In Pursuit of Innovation Curating the Culture of Ambitious Ideas, Rebellious Talent and Hidden Opportunities Nina Simosko, CEO NTT Innovation Institute, Inc.
Introduction Letter Sometimes it seems that nearly every large company on the planet is establishing some sort of innovation presence in Silicon Valley be it a full-blown center, lab or a fledgling outpost. Tech and non-tech companies are here. They re committing time, dollars and talent in the hope of leveraging the concentrated startup and academic ecosystems to some varied definitions of success. They re betting that being close to the epicenter of others ideas and success automatically conveys a benefit. That s dangerous and lazy thinking. What s the rush and what does an innovation presence really contribute to the business and the marketplace as a whole? Is all of the recent frenzied activity the result of some kind of corporate FOMO ( fear of missing out ) around the next big thing? Or is there really something special and unpredictable that comes out of a well-curated and geographically well-situated set of relationships, talent and ideas? It s not easy to be innovative, and we could quickly drift into the territory of clichéd term if we are not careful. So what does innovation mean today? Can you create a culture and learn the skills that can serve as the spark and kindling for the pursuit of something that really matters? Or is it ever so easy to commit one of the transgressions of innovation and either think too far out into the future without any purpose, or merely get involved in projects of short-term incremental improvement? Nina Simosko 2
Table of Contents Chapter 1 4 What is Innovation? 4 Chapter 2 5 What is Innovation Culture? 5 Chapter 3 6 8 Elements for Building An Innovation Culture 6 People, Trust and Commitment 7 Wide-Ranging Exploration and Ambitious Ideas 8 Technology Agnostic Attitude and Approach 9 Connected Isolation 11 Finances 12 Timeframes of Divergence and Convergence 13 Prototyping - Doing vs. Talking 14 Risk and Failure 16 Chapter 4 17 Bringing Together Innovation Culture and Process 17 About NTT Innovation Institute, Inc. 18 3
Chapter 1 What is Innovation? So what is Innovation? Ask a dozen people and you will probably get a dozen different answers. That s part of the problem in the I ll know it when I see it world. Innovation is not about business as usual. And it s about much more than invention or disruption. An invention does not necessarily mean that a market is transformed and that change endures. A disruption may be about dramatic change, but not necessarily with a purpose that benefits society. Innovation goes beyond both of these in the discovery, creation and spread of something ambitious and game-changing in the marketplace that delivers meaningful positive value. Innovation is about discovering and bringing together ideas from formerly unconnected sources. And then without a restricted plan, organically shaping them into products and platforms that can have an unprecedented impact on real and significant needs in business and society. You know you re on the track of innovation in business if you begin to feel the level of surprise rising, along with a revelation that your previously hidden ideas actually were always there in plain sight. They were just waiting to be discovered and brought into the light. Innovation is a team sport. Never a solitary pursuit. It requires the collaboration, debate and backing of disparate organizations and people who may not have ever known about each other before. Innovation is serendipity, so you don t know what people will make. - Ed Catmull, President of Pixar Animation Studios and Walt Disney Animation Studios Innovation requires serendipity. The strategy, however, cannot be to simply throw-out ideas and see what emerges from the ensuing chaos. Innovation requires the alignment of culture and intention with business ambitions. So how do you create an environment where the possibility exists to envision and create something of deep value that is completely new and different - far beyond the limits of incremental change and evolution? There is no cookie cutter process to pursuing innovation. It cannot be boiled down to a simple system or prescription. The focus must be on culture, and then the practices and elements that help to form it. 4
Chapter 2 What is Innovation Culture? Innovation cultures are truly challenging to define, create and support. Culture is both the creative spark and sustaining fuel of innovation. It has a substance and subtlety that goes far beyond a simple list of tasks, timelines and activities. While creative brainstorming, effective team building, blazingly fast prototyping and deep technology expertise are important methodologies of innovation, they are mere commodities when compared to the value of the right culture and the alignment of the people and passion that culture embodies. Above everything else, it is often the intensity of people s passion for innovation that is the genesis for the processes. A business culture must support and nurture that above all else. While you can t really codify, prepackage or impose a culture that fosters innovation, you can understand some of the important contributing elements and considerations. With those in mind, you can decide how to make then relevant and aligned with your business and resources. Innovation comes out of great human ingenuity and very personal passions. - Megan Smith, CTO of the United States 5
Chapter 3 8 Elements for Building An Innovation Culture While not being prescriptive, in order for those new to the game to secure a chance at being successful innovators, these are a number of skills and attitudes I believe companies need to embrace and integrate into their DNA. These are: 1. People, Trust and Commitment 2. Wide-Ranging Exploration and Ambitious Ideas 3. Technology Agnostic Attitude and Approach 4. Connected Isolation 5. Finances 6. Timeframes of Divergence and Convergence 7. Prototyping - Doing vs. Talking 8. Risk and Failure 6
