Innovation – from idea to a scalable business – takes time and discipline. Everyone loves a happy ending like WhatsApp, but the reality is harsh. Seventy-five percent of venture-backed start-ups fail, according to research by Shikhar Ghosh for the Harvard Business School.
Innovation is not all sunshine and roses. Whether it’s a startup in a garage or a corporate team, innovation is hard and it can’t be forced.
I’ve had the opportunity to advise and mentor both internal innovation teams as well as external startups. Throughout the innovation process leaders need to provide the right resources, at the right time, and set clear expectations for milestones. From my experience, here are a few tips to help innovation flourish.
Tip 1: Stop throwing money at innovative ideas, hoping success will just happen.
Innovation teams need a purpose and a passion from the beginning. To define that purpose, they need to be able to answer two very simple questions: Who is my customer and do they want my product? Too often, purpose gets lost because there isn’t a good understanding of these two things.
Passion is fueled by providing not only freedom but also a sense of urgency. Internal innovation often needs to start at the outskirts of core businesses to ensure ideas don’t get cannibalized by strong, legacy businesses. While resources are critical, too much too quickly can lead to comfort that stifles innovation. Instead, base internal funding on shorter milestones and faster iterations.
Tip 2: Spend time helping (and not just a few hours).
One of the best resources leaders can provide a team is time to help bring innovation to life. The time you provide can be just as valuable – if not more so – than money. Whoever wants to encourage innovation needs to be ready to spend time with innovation teams to teach, to coach and to be there for them.
At Bosch in our internal innovation framework, we invest executive time heavily through workshops given by our leaders and individualized coaching to the teams. Often, innovation teams have a few people trying to wear multiple hats with little or no experience in certain areas where an expert leader can guide them. Provide direction but leave space for the team to experiment and learn.
Tip 3: Make decisions quickly – and teach teams to do the same.
Leaders must learn to say yes or no quickly, because maybe doesn’t work. Your decision-making keeps teams from wasting time and resources and sets the example for the importance of quick reaction time. How and when to pivot is one of the best lessons a leader can bring to an innovation team.
Trust is the key currency with innovation teams, and you have to ensure the working environment is a safe one where information is shared openly. Teams have to feel comfortable sharing all of the details of their project. That includes when things aren’t going well. They need to feel comfortable coming to you for advice, even if it’s the advice they might not want to hear. Your job as a leader is to balance when you offer the hatchet and when you offer the sugar cane. But regardless of which it is, the team must always know that your advice comes from a place of trust with them and wanting to see innovation succeed.
Maximiliane Straub is chief financial officer and executive vice president of finance, controlling and administration of Robert Bosch LLC.
