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The ten barriers to innovation

Posted by lucyinnovation on Monday, May 26, 2014 Leave a Comment

Last year I interviewed some of the key influencers in the notfor-profit sector for Innovation Still Rules to find out what they thought the biggest
barriers to successful innovation were. This is what they told me.
1.Fear: The single biggest reason why most organisations and individuals do
not achieve their full potential is fear of failure. There are no guarantees that
any new idea will work. We must accept failing is an important part of
learning, development and progress.
People demand innovation: something no one has done before. But they also want
to know for sure it will work. Which of course makes no sense at all Ken Burnett
2. Lack of leadership: Innovation must be led from the top. Often, trustees,
chief executives and directors do not support or are not in agreement as to
the strategic importance of innovation as a business driver and what it
would look like for their organisation. Consequently, they continue to do
what they have always done.
3. Short term thinking: Most charities calculate on a one-year return on
investment. Any new innovation is expected to have immediate impact.
Under the pressure to deliver return quickly we conduct inadequate research
and rush processes, leading to failure, the idea being ditched and innovation
being perceived as not working.
There are few (if any) visible examples of larger charities that have deployed
strategic innovation and shown it is successful. No one has ever committed to it for
long and consistently enough Iain McAndrew

4. Lack of resource/capacity: Linked to thinking in the short term, charities

are apprehensive about investing in something that does not have
guaranteed return on investment and often take a scattergun approach to
innovation or under-resource it. This has a knock on effect of it not delivering
the impact that it should or could.
Hardly anyone has a research and development budget: expenditure with no
income against it for testing Sean Triner
5. Lack of collaboration: Internal budgeting and structures dont always
facilitate collaboration between teams. Individual income targets mean people
fight over budgets and are reluctant to share donors, even if the return for the
organisation could be potentially higher if teams worked together.
6. No time: There is an understandable focus on the fundraising here and
now. However, if we dont start to make time to take a more long-term view and
develop and test new ways to generate income, charities will struggle to
survive.
People havent got time, space, money or the will to focus on something that will
give them a result 3/5 years along the line Mark Butcher
7. Lack of focus: If an organisation is not clear on where to focus, it can
easily spend time on activity that wont make a difference. Its easy to become
distracted by new products and new technology, but if it isnt helping you achieve
your mission then you should not be investing time and resources in it.
Lots of people doing stuff is not really innovation if it isnt the right stuff Ben Welch
8. Lots of ideas, no delivery to market: Having ideas is not a problem
for most organisations, but having relevant ideas and progressing them can
be incredibly hard.
The sticking point is that people say they want to be innovative. They come up with
ideas and then dont do anything Craig Linton
9. No clear process: A process is critical to filter and drive ideas forward,
yet only 32% of those surveyed have a clear process in place for
innovation.
So many ideas slowly die in organisations as they dont have a structure or
processes for taking ideas forward Craig Linton

10. Lack of urgency: Despite significant changes to the funding landscape

and the economic environment, charities are not responding with urgency to
change. Perhaps they believe that if they do nothing they will be OK, or it
seems too difficult to think strategically with so many immediate day-to-day
pressures.
People focus on the here and now the immediate problems they face to get
through the current financial year. The time to think about innovation is
tomorrow Mark Butcher
A year on, have things changed? Do these barriers still exist or are we overcoming
them? Are there different factors that inhibit our ability to innovate or have we
cracked innovation now? Id love to know your thoughts.

Over barrio

Overcoming Barriers to Innovation

BY D A N I E L ON J A N U A RY 1 8 , 2 0 1 3 L E AV E A C O M M E N T

Why talk about barriers to effective innovation? Certainly it helps to identify obstacles
to assist with breaking through to solutions, but nobody intentionally torpedoes a
splendid idea, so surfacing what goes wrong is a powerful way to reduce missteps. If a
barrier gets in the way, slowing or stopping further development, youll never realize its
value. How many great innovations are left on the drawing board? Short answer:
farmore than necessary.
What are some of the major challenges, blockages or things that interfere, and their
corresponding remedies to effective innovation? Based on practical experience and
nearly two decades of teaching applied innovation (including graduate student and MBA
programs on innovation for sustainability) and assisting countless innovation team, Ill
offer the top ten. Many of these may be familiar; others entirely new and different.
The first seven are internal how we tend to get in our own way. The last three are
more external about the market, resources, or business dynamics. Each one is
explained below, with suggestions on how to deal with them and break through to the
other side.
As you read through this set, consider which of these, if any, have your name on them
those are the ones, once understood, that can deliver the greatest benefit.
1.

Buying into preconceived limitations

2.

Letting the inner critic stop you

3.

Lack of focus; inability to follow through

4.

Lack of vision, imagination or creativity

5.

No idea how youd implement an innovation

6.

Lack of self-confidence, and its polar opposite cousin, #7

7.

