1. The 5 Myths of Innovation
By Julian Birkinshaw, Cyril Bouquet and J.L. Barsoux
Amit Abramovski
Roee Sommerfeld

2. Innovation What is Innovation? New idea, solution, improvement..
In the past: the responsibility to pursue new ideas was by the designers, engineers and scientists.
Now days: Innovation is everyone’s job
Problems: lack of time, motivation, priorities.
The 5 Myths… based on a 3 years research.

3. Myth #1: The Eureka Moment
The Eureka moment: a human experience of suddenly understanding a previously incomprehensible problem or concept.
Many big companies makes a big effort to give their people the time and space to have a clear mind for thinking.
5% inspiration and 95% perspiration
Examples: Proctor&Gamble, Royal Dutch Shell.

4. Myth #2: Built it and they will come
People just need a platform to express ideas.
Web 2.0 – internet tech. online forums
Problems: the forum doesn’t take off by it self, irrelevant ideas, “separate the wheat from the chaff”.
What to do?
Understand the interaction – creative ideas or specific situation.

5. Myth #3: Open Innovation is the future
Looking for the ideas outside the company’s borders
LEGO – “created by LEGO fans”
Time and investment – external network.
Pool of ideas vs Ownership problems.
Roche Diagnostics – prob. Solved but needed to get to agreement with the person who solved the prob.

6. Myth #4: Pay is paramount
Material rewards for ideas – extra effort.
“Recognition is the reward”
Money is a secondary motivator – blocking the creativity.
Smart companies (Mars Central Europe) – emphasize the social and personal drivers.

7. Myth #5: Bottom-Up Innovation is best
Managers are not close to the action – need to push the responsibility down the organization.
“Let 1,000 flowers bloom” (Google)
Turned down ideas – how to deal with the people?
Successful innovations – both bottom-up and top-down effort. (Ericsson, Sony, HP)

8. Conclusion Innovation is the lifeblood of any large organization.
Web 2.0 tech. made it possible to get a lot of new ideas from everyone.
Online tools, open innovations communities have their limitations.
Best approach – understand the challenge.

9. Capish?