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Structuring Innovation for Success

The Innovation Identity Series Like people, every company has its own personality. The Innovation

identity series uncovers what drives organizations and how decisions are

made, enabling innovation teams to craft processes and outcomes that

the company can embrace and make real.

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In the spring of 2013, Rick Pitino won his second NCAA

basketball championship. Weeks later, he was inducted

into the Basketball Hall of Fame. It’s safe to say that Pitino is

one of the most successful basketball coaches in history.

However, this hasn’t always been the case. In 2001, Pitino

resigned from the Boston Celtics after a disastrous three

and a half years in which he posted a losing record of 102-

145 while alienating both players and fans.

How could one of the most talented coaches in history have done so poorly? Pitino’s

leadership style and coaching philosophy strongly clashed with the Celtics’ culture

and own style of leadership. It’s a classic example of how success is about more than

just talent, it’s at least as important to have the right fit.

Back in the late 1990s, the Celtics were looking for a coach who could turn the

franchise around. Pitino had delivered the goods in the past for teams, including

Providence College, the New York Knicks, and the University of Kentucky. What the

Celtics failed to consider is that the way Pitino achieved his success was at odds

with how the Celtics operated. His hectic style of play—

emphasizing fast breaks and full-court presses—worked

great on the college level, but it didn’t fit with the

Celtics’ more patient, defensive game. When he tried to

impose his will upon the team, he got blowback from

NBA stars not used to being micromanaged by their

coach.

The same principle of finding the right fit holds true

when starting an innovation initiative. Having the right

idea is only part of the story. Considering how your

organization makes decisions—and what it needs to

make them well—is critical in moving ideas from concept

to commerce.

In analyzing Altitude’s most successful projects over the last twenty years, we found

three main decision-making archetypes inside organizations when it comes

innovation. While many organizations may have characteristics of more than one

type, one characteristic tends to be dominant. Before beginning your next

innovation project, use these archetypes to figure out how your organization makes

decisions to help structure your project for success.

By Altitude

Strategy

Director

Craig McCarthy

   

Knowing how

your company

makes decisions

is critical in

moving ideas

from concept to

commerce.

 

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The Data-Driven Organization. The organizations in this group emphasize quantitative analysis in order to mitigate

risk. Since innovation is inherently risky, that can make it challenging to embark upon

new projects with uncertain outcomes. When discussing an idea, people inside these

organizations are looking for evidence of its future success. The goal is to

demonstrate innovation as a calculated and thoughtful risk. Google is an excellent

example of a data-driven company. Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt describes the

company’s strategic process as one of deciding the right questions to ask and then

collecting data to find the right answers. Google is not afraid to take risks; however,

the company just wants to make sure the data shows signs of potential success.

Tools like quantitative validation, adoption rates, sales projections, and case studies

will need to be factored into any innovation project. Data-driven organizations often

prefer a “stage gate” approach, in which initiatives must prove themselves by

passing a certain set of criteria before moving to a level of more detailed execution.

I worked on a project for a data-driven organization many years ago. We

approached our objective in a traditional design-thinking process, which worked

counter to the company’s stage gate approach. Nearing the end of the project, the

client realized we had a great idea and a great execution, but lacked the necessary

business-case evidence to pass the first gate of his company’s process. Suddenly,

we had to work in a very different way to move forward. We restructured the team

to bring on talent that could help us create behavior models to demonstrate

adoption patterns and used that data to put together a strong business case for the

project. Once the idea was accompanied with the necessary data to prove it out, the

client was able to pass the first two gates of his corporate stage gate process and

move on to the design stage.

The Consensus-Driven Organization. This group relies heavily on the strength of its internal team to make decisions.

Each player must see potential in the idea for it to move forward. Until its recent

re-organization, Microsoft’s success had been the result of a consensus-driven

organization. It had multiple divisions each focused on a specific product and

market. Divisions often competed with one another with very little communication

or collaboration between them. Any large initiatives that involved multiple divisions

took a long time to more forward because each division had separate agendas and

priorities.

