How to tackle the Innovation Recession

We all know there’s a world-wide recession happening.

Productivity is slowing, finances are drying up, people are being laid off; family, community & society hardships are on the rise.

Investment in innovation is likely to slow too. Many organisations see Innovation as a discretionary spend at best, with little or no value placed on the potential benefits it can provide. There are already fears in Australia’s biotech industry that the government is losing interest in innovation spending, and is therefore risking significant medium and long-term industry viability and sustainability as a result.

It’s a big word, innovation. Australians have heard it bandied around as freely as “working families” and “global financial crisis” – however, above all else, innovation – or better yet, the lateral thinking and doing activities that “innovation” is comprised of will be the only real means for us to scramble out of this economic quagmire.

I hear some of you saying: “Yeah, of course you want us to spend more on innovation, that keeps you in a job!” Well, for purposes of full disclosure, yes – as a consulting Industrial Designer, my business would not be viable if businesses like yours don’t continue to invest in Design. But don’t take my word for it, try some of these quotes on for size:

• “Design is a fundamental building block of innovation” Gavin Jennings MLC – Victorian Minister for Innovation
• “Design has long been recognised in Victoria not only as a significant economic contributor, but also as an enabling capability to transform ideas into outcomes, a building block of innovation…” Tony Quick – Chair of Design Victoria Advisory Council
• “Effective use of design is integral to innovation”  Five Years On – Victoria’s Design Sector 2003-08

You may ask: “Why innovate? Why go to all the trouble, heartache and risk of trying to do things differently – just so we can SAY we are “innovative”? What’s in it for us?”

Truth is, innovation is not easy… otherwise everyone would be doing it. However, the fact that the economy is slowing, consumers are spending less, the sharemarket is in turmoil, everything is going down the gurgler… kind of means that if you keep doing things the way you’ve been doing them, you and your business may end up on the scrapheap too.

I’m not here to lecture you about your business. Only you know your business and your market… but, here are some fundamentals:

• You’ve got to stop selling what people aren’t buying
• If you don’t continually change and update, you’re going backwards.

Innovation is the answer. It’s a neat and tidy word that addresses the above bullet-points, whilst also suggesting a sea of opportunities to those who want to dive in.

Spending money on innovation is fraught with risks, challenges and dead-ends. So here are some thoughts about how you can get the best value from your innovation effort:

• Focus on what your business is good at, and develop unique and/or proprietary product or service around that capability, skill, niche or talent.
• Use the people and resources you already employ to get these projects moving
• Engage external help in the areas (such as Industrial Design, for instance ) that you may not currently have in-house.
• Attend seminars and conferences that discuss how you can harness innovation through new technologies and processes
• Have a team brainstorm – get your crew together and see what ideas are already bouncing around your offices, workshops and factories. You may be surprised what great new directions might be right under your nose

Organisations that are able to maintain their innovation strategies and projects will find themselves well ahead of the competition when the economy swings around. You can only lead from the front…

If you want some further reading, here is a recent interview with Professor Robert Burgelman, discussing the pitfalls and dangers of letting your innovation programs slip during economic downturns. You can also listen to an audio version at the above link.