INNOVATION, INNOVATION
Innovation, innovation... Mike Faers, ex-McDonalds food chief and innovation genius, concludes his top 10 tips
Hello readers. I hope you enjoyed the first half ofmy article in the last issue,where we looked at the first five tips on howtomake innovation work in a business:where to start, the LEAN innovation audit, organisational design, the burning platformand the LEAN virtuous cycle.
A
steady flowof creative ideas is essential for long termgrowth and
innovation should be the lifeblood of any business. By using LEAN techniques, you can help to minimisewastage andmaximise returns on your innovation budget. This article is going to discuss the remaining 5 tips for successfully innovating; namely sustainability and howto achieve buy inwithin thewider business.
6. A HOW-TO GUIDE FOR YOUR BUSINESS? Process is a fundamental area to get right!Don’t underestimate how impactful a good process can be or, howdestructive a dysfunctional one. If you are implementing innovation into a business, the use of a “HOWTO” guide can help build belief and behaviour and in turn drivemomentum.Whatever your individual innovation process, whether it is a gatedNPD, continuous Improvement or portfoliomanagement system, it is still important to followthe rules below: • The voice of the customermust always be at the heart of the process; • It should be created and integrated across all functions; • Itmust be flexible to the businesses needs and capable of evolving; • Itmust bemeasurable and accountable and includedwithin the key business KPI’s; • Itmust continually aimto improve the ROI on the innovation budget; • Staff should bewell trained in the process and it should be sponsored within the business.
7. PEOPLE POWER Building capability into the current team/stakeholders with training and development is the quickest way to accelerate change and you can do this by creating: • Innovation advocates and sponsors, • Training and development tools. Only employees canmake
LEAN innovation happen and the tool kit can help themexplain how. The quicker you build competence and capability, the quicker you will see the results.
8. BALANCING THE PLAN Any plan consists of projects and activitieswhichmust be aligned to the business strategy; a common pitfall is thatmany people think of the innovation plan as blue-sky and that it doesn’t havemuch relevance to the day to day business. It is important that the project
portfolio includes short,medium and long termprojects, ranked against the key business plan metrics. They need to engage and excite the rest of the business
without feeling unachievable; managing the ‘tone’ is key. This demonstrates to the rest of the business howcritical they are and ensures buy in fromall departments.
9. MEASURE PROGRESS AND CELEBRATE SUCCESS KPIs for innovation canmake or break the implementation of any strategy. They need to support the objectives of the broader business plan including brand trust and quality and not just be focused on sales. Iwould expect to be able to
answer the following questions as aminimum: •What is the total cost of R&D? •What is the gross and net benefit to the business? • Howmany products/services didwe launch?Whatwas the success rate at 3/6/12month windows/intervals? • Pipeline portfolio NPV (net present value) year on year increase • Pipeline length –what is on the horizon? • New services – newmarkets entered and sharemovement,
penetration, frequency and repeat rates • Socialise the success of the plan to the stakeholders and reward the success.
10. CHALLENGE – LEARN – PERSIST
Two great questions to ask of your activity at regular intervals are: Arewe doing the right project? Arewe doing the project right? Following the LEAN Innovation
templatewill help create a steady streamof big, bold, consumer- relevant innovation that can be rolled out fast, from“big shifts” to continuous improvement across the portfolio. I hope you’ve enjoyed the top
tips for successful innovation. Next edition Iwill be answering the question,what are the benefits of going externally to help fuel your innovation pipeline and what are the potential pitfalls?
Mike Faers is the founder of agency Food Innovation Solutions. For more information visit
www.foodinnovation
solutions.com.
check is important so Mike advises that you carefully calculate the gross and net benefits to the business
Keeping costs in
42 | FMCG News |
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