CORPORATE INNOVATION FORUM - Max M. Fisher … completing a work assignment. ... – Ratan Tata,...

CORPORATE

INNOVATION

FORUM

April 12, 2012

WELCOME:

To the Fisher

College of

Business

Welcome

New Corporate Forum Member:

Treva Weaver

Chief Financial Officer

Agenda:

Survey All 8:30 a.m.

Creative vs Execution Oriented M. Leiblein/M. Bills 8:40 a.m.

Alumni Relations Program J. Ziessman 9:10 a.m.

Article Summary M. Hitt 9:25 a.m.

Break All 9:35 a.m.

Guest Speaker J. Macher 9:45 a.m.

“Organizing for Innovation”

Wrap Up M. Bills 10:45 a.m.

Adjourn All 11:00 a.m.

b

Are you Creative or Execution Oriented? (1 = strongly disagree; 3 = neither agree nor disagree; 5 = strongly agree)

1. Frequently, my ideas or perspectives diverge radically from others’ perspectives. 1 2 3 4 5

2. I am very careful to avoid making any mistakes in my work. 1 2 3 4 5

3. I regularly ask questions to challenge the status quo. 1 2 3 4 5

4. I am extremely well organized at work. 1 2 3 4 5

5. New ideas often come to me when I am directly observing how people interact with products and services. 1 2 3 4 5

6. I must have everything finished “just right” when completing a work assignment. 1 2 3 4 5

7. I often find solutions to problems by drawing on solutions or ideas developed in other industries, fields, or disciplines. 1 2 3 4 5

8. I never jump into new projects and ventures and act quickly without carefully thinking through all of the issues. 1 2 3 4 5

9. I frequently experiment to create new ways of doing things. 1 2 3 4 5

10. I always follow through to complete a task, no matter what the obstacles. 1 2 3 4 5

Adapted from Dyer, Gregersen, & Christensen, (2011)


11. I regularly talk with a diverse set of people (e.g., from different business functions, organizations, industries, geographies, etc.) to find and refine new ideas. 1 2 3 4 5

12. I excel at breaking down a goal or plan into the micro tasks required to achieve it. 1 2 3 4 5

13. I attend conferences (on my areas of expertise as well as unrelated areas) to meet new people and understand what issues are facing them. 1 2 3 4 5

14. I pay careful attention to details at work to ensure that nothing is overlooked. 1 2 3 4 5

15. I actively seek to identify emerging trends by reading books, articles, magazines, blogs, and so on. 1 2 3 4 5

16. I hold myself and others strictly accountable for getting results. 1 2 3 4 5

17. I frequently ask “what if” questions that provoke exploration of new possibilities and frontiers. 1 2 3 4 5

18. I consistently follow through on all commitments and finish what I’ve started. 1 2 3 4 5

19. I regularly observe the activities of customers, suppliers, or other organizations to get new ideas. 1 2 3 4 5

20. I consistently create detailed plans to get work done. 1 2 3 4 5


Innovation: A Creative vs Execution – based Orientation

Michael Leiblein

and

Michael Bills

Trish Clifford asked “why do innovation efforts fail?” and exhorted us to “take risks”

Clifford Strategic Services

5. No Support

1. Not well understood

3. Too risky

2. Not compelling

4. Not well thought through

How many of these reasons are within your control?

6. Poor Fit

7. Too Slow

Clifford Strategic Services

Creativity Tests & Instruments • Remote Associates Test

– Present 3 words & ask to find related 4th.

• Franck Drawing Completion

– Complete 36 incomplete drawings.

• Associational Fluency Test

– List as many words as possible that are similar in meaning.

• Expressional Fluency Test

– Write 4 word sentences, with words beginning with a given letter.

• Barron-Welsh Art Scale

– Indicate whether like or dislike 86 separate designs.

• Alternate Uses Test

– List alternative uses for common objects.

• Possible Jobs Test

– List possible jobs which a given emblem might indicate.

