The 2019 Innov8ers conference took place in lovely (and warm) Miami. The event featured speakers and participants from VISA, SalesForce, Whirlpool, and many other large companies looking to innovate.
Two major themes emerged from the event. The first was creating an innovation culture and promoting buy-in across the board. Highlights included:
1) Mechanisms need to be in place that people are heard AND acknowledge- “suggestion boxes” are not enough to keep employees engaged
2) Incentivization schemes need to be cognizant of emphasizing near-term performance- if bonuses are tied to yearly results, there is less motivation to take on risk and invest time on innovation projects
3) Innovation needs to align with corporate strategy- otherwise it’s a futile effort
Point #3 was summed up by anecdote about “Hackathons” at Whirlpool. Great ideas emerged, but nothing was implemented as none were aligned with the company goals as a whole.
The other theme was large companies driving innovation by forming strong collaborations with start-ups- and not just through M&A. Brian Christensen from the Inovo Group highlighted how Cisco was able to leverage its relationships with start-ups to drive innovation in the 2000s. While accepted, there were concerns from the participants about scouting and picking the right start-up. One point of emphasis was the team dynamic- the start-ups and corporate venture capital needed to have a good rapport for the relationship to thrive.
In regards to Start-Ups, the SearchLite can help. How? Once you have a start-up in mind, we can help with the vetting process, performing various aspects of due diligence. We can even suggest alternative start-ups that may be a better fit for your company strategy. Find more here (Clickable link) More about the Innov8ers conference: https://innov8rs.co/blog/
