Pathway to Innovation

An avid student of the GoInnovate! System, he recently gave a talk at the Howe School of Technology Management in which he brings together his view on the “Pathway to Innovation.” (j.emert@infineum.com)

The drive to innovation as a source of growth and competitiveness is prompting company executives to revise their company structures and processes in order to enhance their level of innovation effectiveness. For this to be useful, the innovation process needs to be understood within the context of their specific business environment and their company goals, strategies and resources. Merely mimicking another successful company’s approach could be counterproductive if the drivers, requirements and gaps are significantly different.
 
Though innovation can occur via both planned and unplanned routes, it is difficult to design for that which is completely unknown. However, by understanding key facilitators of the innovation process and incorporating critical behavioral as well as structural factors, probabilities of success could be substantially improved for deliberately designed innovation projects. The change in the underpinnings and fundamentals of the organization would also better prepare it for recognizing unplanned opportunities and taking advantage of them in a timely fashion.