Creativity &Innovation

© Kevin Popović. All rights reserved. Developed for San Diego State University

Class 11

Play A Game

“Innovation: The Classic Traps” HBR

Guest Speaker : Jon Carder

Individual Mini-Pitch + Feedback

Review Individual PPT + Memo, Group

Project + PPT, Final Exam

Roll + Admin

© Kevin Popović. All rights reserved. Developed for San Diego State University

Share A Story

with 10 Words

© Kevin Popović. All rights reserved. Developed for San Diego State University

Innovation: The

Classic Traps

© Kevin Popović. All rights reserved. Developed for San Diego State University

Innovation: The Classic Traps

- Innovation goes in or out of fashion as a strategic driver of corporate growth, but with every wave of enthusiasm, executives make the same mistakes.

- Most of the time, they stumble in their R&D efforts because they are engaged in a difficult balancing act

- They need to protect existing revenue streams while coaxing along new ones.

- But “corporate entrepreneurship” doesn’t have to be an oxymoron.

- Innovation can flourish if executives heed business lessons from the past.

Strategy Lessons

- Not every innovation idea has to be a blockbuster. Sufficient numbers of small or incremental innovations can lead to big profits.

- Don’t just focus on new product development: Transformative ideas can come from any function—for instance, marketing, production, finance, or distribution.

- Successful innovators use an “innovation pyramid,” with several big bets at the top that get most of the investment; a portfolio of promising midrange ideas in test stage; and a broad base of early stage ideas or incremental innovations. Ideas and influence can flow up or down the pyramid.

Process Lessons

- Tight controls strangle innovation. The

planning, budgeting, and reviews applied to

existing businesses will squeeze the life out

of an innovation effort.

- Companies should expect deviations from

plan: If employees are rewarded simply for

doing what they committed to do, rather than

acting as circumstances would suggest, their

employers will stifle and drive out innovation.

Structure Lessons

- While loosening formal controls, companies should tighten interpersonal connections between innovation efforts and the rest of the business.

- Game-changing innovations often cut across established channels or combine elements of existing capacity in new ways.

- If companies create two classes of corporate citizens—supplying the innovators with more perks, privileges, and prestige—those in the existing business will make every effort to crush the innovation.

Skills Lessons

- Even the most technical of innovations requires strong leaders with great relationship and communication skills.

- Members of successful innovation teams stick together through the development of an idea, even if the company’s approach to career timing requires faster job rotation.

- Because innovations need connectors—people who know how to find partners in the mainstream business or outside world—they flourish in cultures that encourage collaboration.

Jon Carder

© Kevin Popović. All rights reserved. Developed for San Diego State University

Brandon Noel

Brandon Noel

Assignment

Develop a Mini-Pitch for an idea

Practice for Creativity & Innovation

Application Presentation, Memo

Develop a creative product or service

Write 1-page memo; outline how concepts

learned in class are applied, address

challenges and how you will overcome,

identify techniques from class.

5-minute presentation to class and guest

speaker

Creativity &

Innovation

PPT + Memo

© Kevin Popović. All rights reserved. Developed for San Diego State University

Creativity & Innovation PPT + Memo

Apply what you have learned (50%)

Develop a creative product or service

Be novel, useful, have market potential

Write 1-page memo mapping ideas to what

you have learned in class that will insure

effectiveness of your idea

Select a creativity exercise or technique,

apply to your idea, document.

5:00 presentation of concept, explain

thinking, sell your idea (50%).

Design Thinking

Group Project

© Kevin Popović. All rights reserved. Developed for San Diego State University

Design Thinking Group Project

Groups of 5-6

Apply a design thinking approach to develop

a new product or service

10-15 minute creative presentation

Include project overview (memo)

Grades = group presentation (50%, memo

(30%), individual evaluation (20%)

Survivor rules apply

Final Exam

© Kevin Popović. All rights reserved. Developed for San Diego State University