Introducing: The Gap and the Middle
When I talk with colleagues and stakeholders about Innovation, the conversation tends to steer toward a discussion of Ideas, as if the Idea and Innovation are the same thing.
In my experience, they are very related but also very different things. Taking my own organization as an example, there are any number of “innovative ideas” in discussion at any given point in time. There is no one person or group with solo ability to generate ideas - in fact, the more the better! What often comes with greater effort is the talent, investment, and the process to scale any given concept from being “just” an idea to being a scaled enterprise product or solution - one that has real enterprise or revenue impact. In other words, where we struggle on the Process of Innovation how can we better monetize what the organization generally does so well? How can the organization more effectively close The Gap?
This process of innovation is what I frequently refer to as “the middle” - the cycle of moving an idea through the innovation process, across the gap, bringing ideas to scaled reality and making a real difference to the enterprise.
Managing the process of the middle takes a balance of the right talent (to be clear, realizing a truly innovative idea, one with no clear set pattern or organizational precedent to follow). There may be levers of uncertainty to clear, management decisions to make, before a standard project can mobilize, and that requires leaders able to tolerate and break through ambiguity.
Getting this right, de-qualifiying and stopping non-scalable ideas early, sustaining investments for transformative ideas needing time, and learning lessons along the way - this is what is needed to unlock the value do doing things that matter and make innovative difference to the enterprise organization:
Ideas to projects
Projects to product solutions
Solution to market offerings
Offerings to revenue