Innovation Management - The online learning center for Managing Innovation.

What is innovation management to you?

Innovation management is a systematic approach to creating the innovation CULTURE and SYSTEMS in any organization. By innovation culture I mean a continuous and systematic approach to tapping into the future, generating ideas, engaging your entire ecosystem, developing innovation leadership, rewarding success, creating a safe environment for failure, and continuous learning. In regard to innovation systems, these are the methodologies and tools organizations use for front-end of innovation, research, new product and services design, new business model design, IP protection, and commercialization. The two work hand-in-hand; organizations fail when they try to create an innovation system apart from the innovation culture.

What’s the most satisfying part of your job?

Seeing my partners and customers achieve their goals and expected results. I enjoy taking on new challenges, and solving problems creatively for my company and my customers, as well.

And the most frustrating parts?

I believe that getting frustrated is a waste of time. Instead, I turn every challenge into an opportunity. For example, the Middle East innovation maturity could be characterized as in the “awareness stage”. The market is not ready for large scale innovations and has no experience in disruption, R&D, technology innovations or product designs. Most of what we see is incremental innovations. In addition, there are not many great examples of innovative companies in this part of the world to inspire innovators; to tell a story. This could be quite frustrating to many of us, so called innovation experts and consultants, who typically expect larger projects and quick and tangible results from their innovation efforts with their clients. I turned this challenge into an opportunity and we are able to design our business model to mesh customer experience and expectations with innovative revenue models for us.

What’s your next big challenge?

The management consulting is inefficient and not scalable. It relays heavily on smart and expensive consultants with extensive experience. This makes it unaffordable for the lower end of the market, innovators, and entrepreneurs. In addition, most companies hire management consulting firms to feel safe with their assumptions and not necessary to challenge the status quo. Management consulting practices don’t necessary solve the jobs-to-be-done for the client, but rather address problems with known best practices and tools. They don’t explore, they exploit. I find this an interesting challenge and I want to disrupt the entire management consulting and training industry by introducing new business models that delivers JOBS, explore and cater for innovators.

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