One of the key findings of our 2019 Global CEO Outlook was that 84 percent of the 1,300 CEOs surveyed told us they want a culture where it is accepted that errors and mistakes are part of the innovation process, yet only 56 percent said that they currently have a culture where ‘fail fast’ innovation is celebrated. The paradox is stark; why is innovating seen as ‘unsafe’ when the opposite – not innovating – is perhaps the greatest organisational risk of all? How do we balance the risks that come with innovating against the bigger risk, the existential risk, of not innovating and eventually being disrupted?
The old adage that states that “if you are not going forwards, you are going backwards” is particularly relevant here. Globalisation is lifting consumer expectations, which each of us carry forward into every other facet of our day-to-day lives. We expect, and increasingly demand, Uber-like service, Amazon-like convenience and Apple-like experiences in every interaction; whether it is dealing with a government agency, seeking support from our own HR department, or doing our weekly grocery shopping. With the bar constantly increasing, it is more important than ever that organisations put their customers (both internal and external) at the centre of their innovation agenda, to understand their needs and design solutions that engage and delight them, in order to remain relevant in this hyper-connected world.
No single organisation is big enough to have all of the innovative ideas. Collaboration is the key; with partners, with researchers, with innovative startups and scaleups, and in some cases even with competitors. Through initiatives such as startup accelerator programs, industry clusters and cooperative research centres, we are starting to see greater collaboration across some of our key sectors. By creating these connections and lowering the barriers to adoption of disruptive technologies we can expect to see greater innovation and productivity, underpinning the long-term global competitiveness for our key export industries.
By harnessing innovation Western Australia can not only survive disruption, but we can lead it. In fact, in a number of critical fields, we already do.
By Ashley Brown
