BUSINESS RESEARCH

Implement Innovation

Why do some organisations repeatedly bring brilliant innovations to fruition, while others flounder and fail? On the surface, these innovation leaders seem infallible – but the truth is that even they fail sometimes too. However, they understand one thing more clearly than firms that repeatedly miss the mark: what matters more than great ideas is what you do with them.

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October 2015

There are at least six reasons why organisations find it hard to implement innovations successfully:

  1. Many innovations require users to acquire new knowledge and skills: Innovation complexity can negatively affect user satisfaction and the speed required to achieve competence.
  2. People easily succumb to the “knowing-doing gap” : Even when people recognise that a specific change would benefit performance, they often fail to do it. People may stick rigidly to rules, resist change, fear failure, or substitute talk for action.
  3. Some innovations affect people’s roles, routines, and norms: For example, innovation implementation may require people who usually work fairly independently to coordinate, collaborate and share.
  4. Innovation adoption and implementation decisions are usually made by people more senior than the innovation’s target users: Target users are accustomed to the status quo and may perceive innovations as just another fad. Without early user consultation, there may be reluctance to buy-in.
  5. Implementation can be time consuming, expensive, and political: Time and money spent on starting up, training, user support, monitoring, mentoring, meetings and evaluations may result in reduced performance in the short-term. Substantial perseverance will be required to succeed.
  6. Many innovations, especially technological innovations, are imperfectly designed: The newer the technology, the more likely it is to have problems, bugs, or teething problems that can cause technostress.

Sources: Klein, K. and Knight, A. (2005) Innovation Implementation: Overcoming the Challenge, Current Directions in Psychological Science, 14(5), 243-246; Perlman, K. (2013) Innovation: It’s Not the Idea, It’s What You Do With It, Forbes, Nov 22

Referenced techniques

Technique

Business Innovation

The concept explores innovation and how it can create and capture value for organisations. It will provide professionals with a basic understanding business innovation.

Technique

Information Management

The concept is created to help practitioners better understand the notion of information management, its history, practical use, implementation strategy and limitations.

Technique

Leadership

Good leaders are continually working on, and studying to improve, their leadership skills. This technique explores what makes a good leader and covers the characteristics of good organisational leadership.

Technique

Asset Building to Support Innovation Opportunity

The concept explains how and why organisations should build and position their assets strategically to support innovation opportunities. It describes the types of assets that support innovation - as well as their limitations - and offers useful advice and guidance on implementation strategies.

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