Chapter 3: 8 Elements for Building An Innovation Culture People, Trust and Commitment As I said earlier, innovation is a team sport while invention can be a solitary pursuit. But I am not referring to just any kind of team. The teams involved in innovation need to have some particular characteristics and relationship to the overall business organization and marketplace. Innovation team members should: Be dedicated only to exploration of ideas without any responsibility for developing product or having any business applicability. Be invited not only from inside the enterprise itself, but from its various operating companies, academia, startup CEOs and CIOs, current customers, and even the competition. Be committed to collaborate and the open exchange of information to those inside and outside the team. Participate and engage with the greater innovation community without any expectation of return by sharing learning, resources, and support of fellow explorers in hackathons and technology challenges. People exaggerate the importance of the initial idea, whereas, talent is rare. - Ed Catmull, President of Pixar Animation Studios and Walt Disney Animation Studios 7
Chapter 3: 8 Elements for Building An Innovation Culture Wide-Ranging Exploration and Ambitious Ideas While I agree with Ed Catmull s point on the importance of true talent, creative ideas are a very close second. It is paramount that the talent of the team has a great radar for uncovering those hidden ambitious ideas that everyone else has missed or not even searched for in the first place. Idea reconnaissance must be ongoing, intense and embrace surprise over rationality. In the innovation efforts of many large enterprise organizations, they limit their opportunities from the beginning by the way they frame the search for ideas periodic under financial and competitive pressure, in alignment with the immediate status quo, found inside their own four walls, with a clear financial ROI. That s the makings of a crippled effort from the word go. So get out into the world. Great ideas don t come to you. But they are out there just waiting to be found and embraced. You need to be out asking questions, and more importantly - listening. 8
Chapter 3: 8 Elements for Building An Innovation Culture Agnostic Attitude and Approach Many companies who violate the innovation consideration of wide-ranging exploration replace it with one that narrows their pursuits to working directly with their current hardware and software technologies or business relationships. They frame the search for ideas as innovate BUT use X. Innovation by definition is about ignoring limits in the early stages. It rewards those who take an agnostic attitude and approach to their explorations. I would go so far to say that this is about being agnostic to the degree that the innovation you pursue may even upset one of your own operating companies. An agnostic approach to innovation requires true business bravery. 9
Hitoe Hackathons and a Brand Agnostic Approach to Innovation Amazon Echo EKG Microsoft Kinect Participating in hackathons is a powerful way to give a company s own internal teams a new playing field for exploring ideas largely unfettered by corporate directives and product roadmaps that sit behind the Innovate but use X approach. The rapid ideation and prototyping demanded by hackathons short timeframes of 24-72 hours also demands the creative concepting and use of off-the-shelf technology, layered in with some creative code hacking. Speech User Physical In a recent Future of Healthcare event, the winning results of a team from NTT i 3 and NTT R&D relied on a creative combination of hardware and software technology from both Fortune 500 companies and startups, as well as their own company s IP. Telemedicine A prototype for early detection and timely intervention for strokes hacking together hardware, software and data from different technology companies. 10
Chapter 3: 8 Elements for Building An Innovation Culture Connected Isolation So how can you initiate and support an agnostic approach to innovation when this can be at odds with the current business plans of the mother company? Physically and geographically sequestering it away as a separate ongoing unit is the first step. The constraints of daily business operations should not color the palette of an innovation team. But location is not enough. Attitude must follow; not only from those in the innovation center, but from those in the larger organization with whom it is connected and who control the purse strings. Innovation efforts and teams need to be isolated from any timeframes of financial reporting, goals and requirements. 11
Chapter 3: 8 Elements for Building An Innovation Culture Finances Companies who want to support and derive benefit from innovation teams must be willing to invest in imagination, and not just invention. That means they have to accept periods of time and certain pursuits in which the phrase ROI never is spoken and never has meaning. There needs to be openness to supporting efforts where the return is expansiveness and creativity, not market share and margins. This can be a significant challenge in a world where the financial pressures of quarterly calls and board meetings drive the decisions of many business executives. 12
Chapter 3: 8 Elements for Building An Innovation Culture Timeframes of Divergence and Convergence While a new attitude to financial support has to be developed in supporting innovation efforts, the same is true for how an enterprise looks at time. The early exploratory phases of innovation require an ability to embrace divergence and expansion of ideas. This is often contrary to the thinking and experience of those with deep product development backgrounds who are traditionally focused on defining and limiting features and adhering to strict schedules. When embarking on the path of innovation, know that time often expands and that the length of the journey from idea to market is not only unknown, it is not guaranteed. Divergent thinking is the route, not the obstacle, to innovation. - Tim Brown, CEO and President of IDEO 13
