Budgets are being cut. Employees let go. Is it really time to talk about that “innovation” buzzword again?While it may be easy to say “can you really afford not to?” in regards to innovation, the honest answermay be that it depends.
That said, it could be a good time to highlight innovation. And instead of the all or nothing approach,maybe it’s time worth asking where it can best be allocated. According to one report, less than half ofthe innovation projects at Fortune 1000 companies succeed. If that’s the case, can we learn fromcompanies that have been getting it right the past few years, with perhaps formal innovation programsin place?
Examples of Structured Innovation
3M: 15% Rule program. End Results: Emphasize AEX Hybrid Purifier. The company known for Post-Itnotes, and now for N95 masks, has for 70 years allotted employees to devote 15% of their time to“experimental doodling,” or on pet projects. The program is available to all employees, so there is nofavoritism or segmentation. In addition, 3M’s annual award competitions and “culture sessions”devoted to the practice help to further promote internal innovation.
A recent example of success is the Emphasize AEX Hybrid Purifier. The device pulls DNA out of cellculture for scientists working on protein-based drugs such as antibodies, including those used invaccines. The product was the brainchild of Jonathan Hester, a 3M scientist that wanted to use his timeto experiment with nonwovens. Initially aiming to use non-wovens for a hazmat suit, he took his idea tomanagement, tested it with customers, and created a new product.
Google: 20% Time. End results: Gmail, Google Maps, Google News and AdSense. The 20% of timeallowed by Google employees is probably well known, and in fact was taken from 3M’s program.According to former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, the program works for several reasons. The first is that ingeneral, Google’s employees don’t veer too off track and will stick to their core business (Engineering,design etc.). Another reason is that it allows “reasonable” employees to escape and defy theirsometimes “unreasonable managers”. This keeps things in balance, especially when times are tough. “Ifan employee is under pressure, he can tell the manger I’ll give you 100% of my 80% of my time. Inreality, this never happens in practice, but it’s understood and it empowers employee with both dignity,and also some choices.” The freedom granted by the program is also viewed as a way to keep high-performing employees from leaving the company.
Amazon: Working Backwards. End Results Prime Now, Amazon Smile. Amazon’s Working Backwards isaptly name- it begins with work backwards from the customer, rather than starting with an idea for aproduct and trying to promote the product to customers. In Working Backwards, a product managermust write an internal press release announcing a finished product. The outline (below) of press releaseencompasses many of components needed to create a business case.
Heading: Name the product in a way the reader (i.e., your target customers) will understand.
Subheading: Describe who the market for the product is and what benefit they get. One sentence onlyunderneath the title.
Summary: Give a summary of the product and the benefit. Assume the reader will not read anything elseso make this paragraph good.
Problem: Describe the problem your product solves.
Solution: Describe how your product elegantly solves the problem.
Quote from You: A quote from a spokesperson in your company.
How to Get Started: Describe how easy it is to get started.
Customer Quote: Provide a quote from a hypothetical customer that describes how they experiencedthe benefit.
Closing and Call to Action: Wrap it up and give pointers where the reader should go next.
According to Ian McAllister, Director of Amazon Day and former Director of Amazon Smile, "Internalpress releases are centered around the customer problem, how current solutions (internal or external)fail, and how the new product will blow away existing solutions," writes McAllister. "If the benefits listeddon't sound very interesting or exciting to customers, then perhaps they're not (and shouldn't be built)…"Iterating on a press release is a lot less expensive than iterating on the product itself (and quicker!).”
How can The SearchLite help? The SearchLite is a primary research firm that focuses on B2B productinnovation. (With our focus on primary research and B2B product innovation- better way to phrase?),We can find and interview customers, decision makers, influencers, etc. to provide feedback intoproduct design or novel markets to enter with existing products.
Relevant Links:
https://www.broadridge.com/press-release/2020/ceos-discuss-emerging-technology-and-innovation-projects?mod=article_inline
https://www.wsj.com/articles/after-devastating-economic-contraction-glimmers-of-growth-emerge-11589626800?mod=hp_lead_pos9
https://mashable.com/2018/05/11/google-20-percent-rule/
https://www.inc.com/justin-bariso/amazon-uses-a-secret-process-for-launching-new-ideas-and-it-can-transform-way-you-work.html
