Three must do's to build innovation in your organization

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The only certainty in today's marketplace is that companies that stand still and keep doing what they've been doing will fail, Dr. Michael R. Burcham, CEO of The Nashville Entrepreneur Center, told attendees last week at the Key Executives Mega-Conference.

Burcham, who also recently was named co-chair of The National Advisory Council on Innovation & Entrepreneurship, told publishers that they need to trust their gut as they lay out the path forward.  And, he told them they need to be re-visiting their business model every day – not once a year as part of the strategic plan.  "It has to be a daily conscious effort around the business model," he said.

Burcham, who also teaches graduate level students at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, says he loves the amazing sense of what's possible that he sees in his students. "When someone is unhampered by the hard assets and the history and the legacy, what they see as possible will actually blow your mind," he said.

3 Steps Toward Innovation

  • Map the pathway for innovation within the company.
  • Develop measures and rewards for those who dare to be innovative.
  • Integrate stories of innovation into corporate storytelling.

He challenged publishers to tap into that innovative spirit that their younger employees possess.  "The reason young people tend to innovate more than those of us in our 40s and 50s is their brains are still more full of dreams than memories," he said.  "As we get older, our brains are more full of our memories than our dreams and so we rest on memories and we get terrified to make a change because we feel like we have so much to lose.  The reality is that we have everything to lose if we don't change a few things."

Among the classic mistakes that Burcham cited about many companies today:

  • Aspiring to be innovative, but it's all talk, no action.  If you have to label your company as "innovative" to get your message across, you aren't innovative, he said.
  • The creation of an "Innovation Department." There's nothing that will kill innovation faster, he said, than assigning an idea to a committee.

Instead, he encouraged publishers to take a different approach and ask:

  • How does this fit into our business model?
  • Do these new ideas suit our brand?
  • Where is the return on investment?

He also talked about the need to look for unique ways to give customers a higher value than they've received in the past – in order to keep the little "halo" that sits on top of your price.  "In that halo, something interesting is happening," he said.  "That's where all the value is created and perceived by our customers.  Over time, if we simply raise prices and don't add value, the halo completely evaporates.  As the halo is evaporating, we hear from customers: Do you have a coupon? Do I get a deal?  Any time we hear those words, all it says is: your halo is going away.  Once the halo is completely gone, you're a commodity for sale to the cheapest bidder."

One of the most powerful things companies can do is map a pathway for innovation.  Citing the graphic pictured below, Burcham described a pathway to success. 

Draw a bullseye and put it up on the wall, he suggested.  Every idea suggested by your staff that has data which fits your strategy goes in the middle.  Every idea with data that isn't quite tied to strategy, goes in the second circle, and all other ideas go in the third circle.  Instead of assigning ideas to a committee, make it the responsibility of the individual to marry their idea with enough data and strategic insight so it becomes a priority to the company.  "It gives the individual the power to move their idea ahead," Burcham said.  "And, then reward those who move ahead."

He also suggested closing the suggestion box and telling staff they can't critique someone else's idea unless they are prepared to say how it might work.  "Can you image a workplace where criticism was not allowed unless you had a better idea?  Now image a workplace where you are rewarding someone to add to the idea.  It's call the 'Yes, And' concept," he said.

Developing measures and rewards for those who dare to be innovative is important, he said, because – too often – someone is simply squashing their ideas ... and those employees will get disenfranchised and move on to another company.

He also urged publishers to integrate stories of innovation into corporate storytelling.  It defines the company culture and "allows us to connect to vision and passion and something that matters."

For innovators in the audience, he suggested three steps to reduce the risk of failure:

  • Look for signs to validate your instincts of the market shift.
  • Identify the talent and technology to make the dream a reality.
  • Build the team – value passion and perseverance over pedigree.

Download Michael Burcham's PowerPoint presentation (in PDF format)

Mega-Conference, Burcham
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