#SpigitIgnite1. Innovation is Hard. Brent Foster, Engineering Director, Corporate Innovation, American Express

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1 #SpigitIgnite1 Innovation is Hard Brent Foster, Engineering Director, Corporate Innovation, American Express

2 Innovation is Hard "Skepticism is as much the result of knowledge, as knowledge is of skepticism. To be content with what we at present know, is, for the most part, to shut our ears against conviction; since, from the very gradual character of our education, we must continually forget, and emancipate ourselves from, knowledge previously acquired; we must set aside old notions and embrace fresh ones; and, as we learn, we must be daily unlearning something which it has cost us no small labor and anxiety to acquire." - Introduction by Theodore Buckley to the Iliad of Homer As Lived, Discovered, Documented, and Discussed by Brent Foster

3 WHO IS THIS GUY Engineer, Father, Husband, Entrepreneur, Other Stuff Arch Nemesis: Status Quo ß So Much No Brent Foster 3

4 BOOKS ARE AWESOME Here are some of the books I ve read that have influenced my current way of thinking that I could fit on this slide. Brent Foster 4

5 TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT Each company is different Each person has a unique perspective Reality is subject to change Brent Foster 5

6 OVERVIEW 1. Questioning the Status Quo 2. Uncovering Fundamental Problems 3. Innovation Days and Lab Experiment 4. Crowdsourcing Experiment 5. Crowdsourced Hackathon Pilot 6. The Struggle is Real 7. What s Next Brent Foster 6

7 QUESTIONING THE STATUS QUO 1 st engineer hired as part of delivery transformation initiative Encouraged to look for ways to catalyze change Considered anything possible *Image taken from Brent Foster 7

8 UNCOVERING FUNDAMENTAL PROBLEMS Big company, lots of people, globally distributed No common pathway for ideas No way to clearly enable the entire innovation continuum Brent Foster 8

9 INNOVATION DAYS AND LAB EXPERIMENT Starting in August of 2014, we started hosting a bi-weekly event to get a diverse crosssection of people together to elicit divergent thought and collaboration. Representation from more than 20 departments in addition to Technology and a wide range of seniority Establishment of 40+ Communities of Practice Created a homegrown social collaborative site to link globally and contextualize networks and conversations around communities of practice Opened a lab to provide access to the right tools/people Brent Foster 9

10 CROWDSOURCING EXPERIMENT From October through November of 2014, an ad-hoc group of 370 people within American Express Technology participated in a crowdsourced innovation challenge pilot using a homegrown crowdsourcing tool. 39 ideas were shared Ideas were rank-ordered by evenly weighted desirability, viability, and feasibility scoring by a set of 10 executive judges Interesting prizes were given (ipads, quadcopters, Arduinos, etc.) Brent Foster 10

11 CROWDSOURCED HACKATHON PILOT We crowdsourced ideas leading up to a series of 12 global hackathons Led to better hacks and participation across business/tech Brent Foster 11

12 CROWDSOURCING AFTER THE PILOT A Brent Foster 12

13 THE STRUGGLE IS REAL Path dependence definitely exists Haters gonna hate Value isn t easy to measure Sponsors can have commitment issues Closing the feedback loop isn t trivial Ideas are hard to incubate and even harder to realize Brent Foster 13

14 WHAT S NEXT Leverage estimation and prediction capability Continue onboarding other parts of the company Continue to evolve the Innovation Pathway Process Establish tighter-knit and larger communities of practice Establish a precedent of collaborative knowledge sharing Brent Foster 14

15 Innovation Is Hard Human behavior flows from three main sources: desire, emotion, and knowledge. - Plato Let s share knowledge and stories: brent.m.foster@me.com

16 APPENDIX INNOVATION PATHWAY PROCESS Brent Foster 16

17 INNOVATION PATHWAY An innovation pathway is a means to enable the realization of an idea from concept to implementation whether it be something incremental, divergent, or something somewhere in between and is independent of existing organization structure and process (something new and different can emerge from nothing). What is proposed is an innovation pathway comprised of 3 stages: 1. Challenge/opportunity determination 2. Crowdsourced ideation a. Containment of ideas around a particular focus area b. Convergence and filtering of ideas through graduation criteria c. Acceptance or rejection of ideas with direct and transparent feedback 3. Implementation of accepted ideas with showcased progress a. Existing LOB(s) or company platform(s) implement ideas b. A new entity is created to allow implementation

