Innovation And Execution

The classic definitions of innovation are:

• The act of introducing something new: something newly introduced (The American Heritage Dictionary).
• The introduction of something new. (Merriam-Webster Online)
• A new idea, method or device. (Merriam-Webster Online)
• The successful exploitation of new ideas (Department of Trade and Industry, UK).
• Change that creates a new dimension of performance Peter Drucker (Hesselbein, 2002)
• The process of making improvements by introducing something new

A recent McKinsey study offers the following findings on the importance of innovation:

• Innovation has become a primary force driving the growth, performance, and valuation of companies – however, there is a wide gap between the aspirations of executives to innovate and their ability to execute.
  
• Many companies make the mistake of trying to spur innovation by turning to unreliable best practices and to organizational structures and processes, however, executives who focus on stimulating and supporting innovation by their employees can promote and sustain it with the current talent and resources—and more effectively than they could by using other incentives.

Three approaches can help executives mount innovation efforts.

• First, senior management should actively support behavior that promotes innovation.
• Second, network analysis can identify where the capacity for innovation already exists within an organization and help it build more innovative networks.
  
• Finally, executives should seed innovative thinking by focusing on selected managers and projects.”