Innovation is key in all sectors and countries and in terms of growth. A recent global survey by PwC has done away with the misconception that innovation can be singularly limited to certain regions or product-driven sectors, by interviewing 1757 businessmen and innovation leaders that range across the field in 25 countries and 30 sectors. Despite the scope of their background they all had one thing in common, the companies that prioritise innovation have had far more success than those that don’t, and will just continue to grow. Where answers would have once focused on globalisation as the main means for improvement, innovation was now the first term coming to mind. The disparity between the companies with the most innovation and the least innovation was clear. The most innovative companies had a growth rate 16% higher than less innovative companies with billion dollar financial rewards. In a five year forecast, the survey predicted that this will grow to the point where the most innovative companies have double as much growth as the global average and three times more than the least innovative companies. It’s obvious we should want to be a part of a company that puts innovation first, but how do we go about doing so?
- Have a well-defined innovation strategy. 79% of the most innovative companies surveyed credited this as a reason for success.
- Treat innovation like anything else in the business management process, requiring time, thought and infrastructure.
- Collaborate as much as you can, especially with external forces. The most innovative companies collaborated three times more than the less innovative companies.
- Target radical, breakthrough innovation strategies. The most successful companies targeted these areas almost double as much as the less innovative companies, prioritizing risk over safety.
- Include a wide range of innovation operating models in areas that pertain to product, services, technology and business models.
The numbers are in and the facts are that the disparity is continually growing between companies who innovate and those that don’t. With such a wide range of sources that showcase how innovation is never limited to industry, country or sector, keep these ideas in mind to avoid getting left behind.
