Radical innovation – should we do it or not?

In one of my previous blog, Five reasons why companies should not do radical innovation, I argued that most companies should not do radical innovation.

The objective of that provocative blog post was to start a discussion that could lead innovation leaders to think hard about radical innovation and force them to consider to which extent – if at all – they should initiate radical innovation projects.

The blog post created a great discussion and my objective was met. Now, as a follow-up post, I give you five questions to consider before you commit to radical innovation initiatives at your company.

Do you have the full support of top executives?

You need top management support to make innovation happen. With radical innovation it goes even further. You need executives who are personally committed and willing to spend their political capital to do this in the right way. Furthermore, you need executives having the right mindset for and a strong understanding of innovation.

Does your company have a corporate strategy with room for radical innovation?

More and more multi-billion dollar companies need to develop billion-dollar growth every year to satisfy their stockholders. They often take an acquisition approach on this which can lead to a reduced focus on innovation efforts including radical innovation projects. This happens even though it is often acknowledged that such radical innovation projects in the long term can help develop entirely new business platforms that can bring high growth. It just takes too long.

Innovation in very large companies has pros and cons and you need to consider the weighing within your company. Asking yourself whether corporate strategy works well with innovation is a key consideration to make.

Do you have the people who can execute on radical innovation projects?

You need a special breed of people to make radical innovation happen. Their traits and skills include optimism, passion and drive, curiosity, belief in change, talent for networking and the ability to deal with – and win over – the many internal and external antibodies that will oppose the project. Most companies do not have the proper vehicles to identify and develop such people.

Do you have the organizational processes and setup needed to make radical innovation happen?

Getting the right people onboard is the key element when it comes to making innovation happen. However, you also need to have the right processes and setup in place within your organization. This is even more important when you deal with radical innovation as the proper processes and setup will decrease the number and power of the corporate antibodies that will fight against anything that changes the status quo.

Is the time right?

Most radical innovation projects take a long time – often 3 to 7 years to grow from an idea to substantial revenues. The projects are usually started when times have been good for at least a couple of years (you dare to invest), but your executives will start to hesitate as good times come to an end. They will be forced to take a hard look at the portfolio of innovation projects and there is a great risk of shutting down the more radical projects as it can be difficult to justify the high level of risk that comes along with the potential success.

Which other questions should we consider? Let me hear your input as we start another great discussion on radical innovation.