BUILDING ON LESSONS LEARNED

Innovation is a risky and stressful exercise prone to failure. It is also a hallmark of success for the most admired companies. It should be something for every business to aspire to but remains difficult to implement and maintain. The intent is sincere, the talent committed, yet the results are often fall short. Why is that?

We have a number of insights into the challenge of executing on strategic innovation. First, it is hard. Second, it is not business as usual. The constraints of a well documented operating plan often limit the flexibility and adaptibility needed to resolve the inevitable unknowns. We've learned to lead with a disciplined approach to resolving key risk factors. We draw on a diverse knowledge base to drive active learning-by-doing with a high degree of risk tolerance. We are not afraid of the unknown. There is much to learn.

These insights hold some of the keys to the capital efficient framework of agile innovation referenced in our Charter. They are pulled from experience, reinforced in practice and reviewed through the various lenses of current thought leadership. A few of the more interesting observations have been summarized here.