Читать книгу Advancing Innovation - Patrick J. Stroh - Страница 15

This book is divided into four parts. Part I introduces the idea that every business needs to innovate, and the three chapters that make up this section focus on the concept of “innovation governance” and why that term is not an oxymoron but extremely relevant and important. They address the concept of “important innovation”—because not all innovation is necessarily important and can be distracting and dilutive to the business rather than helpful and accretive. Lastly they’ll identify some of the roles and responsibilities for those who need to support and/or lead innovation initiatives in their organizations. Chapter 3, in particular, may be an eye opener for the senior finance and accounting professionals—as you see just how well-suited you are to support and lead innovation efforts. This section is geared toward the office of the CFO and senior finance and accounting professionals, but if that is not you, there is still relevance in reading through these traits and the strengths required to be successful in innovation.

Parts II, III, and IV describe the three elements of the Innovation Elixir^® that will lead you to innovation success! Sometimes when people have a special process or “mixture” of how to achieve success, they call it their “secret sauce.” Other times you hear about people or businesses looking to find the missing piece to solve the puzzle of success. I refer to my secret sauce or missing piece that leads to innovation success as the “Innovation Elixir.” Why? Because there are a few basic principles when you concoct an elixir. First, an elixir has a few base elements that must be included, or it won’t work. Second, the elements must be mixed in the appropriate proportions, but those change from time to time and from circumstance to circumstance. And third, no two elixirs are exactly the same—kind of like that favorite culinary dish that your family has passed down through three generations! There is a basic recipe to create the dish, but everyone has their own specific version and interpretation of how to best prepare it. Creating an Innovation Elixir in your company to drive innovation value is exactly like this. It has some base elements that are required, but then you need to change the proportions of the elements and add a few specific ingredients of your own to achieve the ultimate elixir that will work in your business, your industry, and your current business landscape.

Parts II, III, and IV of the book unpack the three elements of the base Innovation Elixir. You’ll find that the elements are sequential to begin with, then require continuous review, monitoring, and tweaking as you begin and then maintain your innovation journeys. This bears repeating—when you are first introducing innovation efforts, the three elements of the Innovation Elixir are sequential. You need to do them in proper order to be successful. There are no shortcuts. Once you have gone through all three elements, they become part of a continuous cycle in which you monitor, maintain, and augment each of the elements to ensure innovation success. These three elements of the base Innovation Elixir are: