Internal Innovation Requires Patience and Persistence

Corporate innovators discussed the challenges of setting up and sustaining internal innovation programs at Innov8rs Shanghai last June. Such programs tend to exceed budgets, aren’t delivering commercially scalable ventures and at best, only help bringing in new skills and mindsets. The speakers highlighted the pressure to deliver results fast versus the reality that success requires patience and persistence. The article summarizes five approaches to making innovation programs successful: transforming siloed product teams into communities, breaking innovation frameworks down into smaller pieces, changing the mindset of management, mapping a survival strategy, and instilling cultural values.