In Innovation as Usual: How to Help Your People Bring Great Ideas to Life (2013)

Question

In Innovation as Usual: How to Help Your People Bring Great Ideas to Life (2013), Miller and Wedell-Wedellsborg discuss the importance of establishing systems within organizations that promote not only the creativity that results in innovation, but also make it possible for employees to bring innovative ideas to fruition. Miller and Wedell-Wedellsborg argue that a leader’s primary job “is not to innovate; it is to become an innovation architect, creating a work environment that helps . . . people engage in the key innovation behaviors as part of their daily work” (p. 4). Such a work environment must be reinforced by innovation architecture—the structures within an organization that support an innovation, from the brainstorming phase to final realization. The more well developed the architecture and the simpler the processes involved, the more likely employees are to be innovators.

For this assignment, you will research the innovation architecture of at least three companies that are well-known for successfully supporting a culture of innovation. Write a 1,500-word paper that addresses the following:

What particular elements of each organization’s culture, processes, and management systems and styles work well to support innovation?

Why do you think these organizations have been able to capitalize on innovation and intrapreneurship while others have not?

Based on what you have learned, what processes and systems might actually stifle innovation and intrapreneurship?

Imagine yourself as an innovation architect. What structures or processes would you put in place to foster a culture of innovation within your own organization?

Explanation / Answer

Innovation cannot be enforced to any working environment, it should be naturally embedded through organisation culture. The worlds leading companies driving with innovation focus on innovatation strategy which helps in utilising their resource in the best way to be more innovative in the work they do, avoding monotnouns work, giving them opportunity to take challenges and doing experiments, open environment without much heirarchy level hurdles to take decision. All employees should feel like owner of the work rather than monitoring those work roughly by a manager.Apple is perhaps the best-known company for innovation of their products through innovation la concepts. People can join their labs involuntarily and can be a part of the innovation experiments. Thus companies like Tesla, Google, Samsung all utilising the management system as a motivation and driving space for the employees to think their own way.

Intraprenuership can be promoted through enormous support on the initiatives. There should be a platform where employees can discuss their thoughts on the product development, supply chain network , marketing or promotion of their products. Google use google cafe as a space for such level discussion and they have portal slike Google Moderator where employees will drive their innovation projects. Thus company never fear for failure and their culture is learn something from experiments whether it is success or failure. Intrapreneurship can be seeded only through such open ended activites.Cross fucntional meetings, discussion help employees to understand the concerns, sharing knoweldge from other team and other funcitions or domains as well. Googliest is one of ther employee survey where they ask employees to rate the companies strategy so that the result is utilised for the effectiveness of various plans.

Innovation architech should start from training and development of employees and to create a DNA in the company's culture which promote innobation and freedom of work.. Work pressure to be considered as a positive challenge for employees which they could handle more easily and can deliuver the performance without any failure. Tesla have developed their own intra portal where employees can form their own team for innovation and can sub,mit their idea before senior product development team. Benefits, rewards etc can enhance the motivation for being more innovative. Adequate recongintion for the employees best practise and creative thinking also can create magic in peer performance. Structure for innovation should be very open but at the same time to be very productive. There should be not be any strict or constrained heirarchy policies which actually reduce capability to think and respond. Thus structure to be flat as possible with proper mentoring from the senior members to guide the employees properly for the right objective.

Conflict resolution team should be there to take the conflicts to a positive direction and make it more constructive, avoid havocs like communication barrier, ethical issues, ethnicity or racism etc. Employees should feel like they do work on their passion can give good results through innovation. Working environment should be favorable enough for them to have a free thinking.

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