy grail than familiar business practice. Why is innovating such a challenge?

A genius innovator is the opposite of a genius line manager. An innovative mindset is very different from a “business as usual” mindset. Innovation happens outside the boundaries of the business as it works today; in fact, it can often appear to run counter to current operations.

There’s no market. An innovation can appear off-track because the people with the challenge that the innovation solves don’t know they need the solution. Heck, they might not realize they even have the challenge.

It’s a process, not a milestone. Effective innovation is not a one-off event. Rather, it is a continuous process.

The initiative stops mid-swing. Many innovation efforts fizzle out once the “brainstorm high” has gone; others create an innovation “process” which is only a loop in which ideas are generated but never make further progress. Like a good golf or baseball swing, follow-through is key. Though innovation follow-through is not as exhilarating as initial idea-generation, it’s essential proving ground to move ideas forward.

It’s more “tortoise” than “hare.” Effective innovation is needed because today’s market moves so fast. However, the process of innovating is not fast at all. It takes planning, persistence, and time.

In the beginning, there’s more NO than YES. When first presented to stakeholders, innovations are often viewed with skepticism if not outright rejection.

The failure rate can be high. Innovation doesn’t come with a guarantee. There may be a number of failures before success. Many companies may find it hard to tolerate the duds.

In summary, effective innovation is neither exciting, fast, nor immediately obvious. It can start out with very little external market or internal stakeholder support.

The good news? Understanding the true nature of innovation is the first step toward success.