Robert's Rules of Innovation E-Book

Robert F. Brands

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2010

Seitenzahl: 203

Beschreibung

From a leader in innovation best practices, 10 simple andpractical steps your business must take to achieve profitablegrowth, through innovation In this timely guide, innovation expert and former CEO RobertBrands presents the best practices for today's "innovate or die"world, in the form of 10 simple and practical steps your businessmust take to achieve growth through innovation. Robert's Rules of Innovation(TM) simply,intelligently, and entertainingly creates order from the chaosimposed by today's misguided mandate for "addition by subtraction"profitability. Concisely, Robert's Rules ofInnovation(TM) * Distills Robert Brands' wealth of experience as a leader ofinternational product development teams * Explains why innovation is imperative * Provides the practical steps needed to deliver innovation * Draws upon the wisdom of global business leaders and is filledwith real world examples, anecdotes, and practices Timely, accessible, and indispensable, Robert's Rules ofInnovation(TM) is a road map for success through sustainableinnovation with a clear message: innovation is the lifeblood ofbusiness and the secret to outperforming your competition. Directand practical, Robert's Rules of Innovation(TM) is amust-read for managers at all levels.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright Page

Dedication

Introduction

CHAPTER 1 - Innovation, Survival, and the “Aha!” Moment

How Do I Get to “Aha!”?

Innovation Is Not a Luxury

Where Does Innovation Begin?

CHAPTER 2 - The Innovator’s Manifesto

CHAPTER 3 - The Innovation Audit

The Audit Process

The Short Audit

The In-Depth Audit

The Importance of Establishing a Benchmark

CHAPTER 4 - Innovation Emancipation

Defeating Devil’s Advocates to Become an Agent for Change

Innovation Democratization Is the Key

The Role of the Consensus Builder

The Path of an Innovation Champion

The Innovation Payoff: A Quick, Real-Life Story

CHAPTER 5 - Innovation in the Time of Multinational Teams

The Care and Feeding of Creatives

For Creative People, It’s about More than Money

Babel, Babble, and the Global Team Leader

Team Building, One Step at a Time

Viva la Difference!

Aretha Was Right: It’s All About R-E-S-P-E-C-T

CHAPTER 6 - Patently Obvious

Intellectual Property: The Big Picture

Intellectual Property 101

Frequently Asked Questions

Remember: The Wolves Are Always at the Door

CHAPTER 7 - Innovation Implementation

Getting Started

Define Your Organization’s Needs

NPD Process in Action

Creating a Road Map to Success

Guidelines for Progress

CHAPTER 8 - Innovation Checklist

Preflight Preparation

Advice and Encouragement from the Pros: A Roundtable Discussion

Sustainable Innovation and You

APPENDIX A - Product Development Process

APPENDIX B - The Five Stages of the Production Development Process: Example 1

APPENDIX C - The Five Stages of the Production Development Process: Example 2

Key Resources and Links

Acknowledgements

About the Authors

Index

Copyright © 2010 by Robert F. Brands. All rights reserved.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.

Published simultaneously in Canada.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

Brands, Robert F., 1957-

Robert’s rules of innovation : a 10-step program for corporate survival / Robert F. Brands, with Martin J. Kleinman. p. cm.

Includes index.

eISBN : 978-0-470-62098-4

1. New products. 2. Technological innovations—Management. 3. Diffusion of innovations—Management. 4. Organizational change.

I. Kleinman, Martin J. II. Title.

HF5415.153.B725 2010 658.4’063—dc22

2009046362

DNA is a large part of who you are and what you become: I dedicate this book to my entrepreneurial grandfather, whom I looked up to, and who inspired me.

Introduction

Innovation, the key to your company’s survival, must be encoded in your corporate DNA. It is an imperative—because you can bet your competitors are going at innovation full-bore.

This is true regardless of the size of your organization, no matter what business you’re in or what product or service you provide. More so today than ever before, innovation is the holistic strategy that savvy leaders create, that flourishes in the right atmosphere (and founders in the wrong environment). Cultivated properly, with teams empowered and impassioned to do their best, innovation is the surefire way to development of marketplace showstoppers that build value for organization stakeholders.

Innovation takes guts. It’s not for the faint of heart and the weak of will. I refer to a famous quote from U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt at the Sorbonne in Paris, back in 1910. In his speech, entitled “The Man in the Arena,” our former Rough Rider President said:

It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.

My name is Robert Brands. I was born and raised in the Netherlands, and, over the years, I have led companies around the world, and have managed, teamed with, mentored, and learned from an impressive group of dynamic, creative leaders. Some are fellow Vistage members (www.vistage.com) such as Jeff DeFazio and Jaynie Smith, one of this C-level organization’s most sought-after speakers and author of Creating Competitive Advantage. “A company must create competitive advantages if they are not to rely on price as their differentiator,” she says. “The road to significant competitive advantages depends on a culture of innovation.”

We come from different cultures, grew up speaking different languages, and prospered in very different industries. But there are important traits we have in common.

• We are not afraid to fail. We know how to break down the barriers that derail innovation. How to encourage creativity that leads to breakthrough products and service. How to introduce systems and procedures that outmaneuver the competition now and in years to come.

• We know people are resistant to change. And, importantly, we have the will to win the doubters over and build value for our organizations—often in the face of firmly entrenched corporate cultures and silo-driven territorial behavior patterns.

• We are, in a very real sense, a fraternity of like-minded professionals. We are passionate about the importance of innovation for the long term—sustainable innovation, if you will. And it’s heartening to find that professionals with this mind-set are truly found all over the world.

And that is good news for you. I have captured in these pages decades worth of my collective, invaluable experience. I call them Robert’s Rules of Innovation, and much like the Robert’s Rules of Order, which create order from chaos in meetings around the world, they will help you understand the principles needed to create, nurture, profit from, and sustain a solid new product development (NPD) program.

The bookstores and online sellers offer stacks of comprehensive, detailed texts on innovation, and on various approaches to generating innovation. My challenge, as I continued my work with companies the world over, was to create a hands-on, understandable, practical approach that readers can use easily and benefit from quickly, as in today. And I literally mean right this very minute. Because, let’s face it, whether you manage a multinational or an entrepreneurial start-up, whether you are a not-for-profit, manufacturer, distributor, service provider, supplier, or retailer, the pressures today—in terms of time, budget, everything—are unprecedented in our lifetimes.

So let me introduce you to the best thinking of my international network of innovators. Together, we will show you how to start, nurture, and profit from a culture of sustained innovation in the work environment. We share our experiences in “sidebar” case histories throughout the book, and to help you focus on next steps for your organization, every chapter concludes with “Think About” points we hope you’ll find valuable.

Passionate about creativity? Ready to unleash your team’s abilities? Eager to create the next home-run new product?

Welcome, then, to Robert’s Rules of Innovation.

CHAPTER 1

Innovation, Survival, and the “Aha!” Moment

Remember back in the dark ages of, oh, several years ago, where in some quarters it was legitimate to actually ask questions like:

• Should we innovate?

• Should we create a new product development (NPD) program?

• How necessary is our research-and-development (R&D) department, anyway?

That last one in particular makes me cringe. All of these questions, though, seem quaint in the context of today’s business environment. It’s war out there. You innovate. Period. If you don’t innovate, you perish (Exhibit 1.1). Simple as that. If you are reading this book, you know that failure simply is not an option.