Most major tech­no­lo­gi­cal inno­va­tions do not occur in the line­ar mode that more for­mal plan­ning mecha­nisms might sug­gest. They emer­ge form a rela­tively chao­tic sequence of events typi­cal­ly invol­ving an ear­ly visi­on; num­e­rous fits, starts, and lap­ses in pro­gress; ran­dom inter­ac­tions with out­side par­ties; fre­quent intui­ti­ve insights and per­so­nal risk taking; and even some lucky breaks, which ulti­m­ate­ly lead to suc­cess. While in retro­s­pec­ti­ve a tech­no­lo­gy may seem to pro­gress (world­wi­de) dog­gedly up a Gaus­si­an cur­ve towards its ulti­ma­te theo­re­ti­cal limits, detail­ed obser­vers see a series of “rela­tively small steps mark­ed by fre­quent unan­ti­ci­pa­ted obs­ta­cles and by con­stant ran­dom breakth­roughs inter­ac­ting across labo­ra­to­ries and bor­ders. Initi­al dis­co­veries tend to be high­ly indi­vi­dua­li­stic and seren­di­pi­tous, advan­ces chao­tic and inter­ac­ti­ve, and spe­ci­fic out­co­mes unpre­dic­ta­ble and chan­cy until the very last moment. Even the high­ly plan­ned first com­mu­ni­ca­ti­ons satel­li­te blew up when it was deploy­ed. 

If for­mal plan­ning were all that was requi­red for inno­va­ti­on, many more com­pa­nies would be suc­cessful at it. Most fail becau­se they can neither tole­ra­te nor mana­ge innovation’s bubbling, pro­ba­bi­li­stic, intui­ti­ve pro­ces­ses – which are more akin to a dis­or­der­ly fer­men­ta­ti­on vat than a sequen­ti­al pro­duc­tion line. Divi­si­ons see­king stra­te­gic advan­ta­ge through signi­fi­cant tech­no­lo­gi­cal inno­va­ti­on need to reco­gni­ze the tur­bu­lent, long-term rea­li­ties of how this pro­cess ope­ra­tes, and design spe­ci­fic orga­niza­tio­nal and manage­ment prac­ti­ces to moti­va­te and gui­de it pro­per­ly. Our mul­ti­ple-year stu­dies show how some of the world’s most inno­va­ti­ve lar­ge com­pa­nies both tole­ra­te – inde­ed sti­mu­la­te – such cha­os and main­tain the strong stra­te­gic focus and prac­ti­cal con­trols so essen­ti­al to effi­ci­ent operations. 

Quel­le: Inno­va­ti­on Explo­si­on. Using Intellect and Soft­ware to Revo­lu­tio­ni­ze Growth Strategies 

Schreibe einen Kommentar

Deine E-Mail-Adresse wird nicht veröffentlicht. Erforderliche Felder sind mit * markiert