1. We all know that the pace of change is increasing
rapidly, but do we know how to lead innovation
in our organizations in a way that keeps us at
the front in a global, highly competitive world?
How to Kill an Idea
in 10 Easy Steps
Thomas Koulopoulus
Y ou would think that in today’s
“more for less” climate every com-
pany would try to drum up as many
In today’s overly conservative busi-
nesses this is especially true. Far too
many good ideas are viewed as too risky
new ideas as possible to find better ways or too uncertain to justify investment.
to serve its markets. Unfortunately, it’s If you’re looking for certainty, however,
not that easy. you’ve picked the wrong century! Get
The reality is that new ideas often used to living with ambiguity and get
are shunted by a clouded lens that was familiar with this list of 10 innovation
shaped through toil and investment in killers so you’re prepared to run away
the status quo. It’s why even the most from them at top speed!
radical ideas seem so obvious when we
look back and ask ourselves why we Believing That Innovation
didn’t think of them sooner. Will Just Happen
After working with and studying The belief that innovation happens
myriad organizations, I’ve discovered automatically makes about as much
that there is a core list of bad behav- sense as the belief that a garden will
iors that stand in the way of most sprout in your backyard without any
good ideas, and I call them innovation planting, weeding, or watering. Attention
killers. to innovation is a requirement in today’s
These innovation killers almost world. Even in industries where the mar-
always are disguised as protectors of gins are slim—such as manufacturing
the organization, or more appropriately and sourcing—innovation is a must.
protectors of the past. Few people try Here’s the irony; you may feel you cannot
to kill innovation outright. Their inten- afford to take a big risk, but that doesn’t
tions are always good ones—minimize mean that somewhere on the globe you
risk, deliver predictability, and satisfy won’t be challenged. As an example of
market and analysts’ expectations. The how vulnerable standing still makes you,
innovation killers always have armies you need to think only of the U.S. auto
of well-intentioned corporate citizens industry, which is locked in battle against
behind them, ready to defend their turf foreign carmakers. You need to lobby for
and keep innovation at bay lest it dis- the importance of innovation, as well as
rupt the status quo. the dollars and owners to support it.
8 The Journal for QualiTy & ParTiciPaTion January 2010

2. Telling Everyone to Think Outside the Box, job. If anything is certain in life it is that every
Holding a Brainstorming Session, and single idea we hold as indisputable, eventually
Then Calling It a Day will be disputed and trumped by another. Barring
Great ideas are the seeds of innovation, but they the most basic moral truths and human values,
are not innovation itself. Ideas are not in short ideas are meant to be disproved and replaced with
supply. Spend an hour in a meeting with a few newer ideas. Yet the fear of the “new” is always
bright people and you will end up with dozens of present. So the next time you want to say, “That’s
new ideas. Then what? Where do those ideas go? not the way we do it here,” substitute, “We prefer
Who evaluates them and shepherds them through to let someone else do it that way and succeed in
the next stages? Companies that get innovation figuring out how to make it work so that they can
right embrace a holistic view and create a culture take our customers away.” Doesn’t sound comfort-
to ensure that it flourishes. They build, implement, ing, does it? Today’s world requires companies to
and communicate a process to support innovation become more like Gillette, which invests enor-
so that everyone knows how it works and is able to mous amounts of money in developing products
participate. In the end, for innovation to occur you to compete with existing ones. Gillette’s reasoning
need a formalized process for ensuring that ideas is simple; if it doesn’t innovate on its products,
are nurtured. someone else will.
Laying the Success of Innovation Solely on Handing Over the Good Ideas to the
the Shoulders of Your Technologists Legal and Accounting Departments
Technology should support innovation, not Ideas are fragile; they’re broken or squashed eas-
lead it. This is because innovation is first an issue ily. On the surface, giving the care of those ideas to
of corporate culture, concerning things such as legal or accounting may make sense because some
rewards, inspiration, and motivation. In any situa- of the greatest issues with protecting new ideas are
tion, you get two activities—the invention and the legal and financial. On the other hand, those with
innovation, or the actual process of innovating. I the most influence over the idea process must serve
draw a hard line between the two, and technol- as innovation champions, and that emphasis must
ogy’s role comes after invention. Information come from the top. Create support and ownership
technology/systems departments have the task of for innovation at management’s uppermost tiers.
implementing the technology that best supports
Being Very, Very Afraid of Failure
the innovation process.
I’ve found that failure-tolerant management is
Creating an Obstacle Course for Ideas the third most important ingredient in creating an
If you want to guarantee a process that kills the innovative culture. Although it’s possible to build
innovative spirit, force people to take time away an iterative process and lessen the cost of a failure,
from their regular jobs to defend their new ideas. the bottom line is that the market is fickle, and you
I’m not trying to sound like a corporate radical, can’t predict what will happen.
but bureaucracy and Byzantine processes discour- Here’s the scary truth: You will fail sometimes.
age enthusiasm and participation. Ideas need a Like a child learning to ride a bike, you simply
safe place to take shape. You must protect ideas cannot move ahead without taking a few knocks.
long enough to evaluate and document them. The question is, “Are you in the kind of organiza-
Make this process even a bit cumbersome, and tion that can embrace innovation in spite of that?”
people will just avoid it, allowing their ideas to What doesn’t work out is merely a learning experi-
languish rather than going to the mat every time ence and, therefore, fodder for the innovation cycle.
they have an idea. Eventually, you’ll adopt the Use case studies, research, and other approaches
tongue-in-cheek mantra of the military: “The last to show naysayers why learning experiences are a
thing you want to do is volunteer!” must in today’s corporate environment.
Viewing “Different” and “New” as Bad Innovate Only When You Need To
I’ve heard legions of very smart people say, It’s tantalizing to innovate on demand. It appears
“That’s just not the way we do it around here!” to cost less, focus on specific issues, and provide a
and that’s the single most incredible aspect of my rallying cry when a crisis looms. Besides, it is the
www.asq.org/pub/jqp 9

