TEI 022: How 3M Triggers Innovation through Organizational Development

Global Product Management Talk is pleased to bring you episode 022 of...

The Everyday Innovator with host Chad McAllister, PhD.

The podcast is all about helping people involved in developing and managing products become more successful, grow their careers, and STANDOUT from their peers.

Our Guests: I have not one, but two guests to discuss product innovation for this episode. The first is Kimberly Johnson, who I met through the Global PMI Innovation Practice Area. I learned that Kim had recently co-authored a chapter for an upcoming book, and the chapter is titled “Triggering Innovation Through Organizational Development.” Her co-author is my second guest, AB Reynolds.

Highlights from the discussion include:

• The concepts are synthesized from a powerhouse of interviews with 3M innovators, organized around 3 themes that foster organizational innovation:
  • Conditions must exist to allow individuals and teams to create innovative products.
  • Leaders must spot, support, and invest in valuable innovations.
  • As the product matures, leaders must optimize the innovation and eventually harvest the business or choose to renew the organization with a new set of products.
• To overcome resistance to incorporating innovation into the culture, create an organizational conversation about the future to engage people – get people excited about trends taking place and how the organization should participate.   A simple tool is to put a question in a shared area to begin discussions, such as, “How can we …”
• If you are an innovator, team up with others that can influence the right people to make change occur. In organizations, innovation requires teams to make things happen.