talk on innovation

© Chawton Innovation Services/Title.ppt/Version/date/initials1

Innovation

Donal O’ConnellChawton Innovation Services

© Chawton Innovation Services/Title.ppt/Version/date/initials

Innovation


What is innovation?

Formal definitions as taken from the Collins English Dictionary

• Creative: having the ability to create, characterised by originality of thought, having or showing imagination, designed to or tending to stimulate the imagination, characterised by sophisticated bending of the rules or conventions

• Inventive: skilled or quick at contriving, ingenious, resourceful, characterised by inventive skill, related to an invention

• Innovative: to invent or begin to apply new methods or ideas, to renew or make new

Innovation starts with thinking differently. It is a process of questioning, experimenting, learning and adapting. It requires an appetite for risk, a willingness to question, and open mind to look at things without a pre-determined conception and perhaps most importantly, patience and perseverance

The stone age didn’t end

because they ran out of

stones

Unknown

Imagination is more important

than knowledge. For while

knowledge defines all we

currently know and understand,

imagination points to all we might

yet discover and createAlbert Einstein


Innovation – its forms & phases

Innovation can take many forms. It can be disruptive, transformative, radical, breakthrough, incremental or step improvement in nature.

Innovation literature typically distinguishes three separate stages of innovation: generation stage, promotion stage and realisation stage.

Innovation can take place in what is offered, in who is the defined customer for the offering, in how things are done or in where things are done.

Innovation may impact the product, the service, the process or the business model

•Radical vs. incremental

•Product vs. service vs. process vs. business

•Generation vs. promotion vs. realisation

•Open vs. closed

•Creativity vs. innovation vs. inventiveness

•On your own vs. support structure in place


Ambiguity, controversy and non linearity

This poses a certain challenge to many companies interested in properly managing their innovation process

Companies are most anxious to succeed with their innovations yet this also means accepting failures

Companies must avoid seeing innovation failures as being tantamount to doing something wrong, not to doing it right

Hire good people and leave

them alone

William Knight – CEO, 3MDiscoveries are often made by not

following instructions, by going off

the main road, by trying the

untried

Frank Tyger


Environments which Encourage Innovation


Customer driven / Market driving

Companies are indeed constantly exhorted to become more customer driven

However, the companies whose success has been based on radical business innovation are better described as market driving

Market driving strategies often involve high risk, but also offer a company the potential to radically alter an industry and gain great rewards

That said, customer driven innovation is very important, and should not be dismissed

Customer driven innovation basically means asking what need of the customer is this innovation expected to fulfill

When all think alike, then no one is thinking

Walter Lippman


The 7 Cs

Challenges

• Poverty, disease, pollution, water shortages, climate change, security

• Quality, customer service, efficiency, cost management, logistics, performance functionality

Convergence

• The interface between two entities

• The mixing of different technologies• Digital convergence of wireless and Internet worlds

Collaboration

• Between companies

• Between companies and communities

• Between companies and universities

• Between companies and consumers/end user

Changes

• The future of media is social, where its richness is in conversation

• Consumers are broadening their ethical focus

• New applications using fixed and mobile Internet have democratised media and increased the power of consumers

• Women are increasingly embracing and using technologies• Multi-sensory user interface experiences are becoming the

norm• New application usage for mobile devices in emerging

markets can bypass traditional stages of IT development

Competition

• Striving to be # 1

• Acting as an incentive for self improvement

• Stimulating innovation and encouraging efficiency

Competences

• Skills

• Knowledge

Culture

• Support culture

• Learning culture• Questioning culture

• Challenging culture• No fear culture

• A “passion for innovation”


The Innovator Community


Typical profile of an innovator

Innovators may be categorised, classified and rated by:-

• Skill and competency level

• Volume of ideas (serial; 1s & 2s; none)

• Quality of ideas

• Ease of linking and communicating with them

• Extent to which they “push” their ideas forward

Basic engineersvs. Passionate inventors

Technicalvs. Process

Detailvs. Concept

Patent inventorsvs. Practical problem solvers

Sociable group innovatorsvs. Lone wolf

Innovation is not unique in the

R&D part of your organisation or

company. Good ideas may come

from anyone inside or outside the

company

Internal vs External


External innovators

• Un-solicited ideas coming from "Joe Public"

• Innovators working with external 3rd parties (companies, organisations or universities) with whom your company is co-operating and collaborating. This can include suppliers and vendors

• Externals or contractors working for you but who are not employees. These people can be working in your premises, interns, students or employees of our subcontractors. (There should always be agreement in place which ensures that you gets rights to or access to the inventions raised in co-operation with them).

