BUS604: Innovation and Sustainability

Why?

The society we live in today is the result of many past innovations, whether a new idea, method, or product, such as the internet. In our world there is a great interdependency: no country, no organization, and no institution can operate and succeed on its own. 

As a society we will continue to need new breakthroughs and innovations more than ever to achieve a sustainable world. However, no innovation will come about on its own either. Crossover activities between different disciplines are rapidly increasing, such as in healthcare and logistics, sectors which are both seeking to overcome similar challenges of delivery and efficiency. 

Innovations and breakthroughs should be part of a continual discussion for improvement to create a context and awareness in which innovations are welcomed and stimulated. They should be on the agenda of schools, institutions, businesses, politicians, and governments.

What?

The Owls Foundation has researched many innovations and breakthroughs across an exceptionally wide range of areas in order to understand the mechanisms that underpin major milestones of innovation and the way in which they succeeded or failed in making an impact. We collaborated with our international network of leaders, entrepreneurs, and scholars who were actually involved in the breakthrough and innovation process we described. They have valuable lessons from their experiences that we look to pass on to others. They were again generous with their time and thought hard to reflect on their experiences in terms of the generic factors that we identified.

How? Process and Generic Factors

If you want to change your environment and develop one that stimulates innovation, then you need to understand the underlying structure of an innovation and breakthrough process and make it tangible. Assuming that breakthroughs and innovations are always related to some form of a process, The Owls Project conducted research. We chose to describe and examine each innovation or breakthrough process stage by stage to success or failure. We assumed that these process stages were generic and could be labelled parallel to the stages of the flow of a normal production/implementation process. We defined a 'process' as 'a series of [planned] actions and/or operations directed towards a particular result in a certain sequence and time frame'. 

On top of that we labelled the process steps as generic factors: 'factors that have a certain meaning and a common character because they are used regularly and have a function or role, regardless of the nature, place, or moment'. 

We identified nine factors of which six are process-related and three are generic by nature. We grouped them as follows:

Innovation and breakthrough processes are often linked. Most innovations which became a success did so because they were coupled with a successful production/implementation process. That is one of the reasons why it is not always the most advanced technology or invention that conquers the market or beats the competition.

Research Results Of The Owls Project

The results of the research are again fascinating. The generic factors are common, recognisable, instrumental, and applicable. They are present in each breakthrough or innovation within the contexts of business and institutions, from small to large in size, right up to governments operating on an international scale. If we dig deeper to study and understand these factors, we are in a better position to transfer knowledge and experience and to develop cooperation and crossover activities to make innovations internationally successful. Our different case studies, whether big or small, provide a rich bank of data to contribute to the goals of this project and to stimulate an ongoing discussion on innovations and breakthroughs, so that they enter the culture of governments, companies, universities, schools, and other institutions that can translate these values and principles into reality. 

Generic Factors And The Owls Project

• The Owls Project has led to an important insight. Through research on generic factors, insight is acquired in the 'DNA' of innovations and breakthrough processes.
• This insight is universal and equal for all target groups (although the communication message may be different for each target group).
• The conclusion of the research is that innovations and breakthrough processes can be better recognised, understood, and stimulated.
• Generic factors play an important role in achieving the same language and perception, which is important for international and multidisciplinary cooperation.
• Generic factors can be instrumental for an effective translation into a stimulating environment in which innovations and breakthrough processes are welcomed and put into practice, thus contributing to a sustainable world.

The generic factors not only play a role as an analytical tool but can also be used as steering controls in the storage and transfer of experience. They point to the great value of being able to work together in a multi-disciplinary way and internationally, and show us how to create an environment that stimulates innovation and from which the future will benefit. 

This success is not a given, because even though many institutions value innovation they do not necessarily prioritise the development of a strategy to build innovation into their internal processes. 

A 2013 study by Accenture offered a revealing picture. In a survey of 519 executives in British, French, and American firms with annual revenues of more than $100 million, 93 percent admitted that the long-term success of their business depended on innovation, yet only 18 percent of them had prioritised the development of a strategy for innovation. These outcomes are still relevant, despite the fact that the survey was carried out some years ago. Every company should develop a strategy for the development, acquisition, and implementation of innovation, for innovations and breakthroughs have to do with mindset and, connected to that, impact.