Being disconnected from practical reality (e.g., overconfidence, arrogance);

8.

No business case

9.

Marketability, timing, or cultural barriers

10.

Lack of time, money, or other resources.

(click on any of the above to jump to the related explanation)

1. Buying into preconceived limitations due to FUD (fear, uncertainty, doubt) or

false maps of reality. Making needless negative assumptions about what is possible, such
as assuming you cannot successfully innovate. Stinkin thinkin. Being too much of a
realist and worshipping outmoded but familiar ideas, limiting beliefs, unsustainable
values, ineffective strategies or principles (collectively myths). The mental model,
story, or worldview is not the truth.
This is the tyranny of dead ideas and can be subtle, even invisible, at first. Examples:
a. The past equals the future (but if we dont know history, were doomed to repeat it, so
learn from that)
b. Theres a tradeoff between profit and sustainability* hover mouse to see reference
c. I cant come up with an effective innovation I dont know how. [see barrier #5,
below] How do you debunk common myths about sustainability, innovation or even
myths about yourself?
Antidote (how to avoid this pitfall): bypass and stretch beyond what you think is
possible. Act as if. Prove to yourself that a previously held limiting belief, or other
misperception, is not real. Train your brain to penetrate and thereby burst these bubbles
of illusion by systematically exposing yourself to new ideas, lateral, intuitive, right-brain
associations (such as through mind-mapping, journaling, recording your dreams), or
indulge in your favorite forms of creative expression anything that takes you out of
your habitual, rational and linear ways of thinking (comfort zones).
To transcend perceived limits, be curious and interested in how your own mind
functions. Create a metaphorical observation deck from which you can witness (notice)
your own self-talk. Challenge apparent limitations and test them to see if they are real or
something you made up. Often limits are reflected in our communication, such as
phrases like its impossible or we cant or it will never work. Really? Never?

Most limits are made up by our own fertile imaginations as a way to help us make sense
out of the world, or as a way to be save. By probing and testing the waters, youll
discover that our imagination can be applied in exactly the reverse pulling back the
curtain of whats possible and discovering something new.
Some use mindfulness meditation for this purpose, where you focus on an object (such
as your own breath) and notice what arises. Gently label the thoughts as they are (Oh,
planning. Im thinking about planning.) and return your focus to the object you are
contemplating, such as your in/out breathing.
The brain is extremely pliable (termed neuroplastic), capable of new and surprising
flexibility if you simply practice and train for it. The more plastic and flexible, the better
you are at invention, creativity and learning. It takes patience, but once you set the
intention, if you allow enough time for solutions to arrive, you will also observe certain
preconceived limitations falling away. Prepare to be amazed by whats possible.
2. Letting the inner critic stop you. Giving critical evaluation more power than it
deserves. Listening to the critical voice, AKA the spoiler, at the wrong times. Accepting
critically harsh negative opinions over your calculated sensibilities or true hearts
desires. Letting criticism step on the dream or plan without requesting that such
feedback be constructive.
Antidote: Ask the critic to wait outside until you ask for feedback, and then make it
constructive. Within the imaginative loops, please suspend all judgment and criticism.
Then focus on improvement and opportunities for learning.
3. Lack of focus; inability to follow through. Too much vision and opportunity to
pick out the few top contenders? Perpetually getting ahead of yourself? All roads seem
about the same just different scenery?
The antidote starts here: Whats the real goal? What do you really want? What will that
do? How will you know youve been successful? Write this down. Do it now.
For some people, the safety of staying in idea land, keeping all possibilities open but
barely undifferentiated, provides residual comfort. This intellectual pursuit can be a
safety net; for awhile, anyway. Develop a tighter screen, evaluate, score and rank each
innovation according to your real criteria and then pick one or two for action. If thats
not helpful, you probably need to hire a coach so you can get out of analysis paralysis
and begin to plan out how youd do the thing. Whats the first thing youd do to make
innovation happen in the marketplace? When you take steps toward a plan of action you
quickly discover the true potential.

