黑料传送门

Allow Violet Beauregard聽from聽鈥淐harlie and the Chocolate Factory鈥澛爐o聽serve as a cautionary tale. Once some things start growing, they聽do not聽stop, and eventually鈥攐ften quickly鈥攖hey become too big to control.聽

Much like Violet,聽innovation grows exponentially.聽The more advanced an innovation becomes, the more rapidly it can grow.聽And that鈥檚 where innovation management comes in. This article discusses the聽increasing need for innovation management and聽how information technology professionals聽can be best equipped to provide it to every industry.聽

Where there are processes, products, or services, there are opportunities for innovation.聽Some industries聽are innovating at a particularly fast rate:

• Manufacturing聽鈥� with the supply chain uncertainty of the 21st聽century, manufacturing is forced to become more efficient and find new ways to聽maximize聽profit聽margins
• Government聽鈥� governments around the world employ innovation management to bring efficient, cost-effective, and more user-friendly services to their citizens
• 贵颈苍补苍肠别听补苍诲听产补苍办颈苍驳聽鈥� in an increasingly customer-oriented world, industries like聽these聽are constantly trying to make their services and products easier to use, more secure, and more lucrative
• Automotive聽鈥� think聽Tesla鈥檚聽Cybertruck, which defies everything we know about聽vehicle interior and exterior聽styling
• Technology聽鈥斅爀very day聽companies聽announce聽more advanced smart phones, smart drones,聽mapping聽technologies, and聽virtual聽reality
• 笔丑补谤尘补肠别耻迟颈肠补濒蝉听鈥� new solutions for modern ailments are constantly evolving to be more effective聽and have聽fewer side effects
• Healthcare聽鈥斅爄t鈥檚聽no surprise we are聽creating new ways to heal and keep people alive, like聽gene therapy and smartphone-connected pacemaker devices
• 叠颈辞迟别肠丑苍辞濒辞驳测听鈥� this industry contributes thought leadership to agriculture, healthcare, manufacturing, aquatics, and beyond

A common thread through all these massive industries is that innovation management plays a key role in moving them forward in a calculated and controlled manner.聽One of the leading providers of innovation management is information technology professionals.

聽is聽the practice of controlling, guiding, and managing the ideation and implementation of new strategies and technology to support business growth. The need for this聽integrated聽role spans about every sector of private and public business,聽and it will only grow as聽organizations聽create more advanced solutions.聽The聽聽of innovation management聽provides聽a foundation for IT professionals to聽identify聽the areas where an organization can and should innovate, as well as ensuring聽a聽company environment that nurtures innovation:

1. Competency:听The things that your company does聽really well聽and better than your competition (independent of聽whether聽it aligns with the needs of your target market).
2. Structure:听The systems and business processes within your organization. A well-structured organization is empowered to聽operate efficiently and聽execute great ideas.
3. Culture:听How聽your company values new ideas.聽A聽鈥渂est idea聽wins"聽and 鈥渓eave聽your聽ego聽at聽the聽door"聽approach to聽company culture sets the stage for successful innovation.
4. Strategy:听The long-term growth plan for your organization.聽This prevents you from pursuing dead-ends聽and聽repeating failures, and聽it聽helps you allocate funds strategically.

Technological聽innovation聽is the聽cornerstone of growth and prosperity, so why does it need to be managed?聽Innovation management informs high-level business objectives聽to聽create maximum value for聽the organization. To implement effective innovation management, organizations need聽to embed the expertise of an聽IT professional in their business strategy,聽informed by the four聽key聽pillars. This intersection聽allows聽executives聽to make smart business decisions using聽insights from your IT department聽forecasting聽potential disruptors in your industry.聽As innovation聽becomes more sophisticated,聽the need for management becomes more imperative. Look at聽聽as evidence of that.聽They聽were slow聽to聽see聽change in their industry聽(cue Netflix), failed to聽innovate, and went bankrupt.聽

Innovation聽can be broken into聽:听

• Incremental innovation:听As the most common form of innovation, incremental innovation uses your existing technology to increase your value in your market.聽

Example:听Adding new features to an existing product or service

• Disruptive innovation:听This term, coined by Clayton Christensen in聽a聽1995 paper for Harvard Business School,聽refers to adding聽a聽new聽product聽to your existing market. Normally,聽new technology聽will be inferior to existing tech due to a lack of multiple iterations of improvements.

