Key to Innovations

The importance of Innovation has always been acknowledged by leaders all around, it continues to be a priority and a top challenge for all types of organizations. When organizations are small innovations may be accidental and the process is more informal and individualized. Organisations as they grow face the critical challenge of formalizing the whole process of Innovation. Setting processes and metrics for innovative practice at various level to drive innovation is considered a strategic move for organizations.

As Dave says "Innovation is the collection, assessment and implementation of ideas to transform an organization's:

The world's most innovative companies, such as WL Gore, have created processes, systems, practices, and organizational structures that enable them to innovate continuously, as part of their organizational culture. Such companies are, alas, few and far between. But they are also, not coincidentally, among the world's most knowledgeable companies: knowledgeable about how the world works and what's happening in markets and sciences and arts far removed from their core business.

They are less concerned with what is happening in their own markets and industries because they are leaders -- their competitors are constantly kept off-guard by their innovations and struggling to know what these innovators know. Copycat products, repackaged products and incremental improvements are not innovation.

Knowledge and organizational culture are two most critical factors which affects innovations in organizations. Knowledge I believe is the initiating factor or the necessary condition for enabling innovation but culture is the critical differentiator and also the sufficient condition for innovations in organizations.

A good talent and a knowledgeable workforce sets the context for innovative practices but unless big organizations are adaptable and ready to build around a culture of innovative practices and find of ways of different ways of doing things with respect to Cost, Quality and processes a culture of Innovation may not be existing.

Read more about Innovations here ,here ,here and here.