Innovation Matters … Through the Eyes of a Career Management Consultant Steve Harrison Chairman, Lee Hecht Harrison

WHY ME?

As Career Management Consultants: We’re observers of corporate cultures... especially leadership We handle the “people impact” of innovation: ●Job creation ●Job change ●Job loss

Innovate: (Webster’s Dictionary) “To make changes, to do something in a new way.” [From ancient French word: “Innovacyon” … renewal, or a new way of doing things.] So … It’s not just inventing “the next big thing” …

Creating Need! Innovation’s Gift: Creating Need! (Sometimes when need doesn’t really exist!)

Lessons from the Dry Cereal Shelf!

Innovation’s Role in Job Creation Need Creation Product Variation Demand Stimulation Supply Expansion Resource Expansion Jobs Expansion

Innovation is a Business Imperative: The basis for: Competitive advantage Growth Productivity Some companies “get it” and some don’t

Companies that Don’t “Get It” Don’t include innovation in their values Are tolerant of the “NIH” syndrome Resist a failure-tolerant culture Don’t install a system-wide process of idea management Don’t budget resources for innovation

Companies that Don’t “Get It” Don’t build diversity and collaboration into the process Don’t sustain innovation endeavor Don’t walk the “think-outside-the-box” talk Are not creative around reward, recognition & celebration Don’t value innovation in leadership

Companies that “Get It” Ensure a sustained innovation process & culture The Trick: Institutionalize Innovation

Clues to Innovative Companies Do they … Communicate innovation as a cultural and strategic priority? Create a failure-tolerant environment? Protect innovators from bureaucracy? Provide “psychic” income? Encourage innovation during the good times? (“If it ain’t broke, break it.”)

Clues to Innovative Companies Do they … Kill the mindset that innovation is only about inventing the Next Big Thing? Build a culture where there is no such thing as a bad idea? “Start small; keep it simple?” … Peter Drucker

THE OLD ONE THE NEW ONE…

Clues to Innovative Companies Do they … Kill the mindset that innovation is only about inventing the Next Big Thing? Build a culture where there is no such thing as a bad idea? “Keep it focused; keep it simple?” … Peter Drucker Value diversity & collaboration? Make it fun?

Creativity & Culture Corporate culture … “The playing field of innovation”

“Global Innovation Leaders”: The World’s Top Innovators Honeywell Toyota Samsung Nestle Kimberly Clark Microsoft Medtronic Canon Merck Speedo Nokia

Innovative Innovators! Bose – Reinvests 100% earnings into innovation Williams Sonoma – “Customer Care Centers” Kraft – Creates annual innovation budgets Bristol-Meyers Squibb – Conducts “ideathons” Polaroid – “Creativity Labs” Franklin Covey – “Collaboration Rooms” Gore-Tex – “Innovation Democracy”

Innovative Innovators! Whirlpool – Mandatory course on innovation Dupont – “Center for Creativity and Innovation” Microsoft – “Microsoft Research” Airco – Conducts “Brainstorms” IDEO – Consultants in the Art of Innovation The Body Shop – DODGI (Department of Damned Good Ideas)

Beyond Caprice & Serendipity … Failure as the Mother of Invention! Post-It Notes Jacuzzi Champagne Urethane Sponge

Beyond Caprice & Serendipity … Failure as the Mother of Invention! Post-It Notes Jacuzzi Champagne Urethane Sponge Viagra

Building a Bridge Between the Workplace of the Future & Our Underprepared Workforce Mandatory core course: “Navigating the New World of Work” More live exposure to the corporate world Early skills assessments Internships & co-op programs States: Partner with, “reward,” and publicize the most innovative companies

Innovation … “Like Nailing Jello to the Wall!” but We still need a “Declaration of Innovation” to “Harvest the Invisible Intelligence” and to Seek the “Beneficial Surprise”

To Avoid This … A banker to Thomas Edison: “Get that toy out of my office!”

HAPPY NEW YEAR! Here’s to an Innovative 2005!