Example:听Apple鈥檚 iPhone was the first smartphone to offer a touchscreen

• Architectural innovation:听This form of innovation takes the successful practices, technology, and thought leadership of one market and brings them to聽a new market.

Example:听NASA鈥檚 Ames Research Center invented a new foam to increase the safety of the seats on their aircraft. Eventually,聽they found that it was comfortable enough to use in mattresses. This foam technology is now widely known as memory foam.

• Radical innovation:听This type of聽revolutionary change聽doesn鈥檛聽simply make good products better鈥攊t聽completely transforms聽the聽technology landscape聽forever聽and swallows the market whole.

Example:听Air聽travel turned the聽public transportation industry on its head聽by聽making commercial airplanes an efficient, cost-effective way to travel long distances.

Each type of innovation has聽a time and a place,聽depending on the company, its growth stage, the state of the market, and many other factors.聽An IT professional鈥檚 ability聽to analyze and weigh these factors is essential in innovation management聽and making business decisions.

Disruptive change is a result of innovation聽that demands the organizations in聽an聽industry to change the way they do business.聽Industry disruptors are like waves of the ocean: strong and utterly merciless.聽The scary truth聽is,聽in many industries,聽聽to answer the call.聽No industry is safe from disruptive change, and聽that is聽a聽. It聽has聽given us聽Netflix, Uber,聽cryptocurrency, artificial intelligence, 3D聽printing, gene editing鈥攅ven聽wi-fi.

Companies that聽do not聽innovate will die.聽To stay afloat in our rapidly evolving economy and technology landscape, companies must foster a collaborative culture wherein business聽strategy聽and information technology are intertwined in decision-making聽and employees are encouraged to express their entrepreneurial spirit.聽Moreover, a leadership team that encourages聽entrepreneurial thinking聽prepares the company for disruptive innovation,聽as long as聽innovation management goes聽hand-in-hand.

An IT聽professional聽wanting to implement聽innovation management聽in聽their organization聽can take聽:

• Get leadership adoption:听The first step to implementing聽an innovation management聽process聽is getting the executives on board.聽This聽entails showing how innovation management moves the organization towards its goals and allocating resources to support that.
• Define strategic objectives:听This step requires you to outline the strategic goals of your organization.聽Define聽the role you want innovation to play in your company.
• Identify聽areas of need:听Find out where there are areas of opportunity in your field to help guide you聽innovate聽meaningfully.聽Use market data to find a聽need聽for innovation.
• Brainstorm ideas: Use the first three steps to guide聽you in producing an innovative idea.
• Design the innovation process: Create a plan for carrying out the聽innovation聽determined in step four. This聽requires聽a聽years-long plan for聽product聽development, testing, and launch.

Innovative ideas聽are constantly聽surfacing. Just look at聽the聽mRNA COVID-19 vaccine聽if you need convincing.聽The聽key to聽successful聽innovation聽is creating a聽business model聽where聽new ideas聽and innovative technologies are celebrated. Innovation聽management聽allows these ideas to come to fruition while considering the risks involved in the process.聽Implementing a plan聽for innovation management聽requires a skilled, trained individual.聽As a growing need in聽every聽industry,聽innovation management has seen聽more and more聽positions聽open for qualified professionals.聽An聽滨罢听诲别驳谤别别聽from Western Governors University prepares you to implement innovation management strategies聽in聽healthcare, government, biotechnology, and many other industries.聽Learn more聽about how you can enter the innovation field and make a difference helping聽new聽businesses manage their growth聽and introduce聽new technology聽and solutions to the world.