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Executive Interviews: Interview with Curtis R Carlson on Innovation
November 2006
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By Dr. Nagendra V Chowdary
What according to you is an
innovation? What are the different types
of innovation?
Innovation is the process of creating
and delivering new customer value
in the marketplace. Innovation
requires creativity, invention and
often includes a new business
model, design or production process.
But those ingredients alone do not
define innovation there must be
new customer value in the
marketplace.
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In books like Built to Last, Good to Great
and In Search of Excellence, etc., the
authors have concluded that the superior
performance and long lasting existence
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was attributable to some key factors.
Where does innovation figure in these
factors? It is critical that organizations focus on
important problems that fill an unmet
customer andmarket need. Especially
in an exponential economy, product
life cycles are dramatically
compressed. A factor of two
improvements by a competitor could
make your product obsolete that is
why its important to focus on
important vs. just interesting work. It is also important for a business to
have a sustainable competitive
advantage that will last for many
years and can create a barrier for a
competitors entry. This advantage, or
"golden nugget," might come from a
new technology, relationship,
manufacturing process or business
model. -
In your book, Innovation: The Five
Disciplines for Creating What Customers
Want, you have outlined a disciplined
approach to identifying and then
delivering new products or services that
fill a societal need.What is this disciplined
approach all about and how should the
companies plan for a road map?
Our approach to innovation focuses
on the development of a value
proposition. In order to provide true
customer value, it is important to ask
the NABC (Need, Approach, Benefits
per cost, Competition) questions:
- What is the important customer
and market need?
- What is the unique approach for
addressing this need?
- What are the benefits per cost
that result from this approach?
- How are the benefits per cost
superior to the competition and
alternatives?
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Does this disciplined approach require
any realignment of organizational
settings? (For example: changes in the
organizational structure, change in
performance evaluation methods, etc.)
Continuous Value Creation (CVC)
develops an enterprise wide culture
that focuses on the rapid creation of
new customer value. CVC allows for
both top down and bottom up
approaches organizations must do
both. Bottom up is essential because
employees are most knowledgeable
about customer needs, changes in
business models and revolutions in
technology. Top down is essential
because major new initiatives are
often required. -
What has been the experience at SRI
International?
Like many organizations, SRI has
had to make adjustments in order to
succeed as an innovative
organization. When I became CEO
of SRI, one of the worlds leading
research and development
institutes, it was a dream come true
for me. There was a problem,
however: SRI's business model over
the past 50 years was not keeping up
with the demands of the
exponential economy. Working
together with senior staff and
employees at SRI, we deployed
innovation best practices in order to
stay competitive and to deliver
value to our customers. -
Lets look at the five disciplines.What is
the efficacy of these five disciplines when
the product life cycle (in some cases
industry life cycle themselves) are getting
shortened? Would this disciplined
approach therefore not lead to
extraordinary delays?
A disciplined approach to
innovation addresses questions of
how to create a process that will be
more effective and offer customer
value. Successful companies have a
broad definition of customer value
and are always looking at new ways
to deliver. -
Can this disciplined approach be
applied equally well to old economy
companies like steel, cement, electricity
generation, automobile industry, etc.?
All organizations, and all
employees, can improve their value
proposition by adopting a
disciplined approach that addresses
the NABC questions. -
In the book you also advocate a new
practice you call "watering holes". Do you
think that the potential of this initiativemay
not be realized in multi business
companies and also highly global
companies?
Thewatering hole concept is just one
method for companies to improve
their innovation methodology.
Creating new technologies, products
and businesses requires new vision,
business models and
unconventional solutions. A different perspective and useful
feedback can often provide powerful
insight about what is possible.
1.
ICMR Innovation Case Studies
2. ICMR
Case Collection
3.
Case Study Volumes
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