When an organisation decides to invest in innovation, it often activates not only a technical or strategic process, but also an internal dynamic that complicates decision-making. What at first appears to be a clear commitment soon becomes a chain of uncertainties, cross-validations and multiple opinions. It is as if the organisational chart stretches vertically and widens horizontally. Where once there was a clear direction, new levels of decision-making appear… more departments are involved… new voices feel the need to evaluate, question or even redefine the proposal. And while this cross-cutting interest in innovation processes shows that the subject matters, it also introduces noise, friction and, often, paralysis… so much analysis!!!!
Innovation managers know this all too well. They face the daily challenge of justifying why it is necessary to invest in an idea that has not yet shown a return, and explaining why it is not possible to continue doing the same old thing, even if it seems safer. They live with tight budgets, uncertain timelines and the need to align expectations with multiple stakeholders, each with their own vision of what it means to ‘innovate’.
In this context, many key decisions end up depending more on the mood of the day than on the strategic logic that should support the decision. Innovation then becomes a sort of corporate game of chance. Like when, as children, we used to pluck a daisy to find out if someone loved us:
‘Now they approve of me… now they don’t. Now they see it clearly… now they don’t. Now we invest… now we don’t’.’
Although it may seem anecdotal, this dynamic has real consequences. Innovation cannot depend on chance, nor on a succession of subjective ‘yeses’ or ‘noes’. Because while there is doubt, the market moves on, opportunities expire, technologies consolidate and the one that improves competitiveness is someone else. And the most worrying thing is that when this logic is repeated many times, it ends up discouraging the teams that drive innovation from within. Frustration builds up, motivation drops, and what could have been a culture of change towards organisational prosperity becomes a culture of restraint and unease.
This is where technology centres play a key role. Our mission is not to replace business decision-making, but to reduce the risk that surrounds it. We act as agents that provide objectivity, knowledge and technical validation in the different phases of innovation projects:
- We develop proofs of concept to anticipate the viability of a solution before a large investment is made.
- We provide data and evidence to support decisions with greater confidence.
- We connect science and technology with the real challenges of the productive fabric.
- We create safe experimentation environments, where it is possible to fail quickly and cheaply, learn and adjust before scaling up.
In short, we help transform those ‘no’s’ born of fear or uncertainty into ‘yes’s’ backed by knowledge and long-term vision. But in addition to technical support, we help with something equally important: building organisational trust in innovation.
“Technology centres helps on building organisational trust in innovation”
We help to create the necessary framework of trust in the innovation teams that already exist within the company, so that little by little the cultural change that the markets are demanding can be created. We create confidence in the innovation teams: in their judgement, in their knowledge of the business and in their ability to explore, test and build new solutions.
Because innovation should not require redesigning the organisational chart every time something new is proposed. It should not multiply approval levels or cause a cascade of unnecessary revisions. If something has to change in the structure of a company as a result of an innovation project, it should be to enter a new market, launch a new line of business, or scale a differential product that did not exist before.
Innovation processes are not born to complicate the structure of an organisation and much less to complicate the people who are part of the organisation. Innovation will prepare you for the future. And for this, the formula is clear: autonomy, method and expert support. Innovation is not a luxury or a risky bet. It is a strategic necessity to remain relevant. And like any strategy, it must be managed with rigour, with structure and with allies that provide real value. That is what we at the technology centres are here for: to walk alongside those who are leading change, to reduce uncertainty and to help turn good ideas into tangible results.
Innovate for you, innovate for me, innovate for all of us
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