“It’s 5 to 12,” warns top executive at ASML Peter Wennink. “The Dutch high-tech industry, scientists and government are not doing enough to innovate and are in danger of missing the boat massively in the great transitions of our time,” Wennink explained. The importance of innovation is of all times, but today it seems more topical than ever. Trends and developments follow one another at a breakneck pace, and keeping up threatens to become a day job. Everyone is aware that renewal is essential. But where do you start? And how do you know if you’ve thought of everything?
From that same industry and government, fortunately, come various standards, methodologies, models, frameworks and more. But like innovation, these standards are complex and do not always align with realities within the high-tech industry. Therefore, Synergio has created an overview of all these guidelines that captures the essence and key points from our own experience and expertise. We call this the “House of Innovation. The “House” is practical in design and accessible to anyone who wants to improve their innovation.
ISO published the ISO 56000 standard several years ago. This standard contains a complete overview that touches all processes and aspects within an organization related to innovation. We use this standard as a basis; it forms the building blocks of the House, supplemented by Synergio’s knowledge of Systems Engineering, Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) and Rapid Learning Cycles (RLC), among others.
House of Innovation is composed of five building blocks
The illustration below shows the building blocks or “blocks” that make up the House of Innovation. Let’s take a closer look at the blocks.
Leadership
Leadership must drive effective innovation by setting innovation goals, fostering a supportive culture (see also context & Culture) and setting innovation requirements for existing and new processes. They drive value by identifying opportunities, assessing risks, encouraging experimentation and implementing innovations in a timely manner. Here, an ambitious innovative vision, strategy and policy is crucial. By communicating these both internally and externally, you create broad support. Establishing an innovation policy and assigning responsibilities and authority within the organization are essential aspects of effective innovation management.
Implementation
As a high-tech organization, it is important to establish criteria for innovation initiatives and processes, implement and monitor them to know if they are going according to plan. The innovation team should dynamically monitor changes and their impact and assess the consequences of unintended changes. Design innovation processes that are flexible and adaptable (depending on the type of innovations and organizational circumstances) and integrate with other organizational processes. The goal is to promote and manage innovation. With an emphasis on “learning lessons” and using failures as opportunities for growth.
Support
Comprehensive support is critical for innovation within organizations. Support includes various aspects, such as providing physical and digital resources, attracting talented people, providing time, managing knowledge, committing financial resources, developing competencies, creating awareness (see also Context & Culture), facilitating communication and managing intellectual property. This support is essential for innovation to promote and thrive. A holistic approach to the concept of support is vital to successfully driving and managing innovation in organizations.
Context & Culture
Organizations that identify both external and internal challenges can better assess their impact on their innovation capabilities and opportunities for potential new products and services. External challenges can include economic, market, social, legal, political and environmental aspects, while internal challenges are mainly about vision, strategic direction, performance, processes and cultural aspects. As an organization, it is important to understand the needs and expectations of stakeholders and determine how and when to communicate with each other. You want to foster a culture of innovation as much as possible, both internally and externally. Some examples include:
- Openness to new ideas and creative thinking.
- Willingness to take risks and cooperate.
- A focus on customer focus, measurability and continuous improvement.
Acceleration
The fifth and final building block; “Acceleration” is a slightly different building block than the previous four. Indeed, this describes the innovation improvement capabilities. Organizations must continually spot and identify opportunities for improvement based on evaluations. The goal is to strengthen the innovation house, address weaknesses and correct anomalies.
Linked to this building block are the so-called core capabilities:
- Portfolio management
- Delivering continuous value
- Continuous Learning & Improvement
- High performing teams
To be continued …
In our next blogs, we will explore the various aspects of the innovation house in more detail. In the meantime, want to spar on how to strengthen or improve your House of Innovation? Please contact us using the form below. We are happy to think with you. We are Synergio.
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