We’ve heard all of these excuses many times and they’re all valid. We have ways to overcome them all and proof that our solutions work, to move you forward and get results.
1: No time
“We’ve got too much going on. We don’t have time to focus on anything new.”
Solution: Breakthrough ideas can feel distracting from the core business. Start with some focused continuous improvement of your current products and services.
Magnetic example: With Bupa, we co-created a narrative and platform for a b2b mental health proposition. It evolved iteratively and later became the model for a further proposition, without reinventing the wheel.
2: High cost
“Innovation costs time, money and resources so it’s hard to justify.”
Solution: Think big but start small and start now.
Magnetic example: In partnership with Severn Trent Water and Atkins, we set up an innovation lab with a wide remit but a clear framework for prioritising initiatives. We used lean experiments to validate solutions. Now, Severn Trent’s teams can generate, validate and scale ideas within weeks. The lab has put more than £10m of value back into the business.
3: Culture
“There’s no culture of innovation. We aren’t exactly Apple or Amazon.”
Solution: Developing a culture where people are empowered to have ideas and act on them can energise them and the business. Innovation is a process, and it can be learnt.
Magnetic example: We created an innovation toolkit and training programme for HSBC that was rolled out at scale. We trained 250+ innovation leaders in the bank across five global functions, who have in turn influenced hundreds of champions.
4: Too risky
“Real-time experimentation can be dangerous. It can put off customers who are happy with our products.”
Solution: Involve customers in plans at an early stage.
Magnetic example: Two of our team embedded into the M&S UX and analytics teams to work together on customer experiments, which are a big part of how M&S develops new products. With user feedback, we were able to learn quickly, de-risk our prototypes and get higher impact results in DVF testing.
5: Fear of failure
“I fear that innovation projects will fail, hurting our morale, financials and my career.”
Solution: Innovation is about creating or improving your products and services, not about taking huge risks. Failure is how we learn what’s not going to work. Just keep it fast and cheap.
Magnetic example: When we worked on a store concept design with adidas in Texas, we reduced the risk by researching it with customers and staff to validate and optimise ideas before the concept was rolled out.
6: Leadership
“Senior management focuses on short-term performance. Longer-term innovation is harder to achieve.”
Solution: For an innovation programme to succeed, senior management have to be involved. They can secure commitment and ongoing investment.
Magnetic example: On a project with PepsiCo, our interviews with senior stakeholders gave us a deeper understanding of the landscape. Their insights helped us to better frame the problem area.
7: Responsibility
“People feel it’s not their responsibility to come up with new ideas and are reluctant to get involved.”
Solution: Innovation needs active collaboration.
Magnetic example: When we worked with Mars to develop a 2050 vision for cocoa, we sought diverse perspectives from many experts, stakeholders and customers. This collaboration led to a sustainability strategy that got high alignment and engagement.
8: Lack of fresh thinking
“We’re constantly following competitors and not creating our own ideas.”
Solution: It’s inspiring and empowering to develop fresh concepts and try to break trail, at least some of the time.
Magnetic example: All4, Channel 4’s on-demand digital channel, wanted to do more than optimisation tweaks. We worked with the broadcaster to design a robust early ideation and discovery process for its own pipeline of product ideas.
