This
week’s Wall Street Journal
special report on innovation has two interesting insights. First: advances in
technology in the last decade make innovation both more important and easier.
With better computer prototyping, infinitely more data, and instant feedback,
companies can test more ideas, more cheaply and more accurately. Walmart can
test combinations of displays and prices and know within three days how best to
sell products. Instead of limiting
new ideas to the few that can be fully tested, companies can encourage lots of
ideas.
Of
course, if innovation can happen quickly, then more companies will
realize that it must happen quickly. This in turn creates a climate
where innovation is not an afterthought, but an integral part of the corporate
culture.
The
second insight is about innovation strategies that work: trying all four at
once is seldom successful. The most effective way to improve innovation is Jim
Collin’s entreaty to get the right people on the bus.
By
hiring both star inventors and star implementers, companies can insure that
enough ideas are in the pipeline and that enough of them make it to market. And
given that the recession has sent a lot of very good people into the
marketplace, smart companies should be looking right now for the talent that
will keep them ahead of the competition.
So,
if you’re an innovative individual (like many who have been in my classes),
keep looking for companies that will appreciate you. And if you want to be an innovative company, keep hiring
them.