• Plot Titles Test

– Write as many possible titles for each of 2 story plots.

• Obscure Figures Test

– Decide what you think a figure represents.

• Similes Test

– Think of 3 different endings for incomplete sentences.

• Quick Word Test

– Indicate which of 4 words means the same as a given word.

Multiple sources from psychological literature on creativity

• Add your score on the odd-numbered items. – You score very high on creativity skills if your total

score is 45 or above, high if your score is 40-45, moderate to high if your score is between 35 and 40, moderate to low if you score 29-34; and low if your score is 28 or less.

• Add your score on the even-numbered items. – You score very high on execution skills if your total

score is 45 or above, high if your score is 40-45, moderate to high if your score is between 35 and 40, moderate to low if you score 29-34; low if your score is 28 or less.



Our group raised a challenge during this discussion

• “Are there specific mechanisms that facilitate innovation” – Mike Brannan

• Building off that – the real question is whether innovation comes from creativity or more structured process and thinking? – Dan Finkelman

The evidence indicates that only a small portion of “creativity” is genetic

Adapted from Reznikoff, Domino, Bridges & Honeyman (1973)

Twin Studies & Creativity

• Significant differences in only a handful of creativity tests.

• Roughly 1/3 of variance in various creativity tasks assigned to genetics.

• It is not whether you’re “right-brained” or “left-brained” but rather what behaviors you engage in.

The “Medici Effect” suggests that we can stimulate innovation activity

• Spur innovation (a novel recombination of ideas) by building diverse, crossroads of experiences

These themes are emphasized in a recent book on innovation activity ...

Adapted from Dyer, Gregersen, & Christensen, (2011: 27)

Take Risks &

Challenge the Status

quo

Association Thinking

Innovation Activity

… that emphasizes “Associating Behaviors”

• Innovators connect the dots to make unexpected connections. They combine pieces of what may seem disparate pieces of information until surprise - you've got this innovative new idea. – Steve Jobs application of ideas

from calligraphy classes to user-friendly, graphics-based Macs.

How does you organization foster associational thinking?

• Force new or “odd” associations

• Pointillism and seeing the forest & the trees.

• SCAMPER – Substitute, Combine, Adapt,

Modify, Put to other use, Eliminate, Rearrange

Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte (Un dimanche après-midi à l’Ile de la Grande Jatte), Georges Seurat, 1884-1886.

The evidence indicates that associational thinking is stimulated by specific behaviors

Figure adapted from Dyer, Gregersen, & Christensen, (2011: 27)

Courage to Innovate

Behaviors to Innovate

Cognitive Ability to Innovate

Generation of Outcomes

Take Risks & Challenge the

Status quo

Innovation Activity

Questioning

Observing

Networking

Experimenting

Associational Thinking

Behavior 1: Questioning

• “The important and difficult job is never to find the right answers, it is to find the right question.” – Peter Drucker

• “Question the unquestionable” – Ratan Tata, chairman, Tata Group

• “I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.” – Wayne Gretzky

Take Risks Innovation

Activity

Questioning

Observing

Networking

Experimenting

Associate


How does your organization foster questioning?

Describe Disrupt

Who? What? When? Where? How?

What Caused?

Why? Why not?

What if?

Observing

Networking

Experimenting

• Can we encourage the humility to ask questions:

– 50 Question exercises

– 5 “Whys” exercises

– Track Q/A ratio

Behavior 2: Observing

• Innovators are intense observers. They fully watch the world around them, including customers, products, services, technologies and rivals. – Ratan Tata, chairman of India Tata Group, observation of

families riding scooters in India to develop an insight that inspires the world’s cheapest car, the Tata Nano.


Activity

Questioning

Observing

Networking

Experimenting

Associate


Tips to Foster Observing

• Observe customers, observe rivals, observe whatever strikes your fancy, but observe with all your senses.