3. The Innovation Zone: How Great Companies
Re-Innovate for Amazing Success
Author: Thomas M. Koulopoulos brand, and long-term competitive dominance.
Abstract: A new business model Koulopoulos describes a structured innovation
of innovation has replaced process that is demonstrated with dozens of
invention as the driving force examples. The book is packed with assessment
behind the accomplishments tools, proven techniques, and a framework for
of the world’s most successful innovation, which can serve as a foundation for
organizations. This book takes leaders to champion a sustainable innovation.
readers beyond the glitz of the Publisher: Davis-Black Publishing
latest gadgets to explore the methods, tools, ISBN: 0891062343
and behaviors need to develop innovation as
a core competency and generate the highest Format/Length: Hardcover/256 pages
market value for your business, respect for your Price: $27.95
way most innovation seems to occur. This is like try- Encouraging Everyone to Drop Any and All
ing to stay healthy by waiting for a life-threatening Ideas Into an Electronic Submission Box
condition to arise before paying attention to your This last point may surprise you. After all, isn’t
health. A crisis is certainly a motivator, but it is also the whole point of innovation to encourage idea
the most expensive way to innovate in terms of submission? Yes, but there’s a very important caveat:
costs, resources, and image. You must evaluate every innovation effort and check
Unfortunately, we have become accustomed to it for practicality and suitability for the organiza-
crisis-driven innovation over the better part of the tion. Some of the biggest failures I’ve seen involve
last 200 years as the industrial model was taking companies where the ambition to solicit ideas far
shape in many nations globally. Continuing to exceeded the capacity to evaluate them.
approach investment in innovation from the stand- The reality is that when you ask someone to
point of zero-based budgeting only serves to drive submit an idea you have to acknowledge it with
innovation costs up and to reinforce the lack of a sincere evaluation, no matter how silly the idea
ongoing processes that contribute to a culture and may appear. Organizations make two fatal mistakes
business model of continuous innovation. in this regard. First, they put one part-time person
Leaving Innovation up to the “Innovators” at the narrow end of a very large funnel of new
Every organization has a handful of people who ideas. This is a setup for disaster; no one person
are considered thought leaders. Sometimes they can keep up with the flow, and it’s too easy to shoot
are the leaders, other times well-tenured individu- down ideas that don’t pass some unwritten code
als, and sometimes people tasked with coming up of acceptability. Second, the ideas languish in a
with big ideas. In all these cases, the implication nondescript repository with no taxonomy to group
is that only these big thinkers can create big ideas. them, combine them, and make it possible to mine
It may be true that these are the brightest minds them. You must treat ideas with respect. Whatever
of the organization, but ideas can and should systems you put in place must have boundaries for
come from everyone in the organization. Focusing what constitutes an idea submission. For example,
on just the “big” ideas or just the “big” minds is what core values or hurdles must it pass? You must
equally dangerous; it creates barriers for incre- have a transparent process for the evaluation.
mental innovation and encourages ideas to find You need to involve the submitter and commu-
a home elsewhere. You still might need someone nicate the idea’s status. I often use the analogy of
to help you understand the process of innovation dropping off a child at day care. Parents who use
and jump-start your “innovation zone,” but it has day care are concerned justifiably and have many
to become your “innovation zone.” questions of the provider before they will leave
10 The Journal for QualiTy & ParTiciPaTion January 2010

4. their child. What is the environment? Will staff care
for and nurture them? Will parents be involved,
More Online
Join Tom Koulopoulos for a journey into “The Innovation Zone”
contacted, and counseled if needed? Will children at http://www.asq.org/pub/jqp.
benefit from the experience? All of these are the
same sorts of questions to ask the brainchildren
entrusted to an innovation management system.
Overcoming the 10 innovation killers can be a
daunting challenge for many organizations. The
innovation killers are not behaviors that change
overnight. They require a sustained and systemic Thomas Koulopoulus
approach. The best way to begin chipping away at
them is to create a team specifically tasked with Thomas Koulopoulus is founder and president of Delphi
nurturing innovation throughout the organization Group, an innovation management and advisory firm.
by establishing an innovation zone where new He was previously executive director of the Center for
ideas can take root. It’s key that such a team does Business Innovation at Babson College and director
not own or co-opt new ideas, but instead nurtures of Perot Systems Innovation Lab. Koulopoulus can be
and grows them. reached at tk@delphigroup.com.
www.asq.org/pub/jqp 11

5. online-only content
Exploring the Innovation Zone
Join Tom Koulopoulos for a journey into
the innovation zone. With all of the talk and
hype surrounding innovation, we’ve lost sight
of the fact that innovation is a process that’s
subject to many of the quality and management
issues impacting all processes. In this video,
Koulopoulos peels back the veil of mystique
and hyperbole to focus on the core practice of
innovation and the creation of a protected space
where ideas and innovation can thrive and create
sustainable value. View Koulopoulos’ video at
http://www.asq.org/pub/jqp/.
www.asq.org/pub/jqp 1