Читать книгу Advancing Innovation - Patrick J. Stroh - Страница 9

Often, when people think of innovation, they think of technology, patents, and new products. All are innovative, but they are just a part of innovation. If you only look at new technologies introduced, the number of patents filed, or the number of new products introduced to market, you haven’t measured any realized “value.” Yes, all of those things are important—and I’d suggest they are a part of innovation and part of the measuring of innovation value—but if all those new technologies, patents, and new products generate zero dollars of revenue or value, do we really care?

Therefore, I suggest that innovation can be defined and measured by the value we create along the way for our customers and stakeholders. Additionally, there is not one singular initiative or program you can put in place to be “innovative.” It is an amalgamation of initiatives and measures around value creation, and they can vary from organization to organization.

Innovation is required in our organizations at a faster pace than ever. But being innovative and driving innovation value in your organization is not an overnight transformation, nor does it have to take years to develop. Innovation must be implemented, monitored, and measured very thoughtfully and from a viewpoint of driving customer value. Anytime you are innovating, simply ask, “Is this going to drive value to our customers, and would they pay for it?” This serves as a good acid test—it doesn’t cover everything that needs to be asked or considered, but it’s a good gut check. You could be innovating business processes that the customer may have no knowledge about, but if it ultimately improves the end product—the quality, the speed of delivery, the cost, the longevity, or another important factor—then the customer should see value in it. That is worth innovating around. As you consider innovation initiatives, decisions, and measures, always keep the customer and your go-to-market value proposition front of mind.