• Our friend Urko Wood has reminded us of the importance of understanding customer needs

– “People don't want to buy a quarter-inch drill. They want a quarter-inch hole!”

• Theodore Levitt - 1975

ID the real goal or desired outcome vs. tools to be used

Behavior 3: Networking

• Innovative- vs. Execution-Focused Networking.

– Identifying and testing diverse ideas vs. gaining access to resources.

– Role of “structural holes” and “weak ties”

– “who has solved a problem like this before”



Activity

Questioning

Observing

Networking

Experimenting

Associate

Tips to Foster Successful Idea Networking

• Never eat alone … mealtime networking

• Cross-train w/ experts

• Actively manage network diversity

Name

Country of Origin

Industry

Gender

Profession

Org. Level

Age

Political Views

Socioeconomic status

Although questioning, observing, & networking provide data about past and present, experimenting is best suited for

generating data on what might work in the future.

Experimenting

• Three ways that innovators experiment 1. Try out new experiences 2. Take apart products,

processes, and Ideas 3. Test ideas through pilots

and prototypes

• Michael Dell taking his new computer apart on his 16th birthday

-

“I haven’t failed…I’ve just found 10,000 ways that do not work.” - Thomas Edison


Activity

Questioning

Observing

Networking

Experimenting

Associate


Tips to Foster Experimenting

• Doing, not just watching

• Try New Experiences – Live in a different country; work

in a different industry; develop a new skill

• Tinker – Disassemble a product; visually

map out a process; deconstruct an idea

• Test Ideas – Build a prototype; Pilot a new

process; launch a new product line

Delivering Value implies designing organizations to tightly couple apt knowledge

Organization

Macro

Insights (changing

rules)

Technical

Insights (changing

skills)

Consumer

Insights (changing

preferences)

Creating a “market for ideas”

• Selecting which problems to try & solve – Coupling evolving technical capabilities w/

market insights

• Allocating resources to support these problems – Developing portfolios or using option thinking

to guide resource allocation

• Organizing teams (and other firms) to couple appropriate knowledge – Using levers of leadership, incentives, structure,

& external collaboration

Alumni Relations Update

Jenny Ziessman

The Innovation Initiative

Student Alumni Survey Results:

• Total Number of Responses:44, 22% response rate

• Responses from classes:2009-2012

• Majors represented: Finance, Marketing, Strategy, Operations,

JD/MBA, Entrepreneurship and Healthcare

• Companies represented:

• The Ohio State University

• Nationwide Insurance

• Scotts Miracle-Gro

• Deloitte Consulting

• Phylogeny Inc.

• Gallup Consulting

• Whirlpool Corp

• ViacomInc.

• T. Marzetti Company

• JP Morgan Chase

• Themo Fisher Scientific

• Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC)

• The Limited

• Human Consulting Group

• Navigator Management Partners

• Humana

• Nestle

• Cardinal Health

• Limited Brands

• Ernst & Young

• Macy’s

• GfK



Keeping Connected

• All Respondents were interested in receiving the Newsletter

• Over 30 Respondents were interested in receiving information

on Innovate Columbus 2012

• Many Respondents wanted to connect through Social Media,

primarily via LinkedIn



Seeking Additional Information

• Four Respondents shared contact information to reach out to

the head of their organization’s Innovation teams

• Six Respondents requested information be sent for them to

pass along to their Innovation team leaders

• Fifteen Respondents currently do have Innovation teams within

their organizations, but realize the importance Innovation plays

within their industries and requested additional information on

the offerings of the Innovation Initiative

Innovation Article Summary

Interorganizational Collaboration and the

Locus of Innovation: Networks of

Learning in Biotechnology

Marcus Hitt

• Marcus Hitt, MBA/MHA candidate 2013

o aka career switcher looking for answers

o Finance Health Care

* Jeffrey Immelt, CEO of GE

* Marcus

* Mr. Immelt

We’ll be talking about health

care for the rest of our lives.