18 CHALLENGE/OPPORTUNITY DETERMINATION On an occasional basis, gather representative executives, strategic thinkers, and thought leaders together to determine the top opportunities and challenges facing the company or a specific line of business, company platform, or strategic objective. Use these types of gatherings to achieve the following objectives: 1. Determine a prioritized list of challenges/opportunities 2. Elect a sponsor/champion for each respective challenge/ opportunity 3. Plan a communication and execution strategy for each challenge/opportunity

19 CHALLENGE/OPPORTUNITY DETERMINATION Each challenge/opportunity is a source of focus for ideation and will shape outcomes based on what s communicated and expectations/ constraints. Each type of challenge/opportunity will fit a specific type of crowdsourcing challenge, which can be setup as a strategic template for planning and execution. Each type of challenge will have specific process flows, rewards, timelines, categories, and idea form elements. Some example types: 1. New product 2. Process improvement 3. Marketing intelligence 4. Strategic objective 5. General idea collection

20 CROWDSOURCING PROCESS FLOW Description P Participant Community can be restricted or open Post Idea Category Etc. Determines Specific Experts, Moderators, & Approval Flow Graduation Graduation Plant the Seed Criteria Met Nourish Criteria Met Pruning Modify M S Expert Evaluation No Closed Moderators provide feedback and guidance, close infeasible ideas, and keep conversations within scope Category Specific Experts Yes Cultivate Graduation Criteria Met S Harvest Implement? Yes Accept Challenge Sponsor or Administrator Once an idea is accepted, it s important to showcase the progress, communicate updates, and close the feedback loop

21 IMPLEMENTATION OF ACCEPTED IDEAS Once an idea makes it through the innovation pathway, the next step is to implement it. The nature of the idea should determine the requisite approach to implementation as well as the intended implementer. Equally important to the idea being implemented is the communication and spotlighting of the progress for everyone to see. This will be motivational for employees to continue engaging in the process. An idea will either fit into an existing line of business or platform, multiple lines of business or platforms, or will require some new type of entity be created to be implemented. In the event of an idea not fitting into our existing organizational structure, a team will have to be formed to determine the best course of action.

22 INNOVATION PATHWAY DEPICTION *As piloted in Phoenix, Arizona by the Corporate Innovation team (Illustrated by Carrie Hobson)

23 EVERYONE HAS A ROLE *Sourced from The Ten Faces of Innovation by Tom Kelley and Jonathan Littman (Illustrated by Carrie Hobson)

24 APPENDIX VALUE MEASUREMENT

25 VALUE MEASUREMENT - CYCLES 1. Immediate value 2. Potential value 3. Applied value 4. Realized value 5. Reframing value

26 VALUE MEASUREMENT CYCLE 1 Immediate value: activities and interactions The most basic cycle of value creation considers networking/community activities and interactions as having value in and of themselves.

27 VALUE MEASUREMENT CYCLE 2 Potential value: Knowledge capital Not all the value produced by a community or a network is immediately realized. Activities and interactions can produce knowledge capital whose value lies in its potential to be realized later. This knowledge capital can take different forms: Personal assets (human capital) Relationships and connections (social capital) Resources (tangible capital) Collective intangible assets (reputational capital) Transformed ability to learn (learning capital)

28 VALUE MEASUREMENT CYCLE 3 Applied value: changes in practice Knowledge capital is a potential value, which may or may not be put into use. Leveraging capital requires adapting and applying it to a specific situation.

29 VALUE MEASUREMENT CYCLE 4 Realized value: performance improvement New practices or tools are not enough, even when applied. One would expect the application of new ideas to practice or the use of resources from the community/network to result in improvements in performance, but this is not guaranteed. It is therefore important not to simply assume that improved performance is the case when people change their practice, but to reflect on what effects the application of knowledge capital is having on the achievement of what matters to stakeholders, including members who apply a new practice.

30 VALUE MEASUREMENT CYCLE 5 Reframing value: redefining success The last cycle of value creation is achieved when social learning causes a reconsideration of the learning imperatives and the criteria by which success is defined. This includes reframing strategies, goals, as well as values. It can also include proposing new metrics for performance that reflect thenew definition of success

31 VALUE MEASUREMENT - NARRATIVES To paint a more reliable picture of how a community or network is creating value, it is necessary to follow value creation across cycles. While there are causal relationships between the various cycles, it is important not to assume a hierarchy of levels or a simple causal chain.