“What we have found at FNB is that we have less people with ideas and more people with implementation skills. And I think it has been a big part of our success.”

embedded in his scorecard, and cascaded into the scorecards of each of the segment CEOs who report to him. He is so naturally charming and compelling around innovation that using internal speaking forums and communication channels he has the ability to raise energy and enthusiasm around participation in the programme. ” Paul explains.

Many organisations find it difficult to innovate.

Paul speculates as to why. “We are currently in a post recessionary environment. At a management level spending against budget allocated is heavily scrutinised. Anything that is seen as untried and untested is viewed as extra

risky and unnecessary as there are no guarantees of the outcome. Another reason is that people feel that they need to implement ideas alone/by themselves. I don’t think that is really possible in an organisational context, or rather, that doing so successfully is the exception rather than the rule. People tend to have wonderful ideas, but they don’t know how to implement them. I encourage people to form teams that help and support the implementation. I state though that the flip

side to innovation is also true. Sometimes when budget is limited, innovation increases because ‘necessity is the mother of invention’. In order to give your innovation the best chance of being given the resources required to

implement it, make sure that you understand what senior management’s agendas are. Also, from a metrics perspective, know what the numbers are that they are chasing and how aligned the benefits of your innovations are to those metrics. And hopefully there is a golden thread through their metrics and the actual strategy of the business. The best chance you have for support is when you show a strong link to the strategy and business objectives. And be resilient. Don’t give up if your first attempt fails.”

at the 2011 South African Innovation Summit. His talk on 31 August 2011 is titled “From Ideas to Market.”

“Creative thinking is not a talent, it is a skill that can be learnt. It empowers people by adding strength to their natural abilities which improves teamwork, productivity and where appropriate profits.” – Edward de Bono

24 Management Today | September 2011 Paul Steenkamp is a speaker