YES!… Jackpot

Big problems are solved horizontally, not vertically...

Through collaboration, partnerships, and alliances.

So, I’m shaping a career around solving big problems

• Big Problems high degree of complexity

o Rapidly changing business landscape, high pace of change

o Political reform, economic uncertainty

o Increasing dispersion of expertise across value chain

• Yet breakthroughs continue to occur

Marcus How can firms organize in a way that optimizes value

creation while also enhancing internal and external

capabilities?

The Article

Interorganizational Collaboration and the Locus of Innovation:

Networks of Learning in Biotechnology

By Walter Powell, Kenneth Koput, and Laurel Smith-Doerr

• If complex industries where:

o Knowledge base is complex

o Expertise is widely dispersed

• Then, the “locus of innovation is found in networks of

learning, rather in individual firms.”

The Argument

In complex industries firms:

Create more value & maintain competitive advantages by

Pursuing collaborative agreements + partnerships + alliances

Authors examine the biotech industry:

• Research breakthroughs and tech advancements involve

recombination of multiple sources of knowledge

o Require collaborations with firms, university scientists and pharmaceutical firms

The Research

• Examine 225 independently-owned human therapeutic and diagnostic

companies

• Full range of skills required to create new products are widely dispersed

o Applied research, testing, manufacturing, marketing, distribution, etc.

• Use “math” to measure importance of management’s ability to actively

participate in and manage cooperative research

• Observed linkages between:

o Experience in managing collaborations

o Non-R&D network experience and R&D network experience

o Diversity of alliances

o Network (of learning) centrality

The Good Stuff

• Network of learning

o Paramount to success in complex industries

o Leveraging the network is an active process

o Formal collaborations result in a finite amount of R&D advancements

o Runs far deeper than surface level, contractual agreements

The Lynchpin Handshakes Deals (informal, less discrete)

Value derived from wide collaborations beyond organizational

boundaries

“The biggest mistake his company could make in managing

research alliances is to treat them as "one-offs"--independent

relationships pursued separately.” – employee of Eli Lilly

More Good Stuff

Center of the network = sweet spot

• How do firms strengthen network position?

o Higher # of R&D alliances better cooperative performance

Requires coherent set of management activities

o Leads to better reputation popularity

o More opportunities become available diversity of ties

• Positionality increases firms’ abilities to increase value-creating activities

• Connectedness = more exposure to new capabilities and knowledge

• Hint: This is the Locus of Innovation.

In Summary…

• Even the informal handshake deals matter. It’s about the

ecosystem.

• Consider your network of learning

o What are your R&D opportunities and challenges?

o What does your collaboration portfolio look like?

• Well managed collaborative activities are an admission ticket to an innovation highway

Make friends, become better at making friends,

become popular and then make more friends.

Organizing for Innovation

Jeffrey Macher

Associate Professor

Georgetown University

Special Guest Speaker:

Wrap Up:

Mark Your Calendars and Save the Date!

Speakers include: • Rick Ainsworth, AllianceData • Liz Geraghty, Wendy’s • George Young, Kalypso

• Rob Huber, Faurecia • David Billiter, Nationwide

Children’s Hospital

11 am – 3 pm

Mark Your Calendars & Save the Date

Thursday, October 4, 2012

COSI

Creating A Marketplace for Ideas

Celebrating Creativity & Experimentation within Risk

Adverse Communities and Companies

• Joining idUS week and TEDxColumbus

(along with the EcoSummit, etc.)

• Goal to grow into annual, national event (SXSW)

• Special Forum Member pricing again this year

• Initial support from Foundation & Partnership

INNOVATION FISHER

Initiative Update:

2 0 1 2

Next Steps: Mark Your Calendars

Next Forum:

Thursday, July 19, 2012

or Thursday, August 23, 2012

Thanks

CORPORATE INNOVATION FORUM - Max M. Fisher … completing a work assignment. ... – Ratan Tata,...

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