Insight

Don't strangle innovation with KPIs, give it life through empowerment

Innovation is what drives us forward. Today it is something that is invested in and commonly interwoven in business plans and formulated in business and IT strategies. Going forward, however, innovation will more likely be driven across all levels and departments rather than solely from IT and by a selected few e.g. the management, consultants or project groups. Innovation cannot be organized and governed, it is part of the culture and it must grow organically in the company’s entirety. To innovate is to re-imagine, re-defining our existence [1], it is not just another change management project.

According to Forrester “20% of CEOs will fail to act on digital transformation and put their firms at risk”. Innovation will require breaking the boundaries of any hierarchical structure. CEOs will need to be open to new ideas and letting innovators be part of defining the strategy for embracing the digital future. Creating an innovative climate will be crucial. As a result, governance models based on KPIs will become obsolete and irrelevant and ultimately a new governance landscape will emerge.

On a corporate level innovation might come to be driven by all who are interested rather than those with designated roles, allowing a freedom to be innovative. On a societal level, which we must not forget in the context of digitalization, innovation will likely be driven by and in communities of digital activists and freelancers.

 

Learn more about innovation in the future digital society:

Together We Innovate – Innovation in Networks rather than lone geniuses:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB118841662730312486
5 Innovation Keys for the Future of Work – five innovation practices:
https://www.inc.com/jacob-morgan/5-innovation-keys-for-the-future-of-work.html

 

 

[1] Götz Werner – Founder of DM (Drogerie Markt) and advocate of basic income.

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