Bridging the Gap: Thinking About How to Marry Innovation and Execution

The world is full of creative and smart people. Many of them work for technology companies, from the burgeoning expansion stage business to the multi-billion dollar conglomerate. Regardless of the stage of the company, one maxim is true: innovate or die. That is to say, while a product offering may be cutting edge today, it can become obsolete in no time. In order to stay ahead of the next trend, a company must constantly rethink its business model and create new and/or better products. Companies must also apply a concerted effort within organizations to think big and disrupt! This is central to maintaining sound competitive positioning. 

The creation of new concepts is important; however, it is certainly not the whole story. Innovation is only half the battle. You can create all the greatest ideas in the world but they are meaningless until they are turned into actionable items. Execution is the name of the game. Numerous companies have faltered by ineffectively managing new product roll-outs and/or waiting too long to call an experiment a failure.

I am reading about this innovation/execution dilemma in a newly released book called, “The Other Side of Innovation: Solving the Execution Challenge.” The book, which is authored by Tuck School of Business Professors Vijay Govindarajan and Chris Trimble, practices what it preaches. It is not merely an essay on innovative inefficiencies, but a practical guide to managing new products and experiments.

While I am not entirely finished with the book, I noticed several high-level themes I believe are important for growing. Expansion stage businesses need to keep them in mind when thinking about new product development and creating the next big thing:

– Implement a system that tightly manages the innovative process: Google is famous for its “20% rule”, whereby employees are encouraged to spend up to 20% of their time at work on projects not germane to their actual job function. In some companies, this could result in a complete waste of time and eat away at productivity. Google, however, has created a system that effectively manages this experiment. It has led to the creation of Gmail, Google News and many other successes. 

– Involve relevant parties early: Get the people who are necessary to adoption and execution within the Company to buy-in early. Waiting to spring this action on sales or support channels right before a new concept or product is about to be rolled out will most certainly create issues.

– Know when to call it quits: Sometimes a new venture or offering may seem quite promising at the outset; however, for a variety of reasons it may not work out. It’s important to admit defeat and cut your losses on new forays.

At OpenView Venture Partners, we are focused on working with companies to help them ideate and iterate. We love to join forces with companies that are eager to grow and push the boundaries of today’s industry standards.