Clarification of an organizations' foundation:

"Start with why" today is one of the most popular wordings, also because it reflects key challenges on "the future of work" and successful organizations in the age of permanent transformation and renewal. An anchored "meaning" can support the motivation of the teams, creates the foundation of a fruitful culture, and helps through substantial transformation processes.

 

The organizations' purpose also represents the starting point for identification and assessment of strategic options. This does not make financial considerations obsolete, at least in most organizations... .

 

Make Ideas Real challenges the status quo and supports the clarification of a consistent self-conception.

 

 

Identification of strategic options and the needs for innovation

Under VUCA conditions in many fields of business, characterized by  high uncertainty & volatility, ever increasing complexity and significant ambivalence, makes "classical" strategy frameworks taught over decades in leading business schools around the world – Porter perhaps the most prominent – more and more useless. Blurred market boundaries help ideas like the arena concept – McGrath et al – to gain grounds in times, when new entrants like tech giants can enter "our" markets with new business or platform models anytime, with dramatic shifts in the distribution of profit pools.

 

Two questions to start with help to get a better view on the situation today and the way forward: a) how accurate can we predict future developments?, and b) to what extent can we influence these future developments, assuming we are able to survive at all. 

The answers to these questions help to unveil the range of  strategic options and indicate suitable initiatives.

 

Make Ideas helps in this process and provides action oriented  recommendations for next steps.

  

 

Setting up the organization for innovation and for the creation of the future

Today the topics of 'innovation' and 'strategy' are interlinked stronger than ever, or even considered as two sides of the same coin (e.g. Govindarajan). For years innovation is on top of the agenda of CEO's and Boards around the world, but in most cases the results stay behind the expectations. At the same time new books, articles, "recipes" are published, explaining how companies can succeed in the field of innovation, either within the core business (digitization, from product to service, …) and/or outside the core via 'disruptive' , radical or transformational innovation.

 

Make Ideas Real provides orientation, and develops action oriented solutions customized for your organization. 

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Achieving ambidexterity, driving innovation both in- and outside of the core business.

The concept of "ambidexterity" or phrased more implementation oriented "dual innovation" reflects the state-of-the-art and offers a handful of systematic structured approaches. The different 'commandments' for innovation inside and beyond the core are reflected in specific yet customized recommendations for governance and organization, processes, and metrics.

 

On basis of a structured thorough analysis Make Ideas Real develops an action oriented implementation plan for your organization, including governance, guiding principles, decision rules, job profiles. 

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Launching "radical" innovations successfully:

Shaping organizational capability to develop 'radical' innovation requires : 1. Sufficient resources: money, but also time. 2. The initiative uses effective processes, measuring systems, and compensation and incentive plans. 3. The initiative is protected against the corporate 'immune system', meaning that the situational context is designed and carried by the 'very top' management in a way, that 'corporate anti bodies' cannot easily kill the initiative, and the teams can focus on the tasks at hand and the success of the venture.

 

Make Ideas Real supports organizations in the implementation of the 'right' concept, the development of effective objectives, process landscapes and teams. 

 

Uncurtain the 'myth' of disruption

The term 'disruptive innovation' was defined quite precisely by Clayton Christensen and his team end of the 90-ies with the two types 'low end' and 'new market' disruption. Over the last years, it has been used inflationary for reams of ideas, which aim to change the rules of the game or outcomes on markets or market places, or just won't be profitable in the foreseeable future.

A company wide, clear and consistent terminology is an important prerequisite on the journey towards successful innovation. 

 

Make Ideas Real helps to clarify a company wide terminology and communication around innovation.

 

Scale up innovations and create value – to succeed in the 20ies:

While most companies made at least mixed experiences over the last years when it comes to the success of innovation programs and achieved ROI's, another challenge increasingly gains the attention : What do we do as soon as an innovative venture achieves first traction in the market, but with returns being only a small fraction of what we achieve in the core business every month? How can we scale this 'delicate plantlet' up and make it – with the support of the mothership – a future pillar of the overall business?

 

In the meantime successfully tested approaches exist to guide small speed boats through the journey through the 'valley of death' towards an efficiently managed performance engine.

 

Make Ideas Real structures and facilitates scaling-up processes under involvement of all relevant stakeholders.

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