The Innovation Gap
Working as an organizational consultant for a few years, I found myself constantly discussing innovation to the point I realized I wasn’t bringing enough value to my customers as a traditional consultant. Then I met Elena and Ahi, my now-partners in Spyre. We started to discuss the gap between the outcomes innovation provides to the Israeli startup ecosystem and the outcomes it brings to the corporate world. Over this period of discussion, the three of us came to realize that the gap is mostly due to the lack of execution methodologies within large organizations. In other words, corporate innovation was mostly focused on the ideational and product development stage but not enough on the product market fit stage of the innovative solutions. We believe this part is the most important and most intense in the entrepreneurial ecosystem, and it provides the missing link. We, therefore, created methodologies and models that would enable corporations to execute innovative ideas in the same manner as they would in the entrepreneurial ecosystem.
THE MOST IMPORTANT THING FOR ORGANIZATIONS TODAY IS TO REALIZE THAT IDEAS ARE NOT THE FOCUS OF THE INNOVATION.
Ideas are just the starting point of a much more important journey that continues to the product market fit and the implanting of cutting-edge technologies. Such a process should be measurable, systematic, and well-managed so that it speaks the language of the organization and embraces the organic organizational mindset. Innovation is a strategic management process and not an ideational event.
Measure once, measure twice
Based on my experience, the main challenge for companies is their inability to measure and foresee the potential within innovative ideas. They either disregard the idea as crazy or prefer to invest heavily in an unchecked idea without any room for staggered validation and pivoting.
Let me give you an example: when we were working on a very challenging project with the IDF, it took some time for the organization to understand why it had to innovate. They knew they had to because everyone else was doing so, but they didn’t fully understand why. The process included mapping the pros and cons of an innovation unit. On the one hand, this made life a bit more difficult for people who had got used to doing things a certain way. On the other hand, the army’s customers are usually young and up-to-date people. Another challenge in this project was the difficulty in sharing information within such a highly classified organization. During the six-month process of setting up the unit, I interviewed many of the key people in the unit and was able to find the right motivations for innovative processes. I was then able to design a system that included measurement and the option to correct the course. The emphasis on creating the right process, which included constant evaluation and re-evaluation ensured that the project was not just a publicity stunt. More importantly, it will bring change in the way decisions are taken and new technologies are embraced.