Transcript PPT slides
Innovation: The Path to Heaven … or … Hell? Po Chi Wu, Ph.D. Adjunct Professor School of Bus. & Mgt. School of Engineering HKUST Agenda • Context & Perspective • PCW background and experience • What is innovation? • Innovation approaches: past, present, future • Knowledge Economy – 21st Century Context & Perspective • The Entrepreneurial Mindset • Seeking opportunities • Taking initiative • Being accountable • Delivering practical outcomes • Courage to iterate PCW background • Cross-disciplinary experience • Bridge Asia-Pacific-Europe • Greater China (Taiwan, Hong Kong) • Silicon Valley Why innovate/change? • Natural response to challenges • Innovation => Resistance to change • When not to innovate? Investor perspective • Long-term return on investment • Risk-averse (conditional) • Market-driven • Innovation-driven • Not futurists • Insights from society/ecosystem • Need stable financial industry infrastructure Who are innovators? • Change agents • What do they need? • Infrastructure • Ecosystem • Talent • Guidance/nurturing Space for innovation • Why do most innovations fail? • What are the conditions for innovation to succeed? • External (ecosystem) – Internal • Drive for creativity Innovation approaches • TRIZ/ATRIZ – Theory of inventive problem-solving • Design-thinking – practical consumer-oriented • Agile Innovation – organizational change • In practice – try everything • Challenge: Find what works for your organization TRIZ/ATRIZ • Early 20th Century Russian solution for mechanical objects • Theoretical study of repeated patterns in patents • A study of change, theory of “contradictions” • Repeatability, predictability, and reliability to problemsolving process with a structured, algorithmic approach • Best for physical/engineering problems http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newCT_92.htm TRIZ/ATRIZ • Practical – training broader base of innovators • Useful for eliminating “weak solutions” • Mindset/philosophy – approach to work • Management tool more than a creative tool • Key question: What have we missed? Challenges • Starts from internal conceptual design • Can be “mechanistic” • Where is proprietary, competitive edge? • Samsung consumer electronics • Super AMOLED displays • Image-processing chips in digital TVs • Frequency-filtering technology to reduce smartphone noise • Economic value created: €1.5 Billion Made with TRIZ – P&G • http://www.xtriz.com/MadeWithTRIZ.pdf • Proctor & Gamble’s most successful product Design-thinking Objectives Empathy Rationality Creativity Principles • Origins in architecture & design • Focus on human concerns • Learn from people’s behavior • Find patterns • Design principles • Make tangible • Iterate relentlessly Design-thinking • Knowledge-driven (people) • New use of old tools: ethnography, intuition, STORY • New technologies • Problem definition – by customers, ecosystem • Objective: unique, proprietary solutions • Creation of new, fundamental IP Design-thinking • Combines empathy for the context of a problem, creativity in the generation of insights and solutions, and rationality in analyzing and fitting various solutions to the problem context. • Goal: “Matching people’s needs with what is technologically feasible and viable as a business strategy” - Tim Brown, CEO and president of IDEO • Ref: Tom Kelley and Dave Kelley, Creative Confidence, Crown Business, 2013, ISBN 978-0--385-34936-9, pages 19-20. • Design Thinking - Thoughts by Tim Brown, http://designthinking.ideo.com • Apple Mobile APPs • Newest, most intimate interface • Simple, appealing design • Designed for customer usability • Flexible back-end • Leverage – extends reach of knowledge Intuit • SnapTax – prepare tax return using smartphone • In 2006 – 6 designers at executive level. In 2014 - 35 • http://investors.intuit.com/press-releases/pressrelease-details/2015/Building-a-Design-DrivenCompany/default.aspx Agile Innovation • Organizational change • Unique, people-based growth process • Facilitated, not “managed” • Focus on “resistance” to change • Holistic = systematic, disciplined, inspirational • Experimentation Agile Leadership • What kind of culture fosters true innovation? • What is required of leadership? • How is this culture implemented? • How is this culture maintained? Challenges in ecosystem • High degree of uncertainty • Accelerating change • Fierce, global competition • Technologies/products more complicated • IP an increasingly important strategic asset • Knowledge workers are young • Senior management challenged to learn What is disruptive innovation? • Technology-driven • Redefines industry sectors • Shifts power • We seek to be Earth’s most customer-centric company for four primary customer sets: consumers, sellers, enterprises, and content creators. How is leadership adapting? • The Entrepreneurial Mindset • Next-generation leaders (knowledge workers) • Communications challenges Industrial Economy • Early 20th Century manufacturing model • Based on extraction of resources • Production of tangible, physical products • Value of human labor – to serve machines • Temptation – keep doing the same thing • Why innovate (change)? Knowledge Economy • Based on intangible assets • Knowledge, IP • Value of knowledge • Value of knowledge workers SMEs • Challenges of entrepreneurship • Entrepreneurs are passionate learners • Learn from experience • Learn to innovate, beyond surviving • New tools/resources • China environment unique Silicon Valley model • May be wrong for China • Spirit of innovation rooted in local culture • Different resource base • Different opportunities • Different definitions of success • Different paths to success • Money is not best metric of successful role model New business models • New measures of value in ecosystem • Based on “sharing” • Platforms of knowledge, communications (ICT) • Value of shared knowledge increases • Value of unused IP decreases • Direction of increasing value is irreversible Summary • Change is inevitable => innovation is essential • To survive, we must adapt. • Learn from others what might work for us. • Accept that we don’t know enough, so experiment wisely. Conclusion • If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading Lao Tzu