Building an Innovative Enterprise

Innovation is the lifeblood of an enterprise. It courses through a vital organization spawning new markets, enlarging existing markets, increasing market share or swelling profits.

Innovation is the way of transforming the resources of an enterprise through the creativity of people into new resources and wealth.

And, in today's environment, that requires the creation of an innovation commons.

Innovation can also reduce costs and increase profitability.

However, I have to be honest with you, innovation is risky. Most innovations fail.

On the other hand, to stay competitive you must innovate.

To reduce the risks of innovation, and to reap its great benefits, it must delight your customers. Innovation that delights anticipates customer needs.

It flows from a strategy that balances the opportunities and threats in a market, the desires of stakeholders, and the capability and capacity of the enterprise for innovation.

Values, derived from the market, drive the development of the enterprise's resources, focus the organizational culture, and align the enterprise's five innovation enablers, inspiring people to be effective and efficient.

Innovation is dynamic. The need for innovation is a moving target that must be continuously forecast as far into the future as it will take the enterprise to respond.

Your foresight has to be greater than your ability to innovate.

Building an innovative enterprise can be your most significant accomplishment for it can live beyond your tenure or even your life.

Paul Schumann