56 Reasons Why Most Corporate Innovation Initiatives Fail
Innovation is in these days. The word is on the lips of every CEO, CFO, CIO, and anyone else with a three-letter acronym after their name. As a result, many organizations are launching all kinds of "innovation initiatives" -- hoping to stir the creative soup. This is commendable. But it is also, all too often, a disappointing experience.
Innovation initiatives sound good, but usually don't live up to expectations. The reasons are many. What follows are 56 of the most common -- organizational obstacles we've observed that get in the way of a company truly raising the bar for innovation.
See which ones are familiar to YOU. Then, sit down with your Senior Team... CEO... innovation committee, or team and jump start the process of going beyond these obstacles.
56 Reasons Why Most Corporate Innovation Initiatives Fail
1. "Innovation" framed as an initiative, not the normal way of doing business
2. Absence of a clear definition of what "innovation" really means
3. Innovation not linked to company's existing vision or strategy
4. No sense of urgency
5. Workforce is suffering from "initiative fatigue"
6. CEO does not fully embrace the effort
7. No compelling vision or reason to innovate
8. Senior Team not aligned
9. Key players don't have the time to focus on innovation
10.Innovation champions are not empowered
11. Decision making processes are non-existent or fuzzy
12. Lack of trust
13. Risk averse culture
14. Overemphasis on cost cutting or incremental improvement
15. Workforce ruled by past assumptions and old mental models
16. No process in place for funding new projects
17. Not enough pilot programs in motion
18. Senior Team not walking the talk
19. No company-wide process for managing ideas
20. Too many turf wars. Too many silos.
21. Analysis paralysis
22. Reluctance to cannibalize existing products and services
23. NIH (not invented here) syndrome
24. Funky channels of communication
25. No intrinsic motivation to innovate
26. Unclear gates for evaluating progress
27. Mind numbing bureaucracy
28. Unclear idea pitching processes
29. Lack of clearly defined innovation metrics
30. No accountability for results
31. No way to celebrate quick wins
32. Poorly facilitated meetings
33. No training to unleash individual or team creativity
34. Voo doo evaluation of ideas
35. Inadequate sharing of best practices
36. Lack of teamwork and collaboration
37. Unclear strategy for sustaining the effort
38. Innovation Teams meet too infrequently
39. Middle managers not on board
40. Ineffective roll out of the effort to the workforce
41. Lack of tools and techniques to help people generate new ideas
42. Innovation initiative perceived as another "flavor of the month"
43. Individuals don't understand how to be a part of the effort
44. Diverse inputs or conflicting opinions not honored
45. Imbalance of left-brain and right brain thinking
46. Low morale
47. Over-reliance on technology
48. Failure to secure sustained funding
49. Unrealistic time frames
50. Failure to consider issues associated with scaling up
51. Inability to attract talent to risky new ventures
52. Failure to consider commercialization issues
53. No rewards or recognition program in place
54. No processes in place to get fast feedback
55. Inadequate sense of what your customers really want or need
56. Company hiring process screens out potential innovators
Comments
I'm concerned that this list is too large to be really useful. Here's my view on the subject: http://wp.me/pJfdj-cG
Posted by: Thompson Morrison ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](https://www.ideachampions.com/weblogs/nav-commenters.gif)
at June 7, 2010 05:17 PM
I really like the things you pointed out about what could lead innovation to fail in companies. There is a panel discussion event hosted by UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business Southbay Alumni chapter on January 7, 2009 that would address some of these issues. Sara Beckman, HaasBusiness Professor, will lead a panel discussion with a focus on using customer insights to encourage and drive innovation. Venue is at Dinah's Garden in Palo Alto. $15 only. Click onto registration link to find out more www.acteva.com/go/hansb
Posted by: Phan Thanh at November 7, 2011 05:09 AM
Agree that the list is too long. #5 & #42 are essentially the same. #7 & #25, the same. It's a reasonable list, though. I grouped it with a mindmap into 9 categories to help make it more actionable along the lines of an eventual maturity model I'm building. Worthwhile effort though and thanks for posting.
Posted by: Jim Butt at March 31, 2014 09:18 AM
Well, to be honest, I don't think I can add much more to this list!
It's crazy just to imagine how great is the need for innovation and how difficult it actually is.
Many businesses don't have it in their blood to be pro-change. They've been on a comfortable pedestal for years, but the times are changing, they really are.
Corporate innovation is an extremely interesting area
(https://valuer.ai/blog/76-surprising-facts-about-corporate-innovation/) because while revolutionary culture within organization come easy to some, it's absolutely impossibe to others.
https://valuer.ai/blog/76-surprising-facts-about-corporate-innovation/
Posted by: GG at August 13, 2019 10:17 AM
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