Written by Jesse Nieminen | Jun 25, 2018 Show
Innovation is without a doubt one of the hottest buzzwords and most debated topics of the last couple of decades, and while a lot of people are sick and tired of hearing about it everywhere, the term and the concept behind it are here to stay. We’ve had numerous conversations about managing innovation, and if there’s one thing that’s been quite evident from the beginning, it’s that while there are tons of different concepts and opinions related to the topic, there’s surprisingly little consensus on what effective innovation management really is. As this has proven to be an endless source of debate, we decided to create a series of blog posts covering innovation management to try to demystify and clarify the topic for anyone interested. You are now reading the main article in the series, in which we’re looking to explain the big picture and address all of the most important themes regarding innovation management. What is innovation management?To begin with, we first need to take a look at what innovation management actually is. Innovation management, as a term, is also a source of much debate. Some argue that the very definition of innovation means that it can’t be managed, whereas others are stout believers in building systems and processes for the purpose of creating more innovation. As you can probably guess, the reality isn’t as black and white. So, let’s first take a step back and consider what the term means. The Merriam-Webster dictionary simply refers to innovation as being “the introduction of something new”. This isn’t the same as simply inventing something new, such as a product, as it also needs to be launched and introduced to the world. “Innovation management” thus refers to handling of all the activities needed to “introduce something new”, which in practice means things like coming up with ideas, developing, prioritizing and implementing them, as well as putting them into practice, for example by launching new products, or by introducing new internal processes. By looking at the definition, it’s easy to demystify the term. Innovation management is simply put the process of coming up with and introducing new things and developing the business, one way or the other.
Before we can delve into the details on the different kinds of innovations, we should first seek to understand the big picture. The key aspects of innovation managementAs virtually any new development in the organization can be considered to be related to innovation, it can be quite difficult to grasp what innovation management means in practice. Through our experience in helping organizations with their innovation activities, we’ve found that the simplest way to understand the topic is to break it down and discuss each of the key aspects related to innovation management separately. The diagram below showcases the four aspects that we typically use, each of which we’ll then explain briefly. Capabilities Capabilities is an umbrella term used to cover the different abilities and resources the organization has for creating and managing innovation. The capabilities aspect revolves primarily around people, as innovation relies heavily on the abilities of both individuals and teams collectively. It refers first and foremost to the abilities, unique insights, know-how and practical skills of the people working for the organization. However, it also covers areas, such as the information capital and tacit knowledge of the organization, as well as their other resources and available financial capital, all of which might be required to create innovation.
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