The management regrets to inform you that sadly Harry Potter is not available to deliver Innovation

If Harry Potter was the charismatic CEO of one of today’s leading businesses then Innovation would occur at the flick of a wrist and with the wave of a wand.   There would be no need to put in place an Innovation System (Governance, Process, Resource & Technology) – no such banalities required for Harry and gang – instead all that would be required to deliver Innovation would be for Harry or one of his small band of heroic companions to come up with a great idea and then magic it into reality.

Unfortunately, despite often being very capable and charismatic leaders, most CXO’s are not magicians, do not carry magic wands and are unable to bring Innovations to life at the flick of a wrist and Harry Potter just isn't available due to prior commitments.  Despite this fact it is still a matter of bafflement to me that the vast majority of leading businesses in the UK have no clearly defined, universal Innovation System in place.  Instead most leading businesses are “hoping” that Innovation will spontaneously occur or that their CEO or Exec Board will imagine a brilliant new concept/improvement/product and magic it into reality.

Here is a simple question – does your business want to make a profit?  If yes a supplementary question is this – does your business have in place a universal financial management system (Governance, Processes, Resources and Technology) that is essential for helping you to consistently deliver a profit?  I’m guessing that the answer is a qualified yes – and whilst the system may not be perfect and may be in need of improvement and overhaul you at least have one.

Here’s another simple question – does your business want to generate growth, improve efficiency and develop new products through Innovation?  If yes here’s a further supplementary question – does your business have in place a universal Innovation system that will consistently deliver you the required Innovation?  I’m guessing (for guessing read talking from experience) that for most CXOs the answer is a qualified no.  Unsurprisingly then most businesses have patchy, unpredictable, sub-scale and slow innovation capabilities.

INNOVATION IS NOT MAGIC – it only happens when you put in place the elements required to make it happen.

So why do businesses seem to have a blind spot when it comes to making the necessary investments to ensure they have a reliable and consistent quality and quantity of Innovations in their business.  Well the excuses are multiple and easily argued against but the most prevalent are the following:

1)      Investment in Innovation is really like gambling our profits – it’s too risky

2)      Innovation comes from employing a maverick genius (Harry Potter type) to do it for us

3)      We are already doing Innovation – we have staff suggestion boxes in all our buildings

These are of course nonsense.  So come on CXOs – get a grip and put down your pretend magic wands.  Innovation is not magic or rocket science.   It is now relatively simple to put in place an Innovation System that will deliver consistent, high quality innovations.   For details of how to do it do get in touch or at least read my previous blogs – the clues are all there.