R&D departments can often be seen as the wizards behind the curtain, and it isn’t far from the truth. But what if the real magic lies in the principles of Jim Collins' "Good to Great"?
At Findest, we try to apply Jim Collins' principles, and though we cannot always be successful in doing so, the direction that Good to Great can set you on is worth every page. We’ve been thinking recently about how its lessons can be applied to R&D innovations in a broader sense.
(And if you want to see how we help you achieve greatness, book a call here; we promise that you’ll be blown away!)
Many R&D teams fall into the trap of believing that cutting-edge technology alone will propel their company to greatness. However, Collins' research reveals a surprising truth:
Take Xerox PARC, for instance. They invented groundbreaking technologies like the graphical user interface and Ethernet but failed to commercialise them effectively. Meanwhile, Apple and Microsoft took these ideas and turned them into world-changing products.
The lesson?
You have to align innovation with the business strategy and what your customers want!
To excel, R&D departments need to find their "Hedgehog Concept" - the intersection of three elements:
Consider 3M's journey. They could have tried to compete in various high-tech fields, but instead, they focused on their core strength: adhesives. This led to innovations like Post-it Notes, a product born from a "failed" super-strong adhesive.
By sticking (terrible pun intended) to their Hedgehog Concept, 3M turned a setback into a billion-dollar product line.
The path from good to great in R&D is disciplined focus:
Crucially, you must know which mountain to climb. Too often, the R&D industry looks at a mountain range and chooses the wrong peak, only to realise halfway up a steep ascent that they're on the wrong path. The resulting descent can be dangerous and fraught with disaster. Oftentimes they continue climbing because the cost is already sunk. WHAT A WASTE!!!
Take Kodak's journey into digital photography.
They invented the first digital camera but chose to focus on improving film technology instead.
They picked the wrong mountain, and by the time they realised their mistake, it was too late to safely pivot.
Success in research and new product development is about choosing consistent progress in the right direction:
Please remember to not chase that eureka moment in the bathtub. Sometimes, like the Wright brothers, you have to crash countless planes before achieving flight. Or like Edison, you might need to fly kites in lightning storms numerous times before inventing the light bulb.
Embracing these principles isn’t easy, and R&D departments can go from merely good innovators to truly great drivers of company success. Have the guts and the discipline to thoroughly assess the technology landscape that lies ahead. Spending a little more time, money and effort at the start will help you avoid mistakes and climb the right mountain!
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