(4 of 7) Innovation Leadership

(from James Andrew, author of Payback)

Successful innovators manage the process – but that’s not all they do.

Companies that are best at innovation are the ones that organize to support it. That can mean many things. It means a set of demands on leadership – to take ownership of innovation, make sure there’s someone high up in the company who stays awake at night worrying about innovation, and breaks up pockets of resistance. Often, the biggest pockets of resistance are found in divisions that used to be the primary sources of growth and innovation – “dynasties” that own legacy products. Those products and divisions, however successful and however much the company is known for them, now tie up resources that could be better used elsewhere. Again – just as when they manage innovation projects for cash payback – successful innovation leaders are rational and unsentimental when it comes to breaking up legacy fiefdoms and using those resources where they can do more good.

Leadership is also required if companies are going to successfully enforce discipline on the innovation process. All the innovation-related tasks that the execs in our survey said were weak points – applying metrics, enforcing hurdles, and ruthlessly shutting down unpromising projects – are really leadership responsibilities. Project managers can contribute, but only up to a point. Innovation has organization-wide consequences, and enterprise leadership needs to take charge of it.