Innovation used to be somebody's job. Usually, it was someone in the R&D department, who would be given a workspace near the back of the office and expected to come up with a few new ideas a year. Over time, innovation has become a function and one that has a powerful influence on all aspects of business. However, it wasn't until the advent of startups driven by disruptive technology that companies started to accord innovation the status it deserves. Today, innovation is something which everyone has a stake in.
Instilling an innovative culture
The first step to becoming an innovative organisation is establishing the right culture. Easier said than done. Gary Pisano, Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, emphasises the basics: "People in innovative organisations need to develop a thick skin. An innovative culture is expected to be fun. I think it can be fun – but it's not purely fun. People want to embrace just a part of it, not the whole thing."
Marty Curran, Executive Vice-President & Innovation Officer at Corning, highlights an important part of an organisation's innovation culture when he says, "It's critical to bring bad news to leaders faster than good news." And it is not just about failure and success; organisations need to find their true north star – to know where they are trying to get to. Capgemini's CEO Aiman Ezzat adds an important caveat: "Getting an innovative culture started is only half the task; maintaining it is the tricky part."
Two transformative technologies: Synthetic biology and quantum tech
Ten years ago, two scientists – Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna – published the test results of an innovative experiment on bacterial genes. Today, the CRISPR gene-editing tool that arose from that experiment is regarded as one of the biggest biological breakthroughs in recent scientific memory. Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2020 "for the development of a method for genome editing". Jennifer Doudna, Nobel Prize laureate and co-inventor, Professor at the University of California, Berkeley, USA, explains the importance of CRISPR: "It is important to remember that what we're talking about here is effectively changing evolution."
Quantum technologies promise exponential speed-up vis-à-vis the best available supercomputers, tap-proof communications, and ultra-precise and fast measurements – a phenomenon commonly known as the 'quantum advantage'. Such technologies can bring a huge shift in the way in which businesses solve problems around optimisation, mechanical simulation, and machine learning. Quantum can bring greater efficiencies than current technologies in risk management, cybersecurity, logistics, scheduling operations, discovery of lightweight materials or new drugs, and addressing climate change, among other areas. Alan Boehme, CTO, H&M Group sums it up aptly: "Generally, I see, quantum is going to change all kinds of things, from security to quantum for computers – just the ability to process things is mind-blowing."
Sustainable innovation must be scalable innovation
Our research indicates that only 13% of organisations across sectors have successfully deployed AI use cases for multiple business teams. While many large organisations have set up innovation hubs and are partnering with startups, few have looked ahead to the next step. The impact and value of innovation are only fully realised through scaling and adoption. Harvard's Gary Pisano drives the message further:" Failure to scale is a symptom of the failure of the innovation system. Organisations don't think early enough about the scaling issues, the manufacturing, or the service issues."
In Conversations for Tomorrow, we look at how innovation leaders transform industries –from religious, scientific, business, and political perspectives.
