Overcoming the Barriers to Effective Innovation

Pierre Loewe, Jennifer Dominiquini. (2006). Overcoming the barriers to effective innovation. Strategy & Leadership, 34(1), 24-31. Retrieved March 23, 2009, from ProQuest Database.

Abstract (Summary)
Based on a combination of extensive experience during the last ten years helping companies develop a core competence in innovation and on the results of a recent in-depth innovation survey, Strategos, a global strategic innovation firm, has three pieces of advice for companies that aspire to be successful serial innovators: 1. Do not just treat the symptoms. 2. Do not only act on one root cause. 3. Do not blindly copy best practices. To become a successful serial innovator, a company needs a systematic approach that addresses all four underlying interrelated root causes of innovation ineffectiveness: 1. leadership and organization, 2. processes and tools, 3. people and skills, and 4. culture and values. Conducting an innovation diagnostic and acting on its results is a proven way to get started. Acting on all four root causes of innovation blockages will help companies complete the job.