Good ideas often go unnoticed for a long time – despite the company suggestion scheme. It is not uncommon for innovation and smart solutions to emerge within departments or small working groups, without any underlying structured project. Such “guerrilla innovations” have great potential, but also risks for the digitisation strategy.
In the beginning was the problem
In another article I wrote about the fact that innovations are created when an underlying problem needs to be solved. Likewise, it takes time and knowledge for the solution. Recently, I was talking to a group of managers about how they evaluate the innovation of their teams besides doing the day-to-day business. One participant made the following statement.
“When the workload allows it, very innovative suggestions come up. Only recently, a co-worker showed me an Excel spreadsheet he had designed with formulas and scripts. He had created these to automate his regular evaluations. I wasn’t even aware he could do that.”
This statement illustrates how quickly solutions emerge within organisational units that management had not even thought of.
I call these solutions, which are initially hidden from the management and the rest of the company in small circles, guerrilla innovations.
Recognising guerrilla innovations at an early stage and using them
This kind of innovation has a very decisive advantage. It was created by employees themselves. This increases the demand orientation of the solution. And even if the solution is not yet optimal in the first approach, they can assume that the underlying problem is at the heart of the task. Consequently, you need much less persuasion to promote change and acceptance. At this point, you should rather seize further opportunities. Enable the solution found to be followed up. Can it still be optimised? Can it be transferred to other areas? To answer these questions, it may also be useful to share the idea with an even wider circle.
Selbstverständlich ist diese Form der “wilden Innovation” auch mit gewissen Risiken verbunden. Especially if it fails to identify, promote or reject the ideas at an early stage.
Use interdisciplinary teams and existing knowledge
One of the possible problems arises from solution ideas lingering too long in too small a circle and being discussed without reaching a conclusion. There are different ways to reach the goal more efficiently. The view from outside, for example from other departments, as well as the knowledge and experience of other employees can have positive effects. Therefore, an environment should be fostered that allows innovation to be as open and accessible as possible. This can be realised, for example, through digital platforms for collaboration on ideas. Also realise interdisciplinary and changing working groups that deal specifically with the topic of innovation.
Avoid letting ideas become isolated solutions
Another risk of guerrilla innovation that is discovered too late and communicated inadequately is the emergence of isolated solutions. There is potential for improvement in every organisational area. The same applies to smart solutions. This becomes a problem as soon as areas are no longer able to look beyond their own horizons. The reasons for this range from high workloads in day-to-day business, to disinterest, to divergent goals between corporate divisions. If ideas and solution approaches only solve one’s own problems and are not sufficiently placed in the context of the entire value creation and entrepreneurial process landscape, isolated solutions often result.
In my experience, such group- or department-specific solutions often lead to increased efforts at the interfaces. In addition, already established isolated solutions make far-reaching change projects, such as a company-wide digitalisation strategy or the introduction of data-driven software for corporate management and decision-making, more difficult.
The limits of the classic suggestion scheme
Many companies already have systems in place to suggest improvements. However, I often experience that many systems do not lead to the full innovation potential being used. Here are a few ideas on how to put your suggestion scheme to the test: First, look at how often the system is used and by what proportion of the workforce. If participation still leaves something to be desired, an important first step is to identify the reason for this. Does the system need to be simplified or do other incentives need to be created? Perhaps the system is also unknown to a large part of the staff.
If participation is at a good level, it is also worth taking a look at the rest of the process. If submitted proposals are only evaluated by a committee and awarded a prize at the end, a lot of potential remains unused. I often see that the idea generators are rewarded in some way, but other parts of the company do not hear about successful improvements, or hear about them only by chance.
Think about how you can get more out of the innovation potential of your teams. It helps to make good ideas accessible to as many people as possible and to develop them step by step.
Image source:
Stock Rocket / stock.adobe.com