Chapter 3: 8 Elements for Building An Innovation Culture Prototyping - Doing vs. Talking Prototyping is the innovation practice where divergence and expansion of ideas meets convergence and experimentation of specific implementations. The prototype moves us beyond the blank pages of unbounded and free flowing ideas - and begins an exploration of a set of iterative implementations. This is when we begin to move from thinking into doing and building, but always understanding that the revelations of a particular prototype might send us right back to the initial idea phase again. When we are in the process of prototyping, we value teams and contributions for making, and not talking. Do or do not. There is no try. - Yoda in Star Wars 14
Prototyping in the World of the Industrial Internet of Things Sensors Gases Air Flow Doors The mining industry is in desperate need of a technology intervention. The manner in which the industry currently monitors the quality of air and air/gasrelated safety for miners is not all that far removed from the days of canaries in the coal mines. In many underground mines today, a person is sent out every hour to traverse the mine and manually document the status of oxygen levels, dangerous gases, and escape routes. This is then recorded on physical boards at a central location. This methodology does not allow for any real-time monitoring and automated response to changes in conditions, and it also requires an individual to be placed in a potentially hazardous situation. The industry question then becomes: How can we automate monitoring and generate related alerts and ventilation on demand? An innovation team from NTT i 3 recently worked with the Colorado School of Mines on this very question, using design thinking and rapid prototyping to quickly move from the identification of the human need to a proof of concept prototype and deployment. To concept, build, test and deploy the prototype over a period of a few months, the team of engineers and mining experts used a variety of hardware and software technology from startups, the Open Source Community, and their own internal IP. Raspberry Pi Hardware Home Genie Software Cloud Data Data Sensors Interface Data Networking Device Cognito Server Command Data Command ESE ESI Cognito Software Data Local Network Controlled Environments ESE ESI Fans Motor Control Inexpensive and rapid prototype link a company s legacy hardware sensors with a new intelligent control network built from off-the-shelf technology and some creative hacking. 15
Chapter 3: 8 Elements for Building An Innovation Culture Risk and Failure There is plenty that is said and written about embracing failure in Silicon Valley. Fail often and fast. Break things. The innovative enterprise needs to move beyond these sayings as mere platitudes and maxims. When it comes to failure, the enterprise must be willing to accept this in ways that are unpalatable to many large US corporations who still taut success as the harbinger of winning. If innovation is important, the enterprise must be completely committed to radical change and reinvention inside the company without any guarantee of outcome. If you are not willing to write off millions, if not tens of millions of dollars, in efforts that don t translate directly into the marketplace, then I would question you even thinking about formally pursuing an innovation imperative. It says to me that you are not ready to jump into the deep end of the pool. So I think the good news is that even though the world is extremely complex, what you need to do is very simple. I think it s about stopping this notion that you need to plan everything, you need to stock everything, and you need to be so prepared, and focus on being connected, always learning, fully aware, and super present. - Joi Ito, Director MIT Media Lab 16
Chapter 4 Bringing Together Innovation Culture and Process An organization that embraces both the values of intention and serendipity sets the stage of possibility for innovation. Onto this stage, you can bring the creative kindling of the right culture, diverse and rebellious talent, appropriate resources, and those ambitious and once hidden ideas. When these elements meet, they create the initial sparks of innovation the innovative thinking and doing that can eventually lead to the creation of something that can rewrite the rules and even upend the status quo. In order to create, and not just talk about, something like that something that is truly remarkable we need to add the ingredient of innovation process to that of innovation culture. This is what we address in the companion book on Full Lifecycle Innovation Moving from the Ambitious Idea into the Marketplace 17
About NTT Innovation Institute, Inc. NTT Innovation Institute, Inc. (NTT i 3 ) is the Silicon Valley-based innovation center for NTT Group, one of the world s largest ICT companies. NTT i 3 works with established enterprise companies interested in investigating new approaches to evolving into technology-first, digitally-driven businesses. Likewise, NTT i 3 partners with early stage digitally-native businesses looking to expand their presence and challenger advantage. NTT i 3 embraces a unique full lifecycle approach to innovation combining best practices of open innovation research, applied R&D expertise, and agile product development. Collaborative open innovation elevates and expands enterprise companies internal conversations and explorations around digital innovation opportunities. Applied R&D expertise then brings focus and practical application by translating those ambitious ideas into the development of new technology platforms, products, and practices. To accelerate the movement of innovation from initial idea to marketplace implementation, NTT i 3 combines its access to the significant global infrastructure resources, investment fund, research knowledge, and trusted long-standing customer relationships of NTT Global with its own software startup expertise and deep enterprise relationships. 18