Achieving 360º balanced success in your life and business

New Realities and New Survival Strategies

In today's tidal wave of global economic, technological, and social change, the name of the game for you and your organization is survival. You are not going to survive in this new economy through technology innovation alone.

The New Era of Systemic Innovation

Innovation used to be a linear trajectory from new knowledge to new product. Now innovation is neither singular nor linear, but systemic. It arises from complex interactions between many individuals, organizations and their operating environment. Firms which are successful in realizing the full returns from their technologies and innovations are able to match their technological developments with complementary expertise in other areas of their business, such as manufacturing, distribution, human resources, marketing, and customer service.

Innovation is not divisible – ‘good in parts’ is no good at all. Innovation systems are only as strong as their weakest links. "You can't do carpentry if you only have a saw, or only a hammer, or you never heard of a pair of pliers. It's when you put all those tools into one kit that you invent," advised Peter Drucker.

Holistic Approach

Innovation is the key driver of competitive advantage, growth, and profitability. There are many parts of the whole field of innovation: strategy innovation, new product development, creative approaches to problem solving, idea management, suggestion systems, etc. All of these components are important. "Yet approaching them piecemeal will bring piecemeal results...

These seemingly disparate issues must be integrated into a single overarching strategy if they are to be mobilized in the quest for growth," says Robert Tucker. In this new era of systemic innovation, you must design your firm's innovation process holistically.

Systems Thinking

Systems thinking is your ability to things as a whole (or holistically) including the many different types of relationships between the many elements in a complex system. "Systems thinking is a sensibility – for the subtle interconnectedness that gives living systems their unique character," says Peter Senge.

Radical Innovation by Cross-Functional Individuals

"Here is the paradox: You need a great team of people with diverse skills to perform a symphony well, but no team has ever written a great symphony!" – Ken Matejka

While cross-functional teams are key players in defining and implementing incremental innovation projects, cross-functional disruptive individuals tend to be key players in defining radical innovation projects. Individuals who are likely to excel in a radical innovation project, besides having superior technical capabilities, should be goal-oriented, broadly educated, creative, extremely bright, not afraid to be different, integrative, flexible, passionate, entrepreneurial, aggressive, eager to learn business, able to take risks, and inquisitive.

Manage Systemic Innovation by Cross-Functional Teams

In strategic innovation road-mapping, the starting point for knowledge building and learning about the innovation concept is to establish a shared view of trends, disruptive technologies and other discontinuities, and related events that could shape the future. To move efforts forward, cross-functional teams, either formal or informal, need to be formed. For incremental innovation product or service development projects, a cross-functional team  typically includes a technical guru, engineer, designer, manufacturing expert, supply chain specialist, and marketing specialist. Your major suppliers and customers need also to be kept well informed of your new product/service development plans and allowed to work together to build these new solutions.