4. Lack of vision, imagination or creativity.Acquire or develop the ability to think

in broad terms, to envision a future that has the qualities and ideals that you and others
would want to see. Tell someone else about this vision, however nascent or vague and
together you can describe and add in detail to make it more real and believable. What
would you see, hear, feel, sense, be doing (or not doing), look like, sound like, and how
would others perceive it with their own senses? Draw from subtle cues and examples of
future possibilities that you find inspiring. Or simply adopt someone elses vision as your
own.
Not normally open to change, new ideas or possibilities? Kind of a realist, rationalist or
skeptic? Open up the right-brain, associative and intuitive aspect of your mind
practice thinking laterally and not so linearly. How? Start by putting yourself into a
creative and imaginative state such as when deeply relaxed, just before falling asleep at
night, through meditation, certain kinds of music, settings, etc. Use a mind map to bring
out hidden connections. Use metaphor, analogy, adventure, poetry, the arts (including
storytelling) to spark new insight and awareness. Hang out with creative/artist types to
model and discover their sources of creative inspiration.
5. No idea how youd implement an innovation. Once you have an innovation in
mind, imagine the thing fully realized, the problem(s) solved, and the innovation
flourishing in the world. Step into that moment in the future when this has happened.
What was the last thing you did right before that happened?
Now youve got the beginning of a pathway to success. What skills are needed to make
this innovation real? What skills do you have, and which ones would you need to acquire
or borrow through the contributions of others?
Reading this explanation is not the same as doing it. To truly respect your innovative
ideas, youll need to come up with a plan and act on that plan. Ask for help. In history,
no worthwhile new idea has been brought to the market as a solo mission. Forming your
collaboration team is essential to realizing the vision you have imagined for the majority
of innovations.
The social aspects of innovation building a stellar team that works collaboratively and
trusts each other are often the key maker/breakers. But trust is more than holding
confidentiality, it has been called the heart of teamwork (from innovators at SRI
International). Without establishing your trust-based team, you will inevitably leave
customer value on the table.
The quality of an innovation can only be determined when it is applied to real situations
and customer value can be realized. Will the value manifest or fall by the wayside? We

all have blindspots, so the only reliable way to ensure success is collaboration, clearing
up any
We use a proven toolset called Manifesting Vision. Whats the first thing youll do, and
when will you do it?
6. Lack of self-confidence. Though you are good at some aspects of this, and few
innovations of value are ever brought to fruition by just one person, how can you gain
the confidence in your own abilities to pursue your best and most intriguing ideas? Not
every idea deserves further exploration, but at least some definitely do. How would you
know if you had an idea with potential? Believe in yourself. Find people you want to work
with that also support and believe in your vision.
7. Being disconnected from practical reality, an overly positive or biased
assessment of whats possible, unable or unwilling to question ones own assumptions,
disinterested in feedback or learning. This is the same but opposite of buying into
preconceived limitations above, the opposite of #6, and relatively uncommon. Not
enough reality mixed with passionate idealism, worshipping false beliefs,
unsustainable values, or unnatural principles can be remarkably destructive. If moral or
emotional development are lacking, this can lead to arrogance, self-aggrandizement, selfserving goals and ultimately unsustainable results. Lack of social and technical
development can yield bold, dangerous and even powerful (if not short lived) tools and
weapons.

Finally, three External Barriers:

8. No business case no demonstrable way to make money with the innovation.
Whether near-term or longer-term value, there must be a way for the business
innovation to flourish over the life of the plan. Do the math. Make worst, best and most
likely scenarios and test assumptions. Get feedback from would-be customers. If you
can, get it writing (even a written expression of interest is better than just the anecdote
about how somebody said they liked or would buy the innovation). If this isnt fun for
you, involve someone with analytical abilities beyond your own; ask them to coach you.
9. Marketability, timing, or cultural barriers. An innovation might be too far
ahead of its time or too late to catch on, or if the intended market has inherent cultural
barriers, an innovation might not become commercially viable. Consider the experience
and world view of the intended market. Understand the market drivers, the sources of
pain (sometimes called pain points), and the forces enabling and inhibiting adoption
of your proposed solution? Why would the target customers buy or not buy your
innovation?

In what ways do you resemble the target market? What are the key differences? If you
were part of that market, would you adopt the innovation? If not, why not, and what can
be done about it?
If the timing of your innovation risks being seen as too late to gain adequate market
share (your solution will be perceived as quite similar to what has already been
commercially accepted), what the difference that will make all the difference? New
features and benefits, such as more environmentally preferable or responsible that the
dominant approach(es)? Different target audience, for whom access to or awareness of
alternatives have limited adoption? New delivery method? Whats the new thing and
why will it succeed in the marketplace? How do you define success anyway? Come up
with at least three measures the how you will know youve succeeded?
If the timing is too early, as is commonly the case with innovations for sustainability
(technology leads market readiness), what news, events, or perceived value must arrive
before sufficiently widespread adoption of this new approach can and will flourish?
10. Lack of time, money, or other resources. Thats what partners or teams are for.
A bit of leadership and effective communication can compensate for a lack of funding or
other resources. Pitch your innovation to potential partners and see who is willing to
participate. Attract others through clearly articulating what the innovation can do (triple
bottom line benefits), the compelling problems or market pain that it resolves, and
what is necessary to make it real. No time? Wait until you do or practice the art of dealmaking to get someone else to run with the innovation.
Across all of these barriers, the antidote is to focus on 360 degree feedback and learning.
Which of these have you run into? Experiment, test some of these ideas, then come back
to this article and add your views. Innovation is a perpetual work-in-progress and wed
love to hear from you.