Innovation by Design : What It Takes to Keep Your Company on the Cutting Edge

"Doing innovation" company-wide requires not only an attitude of innovation from every individual, but a wide-ranging corporate commitment to a new organizational model. This important new book describes how companies can align processes, resources, and management practices with sound design, so that every department is empowered (and expected) to innovate. Peter Drucker once famously remarked that every organization needs one core competence: innovation. Innovation fuels organizational growth, drives future success, and is the engine that allows businesses to sustain their viability in a competitive global economy. But true innovation isn't simply "creativity" that comes about through a hit-or-miss approach, and it isn't the sole purview of the technology department. "Doing innovation" companywide requires not only an attitude of innovation from every individual, but a corporate commitment to a new organizational model, in which every department is expected to innovate. Gus Gaynor's Innovation by Design is a forceful, comprehensive guide to becoming an organization that creates economic value through companywide innovation. Treating innovation from a systems perspective, the book demonstrates that developing an innovative organization comes from understanding a coherent set of principles and guidelines, and provides the fundamental ground rules to transform a corporate culture into one that values originality and provides the proper support for new and valuable ideas. Gaynor presents innovation as a management discipline, with a strong focus on management responsibilities and action. In order to make the shift from a traditional corporate framework to one that is truly innovation-friendly, managers must change their philosophy from managing people to leading people and managing activities. Innovation by Design shows what an organization must do to foster innovation, examining such critical elements as the roles of individuals, groups, and corporate culture; assessing the organization's infrastructure and resources; overcoming resistance; and identifying what makes innovations fail.No organization can survive without a solid strategy of innovation, and Innovation by Design shows how to implement one with clear, practical guidelines and plenty of real-life case examples of companies like IBM, Apple, Canon, 3M, Kodak, Procter & Gamble, and Hewlett-Packard. One chapter, "The Virtual Innovation Prevention Department," discusses all the things -- including people -- that often get in the way of becoming innovative. In addition to a multitude of tools for analysis and action is a 205-item Innovation Audit you can use to determine where your company is on the innovation continuum. Innovation is something that cannot be left to chance. Showing just what it takes to put together an innovation process design, Innovation by Design brings the innovator and the organization into a partnership that aims to develop innovation as a core competence. For every manager who wants to keep his or her company on the cutting edge, this is the book that will show the way. Executives in all industries prize innovation as a key ingredient in market relevance, brand awareness, and bottom-line growth. Too often, though, innovation is relegated to traditional cradles of creativity like R & D and marketing. Now this important new book shows how innovation can be a boon not just to a company's product line, but to every facet of its business. "Doing innovation" company-wide requires not only an attitude of innovation from every individual, but a corporate commitment to a new organizational model, in which every department is expected to innovate. Empowering companies toward that end, the author * idea generation, creating new models, and breaking rules * the roles of individuals, groups, and corporate culture in innovation * assessing the organization's infrastructure and resources * overcoming resistance and identifying what makes innovations fail * and every other component of creating economic value through innovation. Executives in all industries prize innovation as a key ingredient in market relevance, brand awareness, and bottom-line growth. Too often, though, innovation is relegated to traditional cradles of creativity like R & D and marketing. Now this important new book shows how innovation can be a boon not just to a company's product line, but to every facet of its business. "Doing innovation" company-wide requires not only an attitude of innovation from every individual, but a corporate commitment to a new organizational model, in which every department is expected to innovate. Empowering companies toward that end, the author discusses: idea generation, creating new models, and breaking rules the roles of individuals, groups, and corporate culture in innovation assessing the organization's infrastructure and resources overcoming resistance and identifying what makes innovations fail and every other component of creating economic value through innovation Publisher Fact Sheet Shows how innovation can be a benefit not just to a company's product line, but to every facet of its business