commentator Scott Adams, of Dilbert fame, pointed out, “Large corporations welcome innovation and individualism in the same way the dinosaurs welcomed large meteors.”6 We can toss the word around as much as we want, but unless the concept is given the attention it deserves, we, too, will end up extinct. Most leaders, particularly middle managers, feel that they have enough to worry about as it is and tend to focus on what’s in front of them at the moment. Keep the shareholders happy and the business profitable, and whoever’s next in line can worry about the future. They look at innovation as something that isn’t essential to their business or job, failing to realize that innovation is actually essential to everyone’s job. Sadly, they’re missing out on the new reality that foresight for the long-term is just as important as insight into the short-term.
Instead of producing a real impact, talk of innovation generates way more slogans than clear, actionable results. It also causes many leaders to enter anxiety mode. They deny the need to evolve, or they grasp at straws for a concept of innovation that either doesn’t exist or is completely irrelevant for their organizations. In response, like so many of us, they turn a blind eye to what’s right there in front of them, ignoring the current pace of change we’re experiencing and placing their attention elsewhere. We do this in our personal and professional lives all the time, getting trapped in tactical issues, tangible problems we must address immediately, without understanding the underlying purpose, the bigger picture, or even our full potential.
Fearless Innovation
It’s time to take a breath, step back, and truly begin to understand what innovation is and what it isn’t; how it can make a difference between surviving and thriving; and how it can be applied to more than just our day-to-day jobs, but also to the transformation of our businesses, our personal and professional success, and the improved conditions of our society and planet.
The principles outlined in this book aim to do just that. They’re straightforward, timely, and actionable, no matter the size of your company or organization. Whether executing innovation through leadership and strategy; measuring innovation efforts or outcomes; building cross-functional, diverse teams; working with the entire ecosystem to capture bigger opportunities; or communicating the value of innovation to employees, partners, and beyond, such principles offer a blueprint to driving growth, creating clear measurable value, and enacting change. I have little interest in brainwashing you with innovation as a theoretical concept and prefer to explore the practical whys and hows. Throughout my life I’ve learned to question conventional wisdom, challenge authority, quickly adapt to my surroundings, and shape my own future. One might say that in the process, I’ve developed a highly functioning BS meter, which comes in quite handy when innovation is concerned. So all of the advice in this book is backed by experience, and when skepticism is necessary, you’ll see plenty of it.
This material is not scripted in line with the “innovation management” gospel or theoretical “methodologies,” those marketing phrases and complicated flowcharts that sound and look good but provide little practical substance. In many ways, I consider this guide an “antimethodology” methodology, an open process to get to the heart of innovation and show the immense impact it can have in any setting; so you won’t find any flowcharts here. What we need is to see through the BS, acknowledge the reality of unending disruption, and present innovation for what it really is.
Since my early days, I’ve learned that change happens no matter what. We have an option of embracing it through innovation or resisting it through our own denial. It’s our choice, but without open minds and focus, our attempts to create some type of meaningful impact on the world—whether in our city, communities, families, or where we work—will fall short. The only way to create a truly positive, lasting effect is by embracing change, and using it to our advantage. We all know that any lasting transformation within an organization doesn’t happen quickly, as it requires a leap of faith in addition to discipline, commitment, and creativity. It won’t always be easy, but that’s not the point: innovation is a journey, and there is simply no future without it.
Notes
1 1 Google Trends, Search Term: Innovation, https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=today%205-y&gprop =news&q=innovation.
2 2 Forbes Coaches Council, “What Can Your Organization Do to Become More Innovative?” Forbes, July 13, 2017, https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescoachescouncil/2017/07/13/what-can-your-organization-do-to-become-more-innovative.
3 3 Rola Dagher, “#1 Best Place to Work,” Cisco Canada Blog, October 4, 2019, https://gblogs.cisco.com/ca/2019/10/04/1-best-place-to-work/
4 4 Scott D. Anthony, S. Patrick Viguerie, Evan I. Schwartz, and John Van Landeghem, “2018 Corporate Longevity Forecast: Creative Destruction is Accelerating,” Innosight Executive Briefing, February 2018, https://www.innosight.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Innosight-Corporate-Longevity-2018.pdf
5 5 Ibid.
6 6 B.R., “An A–Z of Business Quotations: Innovation,” Economist, August 17, 2012, https://www.economist.com/schumpeter/2012/08/17/innovation.
Chapter 1 Innovation Is Now or Never
Let’s talk unicorns. No, not the mythical horse-like creature with one horn that was used as a symbol for Jesus Christ in medieval times, and depending on who you ask, poops rainbows (thanks, Squatty Potty). The unicorns I’m referring to are those privately owned startups valued at a billion dollars or more that are currently taking over the world. As recently as 2015 there were only eighty-two such companies; as of 2018 there were more than 295.1 Fast forward just a year, and by April of 2019 there were 326, with a collective worth of almost $1.1 trillion.2 Many of those were household names, such as 23andMe, Stripe, and SpaceX, along with Uber and Pinterest, which have since gone public. Others you may never have heard of, like the real estate broker Lianjia, the Bitcoin mining application company Bitmain Technologies, or the ByteDance Internet and AI technology company, all three of which happen to be Chinese firms.3
Unicorns are here because of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, which is transforming the way we live, work, and learn, unlike any changes seen before. As a modern society, we’ve come a long way since Britain’s technological advancements in the mid-eighteenth century that led to the First Industrial Revolution, a time that may seem very quaint in comparison to today. Within a hundred years, the world would experience the start of the Second Industrial Revolution, the birth of the assembly line and mass production, not to mention the widespread use of electricity. The Third Industrial Revolution, which seems like just yesterday to many, was another leap forward, with digital manufacturing, automated production, and global Internet connectivity. Organizations had to keep up with technological progress to stay relevant. Those who particularly understood the changes around them were able to shape the world that we live in today.
We have now entered the Fourth Industrial Revolution and are experiencing change at an unprecedented pace, level, and intensity. From augmented reality to genomics, our society is becoming infused with new technologies embedded not just within our homes and workplaces, but even our bodies. We are rapidly blurring
