50 common mistakes corporate innovation teams should avoid

50 Common Mistakes Corporate Innovation Teams Should Avoid

COLLECTIVE CAMPUS

When it comes to corporate innovation - each organisation

is different and there is no silver bullet - but still, we can stand on

the shoulders of giants and learn not to make these mistakes which can, with a little

TLC…

…be easily avoided in order to not only cut the cost of making

these mistakes, but increase our chances of success in delivering

new commercially successful innovations to market.

WWW.COLLECTIVECAMP.US

#1 Senior executives dictate what the answersare and what products need to be built - withoutinput from employees, partners, customers ormembers of the general public

#2 Misaligned communication and incentivesacross an organization

#3 Beginning with a ‘what is’ constraint basedmindset instead of ‘what if’ resulting in narrowlydefined, unadventurous and easily replicatedincremental improvements

INNOVATION CULTURE & MINDSET MISTAKES


www.collectivecamp.us

INNOVATION CULTURE & MINDSET MISTAKES#4 Trying to tackle innovation through isolated initiatives instead holistically.

#5 Separating innovation initiatives from the mainstream - no integration with core business units.

#6 Not effectively defining what the organisation’s definition of innovation is


http://www.collectivecamp.us/blog/podcast-stop-treating-corporate-innovation-like-a-project


#7 Applying Horizon 1 policies, systems andvalues to Horizon 3 innovation

#8 Not determining a theme and criteria foridea contests, subsequently receivinghundreds of disjointed ideas of varyingquality - the majority of which receive can notbe evaluated effectively

#9 Not effectively defining the objectives of aninnovation program and the type of innovationthat is sought (i.e. incremental, adjacent ordisruptive - H1, H2 or H3)

INNOVATION STRATEGY MISTAKES


https://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjZrtDKxpfMAhVJzWMKHYOhDP4QFggbMAA&url=http://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/strategy-and-corporate-finance/our-insights/enduring-ideas-the-three-hori


#10 Not tying innovation strategy withcorporate strategy

#11 Using traditional metrics based ondollars such as ROI, IRR and NPV are usedto measure success, despite the fact thatHorizon 3 and disruptive innovationrequires innovation metrics based onlearnings - Read More

INNOVATION STRATEGY MISTAKES


http://www.collectivecamp.us/blog/innovation-metrics


#12 Acquiring startups with and integrating them into the bureaucracy and systems of the mothership, ultimately killing them - Read More

#13 Investing in technology without addressing the underlying business model

#14 Not investing because the market for a new innovation or technology isn’t large enough

#15 Ignoring technologies that aren’t good enough for existing customers

INNOVATION METRICS MISTAKES


http://www.collectivecamp.us/blog/startup-acquisition-101-for-large-organisations

http://www.collectivecamp.us/blog/startup-acquisition-101-for-large-organisations


#16 Engaging startups to speed up innovation butnot aligning internal processes to support thisspeed (eg. long, drawn out procurement processeswhen engaging startups, not making key peopleavailable to support startup testing and cadence,etc.)

#17 Engaging only large incumbent consultantswith a large, slow moving cost base to supportinnovation efforts inhibiting the ability to movequickly and take lots of small bets

#18 Not investing in new technologies orinnovations because initial revenue projectionswon’t support the achievement of short termgrowth metrics

INNOVATION METRICS MISTAKES



#19 Not having a direct reporting line frominnovation teams to the C-Suite or seniormanagement

#20 Having an innovation team which is notintegrated with other business units and/or thewider organisation

#21 Silos - business units not effectivelysharing knowledge or talking to each for thepurposes of innovation, especially marketingand different product divisions - competitionacross business units can also inhibit innovation

ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE MISTAKES



#22 No funding is made available to pursue ideaspost a hackathon or idea contest - Read More

#23 People are not given time off to participate inhackathons and other innovation initiatives

#24 Selected ideas are not given time to incubatelearnings and are withdrawn early based on ROI notbeing sufficient, instead of looking at innovationmetrics such as learnings - Read More

#25 Pulling human resources from projects whencompeting interests arise

#26 Not having a process in place to captureknowledge from innovation programs centrally andleverage it effectively across the organisation

RESOURCING & INFRASTRUCTURE MISTAKES


http://www.collectivecamp.us/blog/how-to-run-an-effective-hackathon-for-corporate-innovation

http://www.collectivecamp.us/blog/top-brainstorming-capture-employee-knowledge-effectively-to-drive-innovation


#27 Selection criteria used to recruit people toinnovation programs is often flawed and favoursHorizon 1 ‘avoid failure at all cost’ personalities, butnot Horizon 3 ‘embrace ambiguity and experimentrapidly’ personalities

#28 Creating innovation roles that are purely ‘parttime’, signaling that innovation is not a seriouspriority

#29 Hiring new employees based on traditionalHorizon 1 competencies and skill-sets

#30 Not updating performance reviews and KPIs toalign with innovation objectives

HR MISTAKES



#31 People who vote on ideas as part of an idea contest do so without any knowledge of innovation theory - often resulting in contests amounting to popularity contests and one’s abilities to market the idea internally

#32 Insufficient guidance is provided to staff around ideation of initial ideas

#33 Ideas for progression are selected by senior executives only and based on flawed criteria such as short term ROI potential

IDEATION & HACKATHON MISTAKES



#34 Feedback is not given to people who submit ideas to an idea contest, subsequently resulting in disgruntled employees brandishing innovation initiatives nothing more than ‘theatre’

#35 There is no mechanism in place to build upon ideas in an idea contest

#36 Hackathons focus purely on building things, not on validating make or break assumptions underlying a business mode

#37 Running hackathons without a strong mix of people with diverse skills and experiences - limiting breadth and depth of outcomes

IDEATION & HACKATHON MISTAKES



#38 Middle management are not trained innor incentivised to take part in innovationprograms

#39 Confusing the adoption of technologywith being innovative

#40 Thinking that disruptive innovation issimply filling existing and visible customerneeds

#41 Teaching people methodologies such aslean startup but not addressing theunderlying culture, systems and processesthat inhibit the application of lean startupprinciples - Read More

METHODOLOGY & KNOWLEDGE MISTAKES


http://www.collectivecamp.us/blog/hacking-a-corporate-culture-to-support-innovation


#42 Running focus groups to support brainstormingand market research with people who are paid toparticipate

#43 Asking focus group participants whether theywould pay for something without actually having todemonstrate this behaviour

#44 Asking focus group participants leading yes/noquestions which results in false validation ofhypotheses

#45 Staff are not trained in innovation theory, designthinking or lean startup principles, yet are expected toact and move like startups




#46 Not getting out of the building - internal brainstorming and a lack of customer focus

#47 Thinking that a startup is just a small version of a big company

#48 Thinking that a large company is just a big version of a startup

#49 Thinking that digitising broken offline processes is innovation

#50 Trying to sell and experiment with existing customers




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50 common mistakes corporate innovation teams should avoid

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