Decisions about an idea are made through a series of conversations, each one

tailored specifically to the needs of a particular audience. Being able to persuade by

understanding the concerns of each audience is critical. Projects with consensus-

driven organizations can take a number of different approaches, but project leaders

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need to closely examine the motivations of the individuals making the decisions and

account for an extended final stage in order to achieve buy in.

Recently, I worked with a Consensus-Driven Organization on a project. Approvals for

ideas to go to market came through an innovation council, which voted on ideas

quarterly. An innovation fair took place several days before the innovation council

meeting, inviting all employees to hear about the ideas and provide feedback. This

feedback was highly influential to the voting of the innovation council. We used the

fair to explain the idea from multiple viewpoints so it appealed to all aspects of the

organization—marketing, customer service, finance, and sales—helping them to

understand the benefits of the idea from their perspective. This approach helped us

gain the necessary support to move the idea into the final implementation phase.

The Vision-Driven Organization. Companies in this group are fueled by passion and conviction more than anything

else. To move forward on an innovative idea, it is important to inspire leadership by

showing how their vision can be brought to life in a new, more powerful way. Virgin

is perhaps the greatest example of a vision-driven company. Richard Branson

founded and grew the company by identifying

categories in which players had become complacent

in their marketing and product or service offerings.

Virgin would then offer “better, fresher, and more

valuable offerings” to customers. Any new idea at

Virgin needs to align with this vision for the brand.

Working in a vision-driven Organization requires an

intimate understanding of the brand and an

understanding of what has emotional resonance.

Finding ways for decision makers to experience or

touch the idea and to get emotionally engaged with

it—through models, demonstrations, or

walkthroughs—can be highly effective in aligning the

idea to the organization’s vision of success.

I used to work at a sports apparel company with a vision-driven Chief Marketing

Officer. In order for a product idea to stand a chance of moving forward, it had to

clearly show how it aligned with his brand and organizational vision. This is the

content the CMO was most interested in seeing—and upon which he would base his

decisions—much more so than sales potential or consumer relevance. In fact, when

one advertising agency presented their work most successfully, it was done as more

of a “big show” that celebrated the brand and built excitement than a logical

rationale of where the ads came from and why they made sense.

Taking the time to consider how your organization makes decisions can mean the

difference between success and failure on an innovation project. Even the best, most

talented individuals stand a poor chance of succeeding when they are put into a

Divisions often

competed with

one another with

very little

communication

or collaboration

between them.

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situation with a bad fit. As you start to think about a timeline and budgets to achieve

that big innovation initiative, make sure you factor in some time to figure out what it

takes for your organization to make decisions.

Company Culture

Decisions fueled by . . . Tools Tone Process

Data-Driven Evidence

Quantitative Validation, Projections, Case Studies

Prove Stage Gate

Consensus-Driven

Team Socialization Persuade Levels of Approval

Vision-Driven Conviction Visualization, Models, Demonstrations

Inspire Big Show

If you’re working at a primarily data-driven organization, set aside time and money

for quantitative testing and estimating rates of adoption. If your organization is

primarily consensus-driven, recognize that the socialization may take a while before

you can start to implement. If you are at a vision-driven organization, get to know

your company’s vision inside and out before starting a project.

The same holds true for thinking about innovation partners. Relevant past

experience and awards are indicators of talent, but they aren’t as important as

finding a partner that truly fits how your organization makes decisions. Ensure the

partner you choose takes the time to understand your organization and can tailor

how they approach the project to suit your innovation process rather than their own

work style.

At Altitude, we begin every client engagement with a series of in-depth, one-on-one

interviews to get to know our clients’ organization inside and out. This helps us make

sure we’re properly adapting to what our clients need to get the most successful

outcomes. If the Celtics had thought a little about this in 1997, there might be a few

more banners hanging from their rafters today.