Breakthrough Vol. 2: Focus On Leadership In this volume, we have selected cases with a special focus on human leadership and the generic factor concept, and we explain how it was dealt with in a variety of different environments.

• The Global Leadership Foundation. This case study shows how international leadership can create a highly-qualified network with a very practical, hands-on mentality providing the right profile for important international governmental advice.
• The twin chapter on the circular economy is a challenging one. To take on such a target is an ambitious task which is all about creating an impact on society. Education and science will play a key role. One of the challenges is to stay pragmatic with both feet on the ground. The two chapters are good examples of how to do this. They show the importance of people, leadership, and the environment so that movement is not only top-down but also bottom-up.
• The Unilever case study is an example of exceptional leadership which focuses on making innovations really happen. Enabling leadership, showing courage and a good balance of planning and ownership, is the key for success. The Unilever study also shows how important a well-worked-out concept in goals and sub-goals is in addition to a supportive environment inside and outside the organization. It needs guts to deal with the contradictions of a competitive environment and the demands of shareholders.
• The healthcare case study is an exclusive abstract of the excellent book Rescuing Healthcare: A Leadership Prescription to Make Healthcare What We All Want It to Be, by Antony Bell and Denis A. Cortese, MD (2017). The chapter highlights examples of a number of medical organizations in the USA and the Netherlands whose leaders exemplify the kind of daring and innovative leadership advocated in this chapter.
• 'Building the Future of Health' is the result of our Write Your Own Chapter project, which offers organizations the chance to test the innovative mindset, environment, and capability of their organization or project based on The Owls Breakthrough Method. It helped the UMCG in Groningen gain insight into unique aspects of their work such as the importance of a proper conceptual approach - with precise targets and goals - to achieve a really innovative impact. It also shows the importance of a balance between ideas, goals and execution.
• The Van Oord case study is a good example of how innovation can be driven by real entrepreneurship - a family-owned firm faced with the challenge of a tough market setting itself ambitious targets with considerable risks attached and seeking innovative ways to achieve them. The Van Oord case is also interesting because not only is technical innovation necessary - so is leadership at every level. The chapter explains the type of leadership necessary to run a big family company and to plan and carry out a proper succession policy.
• 'Jan Peter Balkenende: The Responsible Society' is about creating and stimulating a positive mindset for innovations and breakthroughs by political and governmental leadership, and the need for long-term planning. This is a key for success, easy to say but difficult to achieve.

Each chapter holds valuable lessons. This knowledge can be beneficial for multi-disciplinary and crossover activities which are of great importance in today's globalised world. It is very helpful if you are able to see and understand the mechanisms involved in the different activities we describe. For example, health and logistics are both adapting to consumer-driven markets (concept, planning, and execution). The environment may be very important for the success or failure of a process. Different countries have different cultures. Society and governments can be decisive stumbling blocks, and understanding their role requires attention beforehand. That also applies to the position of people related to a company, such as stakeholders and shareholders.

As mentioned before, the importance of the concept generic factor also stands out from the cases described in this volume. An accurate concept is a must [see Annex – The Owls Breakthrough Concept]. Further on in the Annex, specific attention is paid to this under the heading The Owls Breakthrough Concept which covers its theoretical explanation. A good example of the practice of the concept is the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan. It shows how vital the concept was in formulating the right basis for the company's master plan to achieve the goals and sub-goals it had set, thus creating the direction envisaged for impact.

When and Who?

The master plan based on the concept will give the input for the mission, strategy, planning, and execution, including the iterative process, thus providing the context in which it becomes clear who is doing what and when.

Qualitative Analysis

The Breakthrough Method© of The Owls Foundation shows in the analyzes of the case studies to what extent innovations and breakthrough processes are consciously experienced by the organization (awareness) and to what extent these have been translated into its daily business process and how they contribute to the development of results (impact).

We elaborate extensively on the research method and results of the qualitative analysis in the Annex on Qualitative Analysis.

Source: https://archive.org/details/Breakthrough2180910/page/n9/mode/2up
 This work is in the Public Domain.