Let's tackle it" - 3 premises for the contemporary and effective implementation of innovation in companies

Hidden behind the ‘will’ factor are important cultural and personal characteristics that are the basic prerequisite for innovation in companies:

• Culture: Does a company create creative and psychological freedom (keyword: openness to failure)? How diverse is the company?
• Motivation: What intrinsic and extrinsic motivators are there? How do the key decision-makers feel about innovation projects?
• Mindset: How curious and willing to take risks are the employees in the company? How open are they to new challenges and possible failure?

If there is a lack of willingness to innovate, culturally shaped measures aimed at key individuals or the leadership team in the company can help.

The hard skills needed to enable innovation at its core are hidden behind the ‘knowledge’ adjustment screw:

• Methods: How sure-footed are employees in systemic and creative thinking? How well can they apply innovation methods?
• Competences: Is relevant technical, industry-specific or interdisciplinary knowledge available?
• Experience: Are employees able to generate the right insights and translate them into good ideas? Are they also able to strategically position the ideas internally?

If there is a lack of knowledge to tackle innovation, practical training is an effective tool - either directly for the responsible employees or according to the ‘train the trainer’ principle, in which selected employees are equipped with methods and skills to then pass these on within the company. Networking with experts is also valuable in order to bring specific knowledge into the team.

Germany: The land of thinkers - but also of implementers?

The decade of design sprint training courses and short-lived in-house innovation labs has shown that Will and knowledge alone are not enough to get an idea on the road. The biggest hurdle is the implementation itself.
The Innovation Indicator 2024 shows that while we Germans are good at having ideas, we are particularly bad at putting them into practice. Unclear or obstructive processes and structures, a lack of control or inadequate infrastructures are the concrete, inherently confusing structural challenges, which is why implementation often fails.
The most effective lever for innovation today is therefore to adapt the operational model of a company in such a way that structures and processes make it possible to implement new ideas during ongoing operations. In addition to the will and the knowledge, it is also important to know the path that an idea has to take to see the light of day.

The path to implementation

The Bad News: Restructuring an operational model in such a way that it is calibrated for implementation does not work with a training course or a workbook.

The Good News: You can use recognised and proven methods from organisational consulting and apply them in this context. If you also consider the special features of innovation itself, three premises emerge that show what it takes to implement innovative ideas in the company in a timely and effective manner.

Premise 1: Understanding the operational model holistically

The fact that ideas are not implemented does not only have something to do with processes in the company, as one might think at first glance.
Other influential, but often invisible and forgotten elements are: Structure, cross-connections, infrastructure, personnel and roles as well as control systems.
Therefore, the first step requires a holistic analysis of all elements that make up an operational model. All components, interrelationships and dependencies must be clearly recorded. Every corner of the operational model must be illuminated with a bright spotlight so that there are no blind spots. If you only concentrate on a single aspect with a laser pointer, there is a great risk of ignoring the interdependencies.
The result: after short-term implementation successes, the next idea gets stuck in the pipeline again.

Premise 2: Test & Learn - also in organisational design

A company's operational model is like a finely tuned, complex clockwork mechanism: every component of the structure, process, personnel and control system is well-oiled. If relevant adjustments are made without due consideration, this can quickly have fatal consequences for workflows.

Adapting an operational model during ongoing operations is therefore tricky - but possible! The tried-and-tested ‘test & learn’ approach, which originated in the field of innovation, is also suitable when it comes to adapting the operational model.
As soon as you have identified all the relevant levers to turn the operational model in the direction of innovation implementation, you create a prototype of the ideal operational model. This prototype is then tested within the defined framework of the organisation. Only after a ‘test & learn’ phase is the iterated operational model ready to be scaled and rolled out without errors. The test phase reduces the risk of the tightened set screws disrupting the finely adjusted, complex clockwork of the operational model.

Premise 3: Will is indispensable

An operating model focussed on implementation remains ineffective if the people behind it are not willing. This willingness can be seen in concrete aspects - in the commitment of the management, in the perseverance of the employees and in the openness to mistakes. It is obvious that the realisation of new, innovative ideas requires a particularly strong will - after all, depending on the industry, only 10 to 30 % of all innovations make it to market maturity. But willpower cannot be forced.
What can be created, however, is a cultural environment that motivates people and gets them into action.

In other words, anyone who orients an operating model towards implementation must always consider the interaction with the corporate culture.
After all, it's not just about showing the way - it's also about inspiring people to actually follow it.

From the idea to implementation

We help companies to overcome innovation hurdles and become more effective.
We combine organisational and innovation consulting in an approach that we developed ourselves and have already successfully implemented.
If you are interested, simply get in touch using the contact module at the bottom of the page and we will arrange a free consultation.