Title: Built to Innovate: Essential Practices to Wire Innovation into Your Company’s DNA

Author: Ben Bensaou

Publication Year: 2021

Categories: Design Thinking

1. Introduction to Innovation as a Core Competency

Ben Bensaou establishes early on that innovation is not a spontaneous occurrence but a competency that businesses can systematically build. Organizations must embed innovation into their DNA to sustain long-term growth and adaptability. Bensaou argues that any organization can become innovative, drawing on principles from design thinking to emphasize user-centricity, experimentation, and iteration.

Actionable Step: Create a narrative around innovation. Leaders should communicate the importance of innovation as a core competency and align it with the company’s vision and mission. Regularly celebrate and share innovation successes to cultivate a culture supportive of risk-taking and experimentation.

Example: A major retail chain, after facing declining sales, revitalized its business by consistently involving employees from all levels in problem-solving brainstorming sessions, leading to increased market responsiveness.

2. Three Pillars of Continuous Innovation: People, Process, and Philosophy

Bensaou proposes that sustaining innovation depends on three pillars: People, Processes, and Philosophy.

People: Engaging everyone in the organization, from the CEO to front-line employees, in the innovation process.

Actionable Step: Develop cross-functional innovation teams. Encourage employees from various departments to collaborate, bringing diverse perspectives and expertise to the table.

Example: A global food production company integrated cross-departmental teams to ideate on new product lines, resulting in a series of health-oriented snacks that became bestsellers.

Processes: Establishing processes that support ongoing innovation. This includes adopting agile methodologies and iterative design processes.

Actionable Step: Implement a structured innovation process like “sprint cycles,” where small, cross-functional teams rapidly prototype and test new ideas.

Example: A software firm adopted agile sprints for development, significantly reducing time-to-market for new features based on user feedback.

Philosophy: Cultivating an innovation-driven ethos that permeates company culture.

Actionable Step: Institute continuous learning and adaptability as core values. Offer training programs and innovation workshops to reinforce these values.

Example: A telecommunications giant incorporated innovation training into its employee development programs, fostering a more engaged and strategically creative workforce.

3. Leadership’s Role in Fostering an Innovative Culture

Leaders play a crucial role in shaping an environment conducive to innovation. Bensaou underscores that they must lead by example, exuding curiosity, and a willingness to take risks.

Actionable Step: Leaders should regularly engage in and sponsor innovation initiatives, demonstrating their commitment to fostering a culture of innovation.

Example: The CEO of a large manufacturing company hosted quarterly “Idea Challenges,” encouraging employees to present new concepts, thus promoting an open dialogue around innovation.

4. Creating an Innovation Engine: Structures and Incentives

Structuring for innovation involves designing organizational frameworks and incentives that facilitate innovative efforts. Organizations should create dedicated innovation hubs or labs that allow focused work on experimental projects.

Actionable Step: Establish formal innovation labs or R&D divisions. Equip these units with the resources, autonomy, and freedom to experiment independently of the core business functions.

Example: A multinational pharmaceutical company set up an Innovation Lab that paired scientists with marketers to streamline drug development and anticipate market needs more effectively.

Incentives: Design incentive systems that reward risk-taking and the pursuit of innovative ideas, even if they sometimes fail.

Actionable Step: Develop a reward system that recognizes and compensates employees for innovative contributions, regardless of the outcome.

Example: An online retail giant initiated a “failure bonus” to reward teams for their attempts at innovation, reinforcing that learning from failure is part of the innovation journey.

5. Innovation Portfolio Management

Effective innovation requires balancing a portfolio of projects across three horizons: incremental, breakthrough, and transformational innovations. Bensaou draws parallels to financial portfolio management to illustrate the importance of diversification in innovation efforts.

Actionable Step: Create a balanced innovation portfolio that includes short-term and long-term projects. Regularly review and adjust this portfolio to reflect changing market conditions and strategic objectives.

Example: An electronics company maintained a portfolio with projects ranging from slight adjustments to existing products (incremental) to cutting-edge research on new technologies (transformational), ensuring a steady pipeline of innovations.

6. Empowering Frontline Employees

Frontline employees often have the most direct insights into customer needs and operational challenges. Empowering them can lead to valuable innovations.

Actionable Step: Implement a suggestion system where frontline employees can propose ideas directly to upper management. Offer platforms for real-time feedback and innovation ideation.

Example: A European grocery chain allowed store employees to submit ideas for improvement directly through an internal app, leading to numerous cost-saving and customer satisfaction enhancements.

7. Leveraging Customer Insights

Innovation should be closely tied to customer needs and expectations. Bensaou stresses the importance of engaging with customers to gain genuine insights into their problems and preferences.

Actionable Step: Utilize customer journey mapping to identify pain points and opportunities for innovation. Conduct regular customer interviews and usability tests.

Example: A financial services company innovated its mobile app by conducting extensive user testing sessions, which uncovered usability issues and led to features that significantly improved customer satisfaction.

8. Prototyping and Iteration

Prototyping allows for quick visualization of ideas and rapid testing of concepts. Iterative prototyping helps refine ideas based on real-world feedback.

Actionable Step: Encourage teams to build low-fidelity prototypes early and refine them through continuous loops of feedback and iteration. View failures as learning opportunities.

Example: A startup in the wearable technology space used cardboard and clay models to prototype electronic wristbands, iterating based on user feedback before moving to expensive manufacturing phases.

9. Integrating External Partnerships

Collaborating with external partners, such as startups, academic institutions, and other companies, can bring fresh perspectives and specialized expertise.

Actionable Step: Develop a strategy for external collaboration and actively seek partnerships that complement internal capabilities. Participate in open innovation platforms and hackathons to engage with the wider innovation ecosystem.

Example: An automotive company partnered with a tech startup specializing in AI to co-develop advanced driver-assistance systems, accelerating their innovation timeline significantly.

10. Measuring and Scaling Innovation

The final key to embedding innovation is the ability to measure and scale successful initiatives. Developing KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) for innovation is essential for tracking progress and making informed decisions.

Actionable Step: Establish specific, measurable metrics for innovation activities. Regularly review these metrics to identify areas of improvement and success stories worth scaling.

Example: A multinational consumer goods company used metrics such as the number of ideas generated, prototype iterations, time-to-market, and the proportion of revenue from new products to gauge and scale its innovation efforts effectively.

Conclusion

Built to Innovate provides a comprehensive guide for organizations aiming to systematize their innovation processes. Through a focus on people, processes, and philosophy, Bensaou offers actionable steps to weave innovation into the fabric of a company’s operations, from leadership engagement to frontline empowerment and customer-centric development. The multitude of practical examples and strategies makes the book a valuable resource for any leader looking to foster a robust, dynamic culture of innovation within their organization.

By following the principles and methods outlined in the book, companies can transform from sporadic innovators to entities where innovation is a sustained and integral practice, ensuring long-term competitiveness and success.