Stanley Black & Decker

In these ever-changing times with dire business headwinds, how companies quickly innovate could be their lifeline into the future.

However, many companies find that this is not an easy task to take, and the more traditional the company is, the more difficult it gets.

Usually, many companies find themselves on the same cycle that starts from self-development and eventually leads to external know-how exploration. This happens as products are becoming more complex and fragmentized and it is therefore almost impossible to keep all the know how internally. So, this is the first check mark, and many companies might take pride in being innovative while they have not fully grasped what it is all about, trying to do it all in house.

Stave Jobs put it in a perfect way: “innovation is the ability to see change as an opportunity – not a

threat.” So, as I would claim, the companies that fully grasp the potential of innovation try and experiment with new products and business models and are not afraid from learning form the external world rather than trying to do everything internally.

My belief has always been that true innovation happens while connecting two solutions that did not co- exist before – instead of reinventing the wheel, you just learn how to utilize it differently.

Bringing 2 sectors together like automotive and healthcare, agriculture and robotics for example, or even new materials to a traditional sector, could lead to new and exciting products and reshape the sectors you are working in.

“Bringing 2 sectors together like automotive and healthcare, agriculture and robotics for example, or  even new materials to a traditional sector, could lead to new and exciting products and reshape the sectors you are working in.”

This tendency has been going on for quite some time, when successful entrepreneurs try to take their knowledge and know how and explore new domains, but frequently find it extremely challenging while facing traditional companies.

There are a few reasons for why this is so challenging, and many companies fail in their innovation journey, but usually, it goes down to one of the following:

1. Putting the wrong guy in place

2. Frequently changing the structure instead of focusing on the team

3. Looking for a ROI and not understanding innovation takes time

4. Losing the champion within the corporation

5. Focusing on the fails

6. Thinking it could be done internally

7. Not following  market trends

8. Not providing adequate organizational backing

To make sure you are on the right path and that external companies would want to work with you it is important to put in place the right process, the right team, and the right mindset.

The right process

It is not enough just to claim you are innovative - companies need to invest funds and resources to find interesting solutions and experiment with them. Being able to analyze, filter and onboard new solutions and companies is crucial to the success of such activities. This becomes quite challenging when you are a traditional company that is calibrated to work just with vendors and service providers.

Putting the right framework in place that will allow you to figure out where should you focus as a company, how to evaluate new ideas and implement them as quickly and agile as possible will make the whole difference between success and just burning through the money.

The right team

Companies might put a veteran employee to lead innovation, thinking that this will expedite things within the organization and not understanding that this is a profession by itself. Instead of finding the right guy and build the right team around him they might revert to changing the process over and over.

Moreover, there is always a tension between leading innovation activities by internal business units or rather a corporate dedicated team and finding the right balance is therefore crucial.

The right mindset

It is not only important to understand that you need to experiment and learn from external companies but have the backing of the top management and the right funds allocated to do so.

Evaluating the performance of an innovation team is always challenging and it is important to understand that true innovation takes time, and you cannot expect a fast ROI. It is also important to understand that the world is moving forward and so are your customers and competitors and if you do not move along with it, you will fall behind, no matter how great your current performance is.

Eventually, real innovation is all about people becoming less comfortable with the status quo, less intimidated by change and more curious on what could be done. The successful companies to embrace this transformation did so by putting the right process, the right team and have adopted the right mindset to do so in a way that corresponded best with their tradition and culture.