"Many of us crucify ourselves between two thieves...REGRET for the past and FEAR of the future" - Fulton Oursler

I had a recent breakthrough with a client that I wanted to share with everyone.  The lesson is obvious, once you hear the exchange, but it is a message that is getting lost in many organizations today.  I'm paraphrasing since I didn't record the conversation 

CLIENT:    We just simply cannot afford this new innovation management system you propose!
ME:            I see...what part is giving you the most trouble financially?
CLIENT:    All of it!  In this economy, we simply cannot afford to throw money into "maybes"
ME:            Okay...that's fair.  Let me ask you this.  Do you have a cost containment program like Continuous Improvement?
CLIENT:    Yes we do.  It works very well.  We have trimmed a bunch of money off the bottom line.
ME:            Mmm..Hmm...and it still generates savings and improvements?
CLIENT:    Yes, but not as much as it did when we first started.  Got rid of a lot of "dead wood" early.
ME:            Excellent!  That does make sense.  Is the program run out a certain area or department?
CLIENT:    We created a separate team dedicated to coaching, training, facilitating Kaizens...stuff like that.
ME:            Wow!  You put a lot of time and money and leadership into setting that up!
CLIENT:    It wasn't easy.  The management team didn't initially see the benefit of spending money to save money
ME:            Right.  It takes some time to educate them about the benefits and costs
CLIENT:    We started small, had some quick wins, educated the leaders and showed some small cost savings to start
ME:            Sounds like there were some "maybes" to get past early on as you proved out the business benefit
CLIENT:    Yes exactly, it was hard at first...HEY...wait a minute...
ME:            Innovation management is no different from cost management from that perspective
CLIENT:    But there are tools, and training programs, and stuff that has been proven to work
ME:            And the innovation management system I proposed has all of  those as well, just more focused on innovation
CLIENT:    But how can we show ideas paying off like we did by limiting access to the color printer for example?
ME:            Start small, use the tools/techniques available for gathering ideas, try some of the most promising ideas
CLIENT:    That's exactly how we did it in rolling out our Continuous Improvement and Lean programs
ME:            Precisely.  You essentially already "do" innovation management by developing new products and services.
CLIENT:    Mmmm...Hmmm
ME:            But the innovation management system or program helps you "do" it better
CLIENT:    Just like Lean, Six Sigma, Quality Management help us manage costs better
ME:            Now you're getting it! 
CLIENT:    So Innovation Management will help us manage "Income" the way Cost Management helps us manage "Loss"
ME:            Bingo!
CLIENT:    This seems like something management can understand.  Managed growth AND managed cost control.
ME:            So...do you want to walk through my proposed system again?
CLIENT:    Yes, but let me invite a couple members of our management team in...

The moral of this story?  For those of you who currently have cost/quality management systems in place, you've already done most of the dirty work.  You have proven, with an adequate amount of resources (time, financial, people), a set of tools and techniques, and the leadership support behind you, that you can effectively manage variance, waste and the associated costs.  Now, take an equally adequate amount of resources, a different set of tools, techniques and processes, along with that same leadership support, and you can have that same positive effect on managing ideas for new products and services and the associated growth.

If you really, really think you can simply focus on the Loss column of the P&L and maintain your market position, you better get some refresher training on that business degree.  Successful organizations have a balanced focus on both Profit (Growth) and Loss (Cost).  Likewise, successful organizations have a balanced focus on cost containment and new product/service development.

Why not use these recessionary times to build that innovation/growth management program now?  Fill that idea pipeline now.  Start prototyping some new products and/or services now.  If you do, you'll be ready to release them as soon as the economic recovery begins.  You'll be busy capturing market share and welcoming in new customers with your new products and/or services, while your competitors will be emerging from their protective cocoons and just getting started on filling up their idea pipeline. 

Think about it!