One of my biggest challenges as the Innovation Culture Manager at a major direct sales company was figuring out how to extend the innovative mindset and practices from the product and brand innovation team to the entire organization. During this journey, a short book, ’20 Mistakes Innovators Make’ by Jeffrey Phillips, OVO Innovation, proved invaluable. Today, I’d like to share my top five insights and reflections, drawn from my experiences with Latin American companies.
As the author notes, “These mistakes are easily predictable, exceptionally serious, and all too common.” Recognizing and avoiding them is crucial to building trust within teams and achieving innovative results.
Here’s my TOP 5 list of common innovation mistakes:
Mistake 1: Failing to Connect Innovation Efforts with Strategic Business Goals
Why is this a mistake? Teams often invest time in “interesting ideas” or technologies that don’t align with corporate goals or identified needs. I frequently see this across businesses, where an innovation team—often perceived as young and creative—is isolated from executives and strategy.
How to avoid it: Before starting any innovation effort, review the corporate, area, or product strategy to ensure alignment. Better yet, design the strategy to promote innovation.
Tools: To prevent this misstep, consider methodologies like the Three Horizons Model, the Ten Types of Innovation, and Playing to Win. I have used these in various workshops to help teams redesign strategies by defining innovation focuses that drive growth.
Mistake 2: Assuming the Future is a Continuation of the Past
Why is this a mistake? Change is inevitable and accelerating. New competitors and alternatives enter the market while new consumer needs emerge. Ignoring future trends and emerging needs can result in irrelevant products and missed opportunities for true innovation.
How to avoid it: Early in any innovation effort, conduct trend identification and future scenarios exercises to understand emerging needs and product relevance.
Tools: Use methodologies like Coolhunting and Trend Scanning, ideally with expert companies. I’m passionate about this area and help clients through Future Thinking workshops, applying tools learned from the Institute of the Future.
Mistake 3: Misalignment Between Recognition, Evaluation, and Compensation Systems and Innovation Goals
Why is this a mistake? People focus their limited mental energy on tasks they know and that contribute to their evaluation and recognition. Without proper support for innovation efforts, their commitment wanes. Many companies attempt to compensate with idea-management systems, often creating a false sense of innovation.
How to avoid it: Develop evaluation systems aligned with the organizational strategy that motivates people to innovate as part of their daily work, not as separate tasks.
Tools: Collaboration with HR departments is crucial to understand motivation dynamics (intrinsic and extrinsic). Daniel Pink’s “DRIVE” is an excellent resource on this topic.
Mistake 4: Treating Innovation as an Activity, Not a Capability
Why is this a mistake? Innovation involves risk and uncertainty and demands fresh thinking and skills. It shouldn’t be done sporadically. Without ongoing efforts and capability development, people tend to revert to conventional methods.
How to avoid it: Establish and nurture a continuous innovation process aligned with your strategy, enabling teams to learn and apply it to real projects.
Tools: Begin by assessing your organizational capabilities. The Doblin Analysis and Booz & Company’s annual reports on Global Innovation are excellent starting points.
Mistake 5: Implementing Tools and Methodologies Without Understanding the Innovation Process
Why is this a mistake? Companies often pursue trendy tools without fully grasping their purpose, leading to abandonment when challenges emerge. This wastes resources and stifles genuine innovation.
How to avoid it: Grasp the principles behind these tools and strategically decide who should learn and implement them. Allow teams the space to effectively apply these tools.
Tools: Refer to my innovation toolkit for deeper insights and the commonalities behind popular methodologies.
By recognizing and avoiding these common pitfalls, you’ll be better equipped to foster a culture of innovation and drive meaningful progress within your organization.
