The challenge of how Innovation Management can gain the recognition it deserves stimulated a lively discussion in our webinar “Is it time to professionalise Innovation Management”. If you missed the webinar – you can watch the presentations from our two speakers and listen to the full discussion via a podcast on Soundcloud – see the links below.
Prof Magnus Karlsson, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden gave an overview of the progress that has been made towards professionalisation and also a heads up about what is happening at an international level with the new ISO standards.
Scott May, Head of MISTA at Givaudan agreed that Innovation Managers do share a body of knowledge – a requirement for professionalisation – but stressed that culture and mindset are crucial. He shared his experiences of working within an innovation ecosystem focussed on food tech and explained the concept of an Innovation ARC that provides a way to capture and maintain domain knowledge within an ecosystem and how this maintains the trajectory of innovation.
The discussion widened out to include:
- the role of the CEO in determining the culture of an organisation,
- attempts to clarify the definition of innovation,
- concerns that more standards would stifle innovation,
- the need for different capabilities and job roles at different stages in the innovation pipeline.
The conclusion was there is much to discuss and share.
Useful references
The speakers, and others, mentioned some organisations and resources and below is some more information about these.
Software: Ritual
AI enabled software that simplifies the process of defining problem statements, sourcing key questions, developing answers, and crafting recommendations. To support the translation of ideas into actionable strategies.
Tool: PRISM
A human-centred design thinking approach to exponential innovation. Exponential innovation is rooted in deeply understanding users as a team, which has far-reaching benefits that spill into every aspect of a business.
Organisations: ISPIM, Innovate Island (Ireland), PDMA
Prof Magnus Karlsson, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden
Prof Karlsson is the former Director of New Business Development and Innovation in Group Function Strategy at Ericsson, the multinational networking and telecoms company. The company has continually reinvented itself during its long history, with an R&D structure on three levels to enable it to exploit and disrupt its markets.
Prof Karlsson is a firm advocate for professionalisation. He is Chairman of the Association for Innovation Management Professionals in Sweden. He has also been involved in the development and implementation of the ISO 56000 family of standards for innovation management systems since 2008.
Scott May, Head of MISTA at Givaudan
Scott is VP of Global Innovation for Givaudan, the world’s largest manufacturer of flavours, fragrances, and active cosmetic ingredients, and heads up the innovation ecosystem MISTA.
Scott defines innovation as a creating mindset, culture, and ways of working that enable a company to continuously evolve and adapt to changing conditions and opportunities, manifesting in the creation of new futures.
