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Innovating Through the Downturn |
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Okay, the economy is in the tank. Money is in short supply, and just about everyone is cutting back. That doesn’t mean, however, that CIOs shouldn’t be on the lookout for ways to innovate. In fact, some intense right-brain, non-linear thinking may be just what IT chiefs need to get their organizations on the move again.
That’s the impression I got anyway, from listening to several dozen CIOs exchanging ideas about innovation at an April 20 New York Metro Chapter Society for Information (SIM) luncheon.
We’re not going to name names here, because the attendees and panelists use these gatherings to speak candidly about their situations, and generally the press is not allowed. I can share some of the more interesting thoughts on innovation that were proffered at this gathering,though. Here are some random take-ways from the discussion that may be use if you’re looking to innovate:
* Organizations need to draw on both internal innovation and external, or market-driven innovation. They should have some formal process in place that enables them to collect and store internal ideas and work with outside vendors to get an early read on what customers are looking for in terms of new ideas and products. Cisco, Microsoft and other vendors provide their customers with capabilities to seize upon the best opportunities in customer driven innovation.
* No matter how good a new idea is the challenge for many companies is how to make sure innovation is sustainable.
* Pharmaceutical manufacturers typically have to wait a year or more to get a new drug approved by the FDA and need to submit hundreds of thousands of pages of statistical analysis and information on patient testing as part of the process. One manufacturer, however, studied closely how the FDA process worked and determined that it was the medical reviewer and not the biostatistician who was critical to expediting the approval process. It then provided the medical reviewers with workstations that enabled them to get answers to questions quickly – rather than submitting them again and again to the manufacturer. The result: the year-long review process was reduced to six months or less because of these innovations. Lesson learned: Know your target audience and provide the tools they need to make critical decisions.
* When You Tube first began to take off this same pharmaceutical manufacturer committed to funding a medical information program. At the time no other corporations were taking this approach. Soon the manufacturer was getting 75,000 views a week for a $100 weekly sponsoring fee. The take away: Get in early and don’t be afraid to take chances.
* No matter how successful your innovation, you’ve only got six months or so before the competition catches up.
* Think about the long term impact of innovation. Agreed, cell phones were seemingly a life enhacing innovation when they first gained wide acceptance, but today they are the second largest cause of automobile accidents in the country.
* Remember, most people and organizations are resentful of change and innovators. “They’re often difficult people,” one panelist noted. As a result, it’s often exceedingly difficult to drive change though an organization, but the alternative for IT is to be reactive rather than proactive. That stance won’t really benefit IT or ultimately your organization.
* Try to embrace new ideas and new technologies, or at least understand what they can mean to you and your organization. One executive recruiter who was present said that almost every CIO he deals with noe is now on Linkedin. At another table, none of the CIOs present had ever heard of Bump, which lets users transfer their contact info to another iPhone with a simple bump of the fists. Not incidentally Bump just made it onto a listing of the top twenty social networking tools.
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