This is Part 2 of Innosanity’s series, Innovation Wars.
Innovation can come from anyone at any time, but it isn’t for everyone all the time.
Managing innovators is all about timing. Treating them the same through different phases of your business cycle would be like running a military the same in peacetime as in wartime.
Ben Horowitz has a fantastic blog that frames business in terms of war and peace:
Peacetime in business means those times when a company has a large advantage, and its market is growing. In times of peace, the company can focus on reinforcing its strengths.
In wartime, a company is fending off an imminent existential threat. Such a threat can come from competition, dramatic macro economic change, market change, and so forth.
In peacetime, smart firms focus on improving the business they are in. They see what works and do more of it. They race to gain a comfortable lead over competitors. Peacetime companies can amass a considerable war chest and strategic advantage. The last thing peacetime companies should do is take their eyes off the prize by actively indulging in paradigm shifting innovation.* Peacetime is for improvers.
But when wartime comes, better have some innovators, and they better be rested and ready to rumble. When you are overrun, they will scout for a new home. When you are bursting with resources and have a real opportunity to steal new ground, they are the invaders that drive the other guys out. When the territory you hold would be more attractive turned upside down (assuming you can withstand the disruption while everyone else goes under), they set the charges and blow the place up. That’s wartime.
But what do we actually see companies doing today? Peacetime companies dither away their lead in the market by pursing “innovation” programs that drain executive focus, resources and commitment to quality. Google is a good example. (Boy, I’m going to get it for what I’m about to say next.)
Tune in tomorrow for the next installment of Innovation Wars: A Tale of Two…Companies.
* Not indulging innovation (remember, we’re talking about the Innosanity definition of innovation, paradigm shift) doesn’t mean that you should line your innovators up and shoot them. We’ve seen how that works in the recent Microsoft example and earlier in famous cases like Xerox, who squelched innovative teams at PARC on the grounds that their breakthroughs wouldn’t sell more toner! The whole point of Innosanity is finding ways to keep innovators vital in all phases of the business cycle. And while you shouldn’t stifle them, peacetime companies can’t let them run amok either. How to strike this balance is the subject of many future posts.