• Customers and end-users prompted to submit ideas via your product or service literature, your web sites or your service support

• Communities (eg open source software, social networking communities, special interest groups)

Joe PublicExternal ‘partners’

Sub-contractors, students

Communities Customers, end-users


Management & Leadership


Management and leadership

Successful innovation is usually driven by senior management with a strategic vision of the business

There should be specified areas of strategic innovation focus and a willingness to commit in the long term

It is important that a company identifies and communicates to their employees how innovation fits in with their overarching business strategy

It is key that this is accurately and clearly communicated throughout the business

Being able to spot innovative people or behaviour

as well as being able to recognise the different

ways that people process information and create

ideas are key aspects of the role of senior

management



Innovation management & leadership involves nurturing a culture of innovation

• allowing time for scouting

• not be overly risk averse and invest in the occasional high risk project

• encouraging projects and teams to work outside the business

Such managers and leaders check in periodically to see how it is going and what help they can provide

To demotivate an innovative team is very easy

To keep on motivating an innovation team is a little more

challenging



Building a creative innovative company takes ...

• synchronisation from the centre,

• cross boundary collaboration,

• structural changes to the organisational chart

Customer insight is also essential

• The most innovative companies build in a strong customer focus into their systems and rely heavily on customer based research

This is where they gain their competitive advantage

Management & leadership of innovation is a continuous day by day process


Contradictions

Leadership vs. Management

Communicating skills vs. Listening

Team player vs. S eparate from the team

Global, multi-cultural vs. Local

Organisational understanding vs. Networked

Coach and mentorvs. Not an expert

Expected to know the big picture

vs. Asking questions is critical

Process understandingvs. Drive to get the job done

Leadership is criticalvs. Job specs often differ

Born leadervs. Continuous training and development


Intellectual Property


Protecting & promoting your ideas

Ways and means to protect your ideas ...

• Lead time advantage

• S ecrecy

• Complexity of the design

• Intellectual Property R ights


Intellectual Property Rights

Patents A patent protects an invention. It gives the holder an exclusive right to prevent others from selling, making and using the patented invention for a certain period (typically twenty years from filing date)

C opyrig ht Copyright protects the expression of literary or artistic work. Protection arises automatically giving the holder the exclusive right to control reproduction or adaptation.

Trademarks A trademark is a distinctive sign which is used to distinguish the products or services of one business from others. A trademark is closely linked to brand.

Des ig n Protects the form of appearance, style or design of an object. It does not protect the functionality.

U tility M odels A utility model is an intellectual property right to protect inventions. This right is available in a number of national legis lations. It is very similar to the patent, but usually has a shorter term (often 6 or 10 years) and less stringent patentability requirements.

S emi-c onduc tor topog raphy (“s ilic one c hips ”)

This protects two or three-dimensional layout or topography of an integrated circuit. It is somewhat similar to copyright

Databas e rig hts Database right prevents copying of substantial parts of a database. However, unlike copyright the protection is not over the form of expression of information but of the information itself. In many other respects, database right is similar to copyright.

Trade s ec rets A trade secret is a formula, practice, process, design, instrument, pattern, or compilation of information used by a business to obtain an advantage over competitors or customers. Trade secrets are by definition not disclosed to the world at large.


IP creates value

R evenueFreedom of ac tion

Influenc e in bus ines s environment

Produc t differentia tion

• Licensing• S elling

• Technology access

• Cross licensing

• Litigation avoidance

• Preferred technologies

• Collaboration• Partnering

• Unique features

• Look & feel • Trademarks

C os t advantag e

• Competitive royalty rates

• Prevent freeriders


The IP environment

Trends :• The growing strategic and public policy importance of IP

• The increasing volume of patent applications and granted patents

• IP enabling a return on R&D investment

• IP as a mark of innovation and creativity

• IP as a sign of competitiveness

• IP as an enabler for cooperation and collaboration

Some challenges :• Differences in IP Law, or interpretation of IP Law, between jurisdictions

• Complexity of the IP world

• Changing landscape/discussions about possible changes

• Quality vs quantity

• Striking the right balance between IP law, Competition Law, and the benefits to society


Thank you!

Please check out Chawton Innovation Services at ...www.chawtoninnovationservices.co.uk Chawton Innovation Services

The Stables, Gosport RoadChawton, Alton

Hampshire, United KingdomGU34 1SH

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