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You’ve downloaded <a href="https://www.delve.com/five-reasons-why-companies-fail-to-innovate" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Causes of Innovation Failure,</a> Delve’s report describing the five critical failure modes that can stifle a company’s ability to innovate. You’ve read our recent blog post, <a href="https://www.delve.com/insights/stop-trying-to-innovate-try-this-instead" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Stop Trying to Innovate. Try This Instead.</a> Now, you’re hungry for simple, clear examples of what innovation enablement looks like in the real world. 
You’ve come to the right place. Here are five concrete steps organizations can take to enable innovation, and the stories of what happened when companies put them into action.

Delve's experts in insights, strategy, design, and engineering can guide you through an end-to-end innovation process that delivers results.

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Orgs enable innovation inline1 google

<h4>1. When teams are released from the relentless pressure of safe, short-term, typically incremental work, they are empowered to make space for more experimental, longer-term, potentially disruptive thinking and doing. </h4>
<ol></ol>
Instead of telling your team, “There are too many unknowns with that idea, just stay with projects with proven ROI,” you might say “Let's set aside four hours every week. You decide how to use this time. We’ll go over progress at our weekly check-in.”
Google famously embraced this philosophy in 2004 with their “20% time” rule, which encouraged employees to spend 20% of their time working on whatever they thought would most benefit the company.
Google <a href="https://www.inc.com/bill-murphy-jr/google-says-it-still-uses-20-percent-rule-you-should-totally-copy-it.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">credits</a> 20% time for several of its most successful features and services, including Google News, Gmail, Google Search’s autocomplete system, and Adsense, which now accounts for roughly one fourth of Google’s revenue.
Google employee Paul Buchheit, who used 20% time to come up with Gmail, <a href="http://paulbuchheit.blogspot.com/2009/01/communicating-with-code.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">wrote</a> on his blog: “If you want innovation, it’s critical that people are able to work on ideas that are unapproved and generally thought to be stupid. The real value of 20% is not the time, but rather the license it gives to work on things that 'aren’t important.'”

Read our research report, <a href="https://www.delve.com/five-reasons-why-companies-fail-to-innovate" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Failure Modes in Innovation,</a> for more signs that failure modes may be blocking innovation in your organization.

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Other companies like 3M, Apple, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Atlassian have also implemented their own versions of 20% time.
One company, then known as Targetprocess (acquired by <a href="https://www.apptio.com/products/targetprocess/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Apptio</a> in 2021), took 20% time <a href="https://www.tlnt.com/this-small-company-is-making-20-time-work/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">further</a>: They eliminated managers altogether. Employees manage their own work time and may step away from their normal work whenever they see fit, to learn and innovate, no questions asked.
Founder Michael Dubakov described their program as a long-term investment in building a culture of innovation.
“You can’t enforce innovation,” Dubakov <a href="https://www.tlnt.com/this-small-company-is-making-20-time-work/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">said</a>. “You can try many things, and one of a hundred might work out into something great. You don’t know what you’re going to get.”
If you’re trying to (re)ignite innovation within your organization, 20% time programs are a long-term investment that stacks the odds in your favor—first, by attracting growth-minded employees, and then by empowering them to explore new ideas.

Orgs enable innovation inline2 jj

<h4>2. When an organization is aligned around a clear, concrete, and cohesive vision, individuals are empowered to make vision-aligned decisions, simply by virtue of having a well-defined yardstick.</h4>
Beyond that, people are equipped with purpose—the most powerful force of forward progress.
As the world’s largest healthcare company, Johnson & Johnson has immense influence not only on customer experience and patient outcomes, but also, more broadly, on the industry as a whole.
The company’s extraordinary reach as an industry leader, combined with their stated <a href="https://www.jnj.com/about-jnj" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">mission</a> to “improve access and affordability, create healthier communities, and put a healthy mind, body, and environment within reach of everyone, everywhere”—in other words, to serve everyone, not just those historically prioritized by the healthcare industry—means the responsibility they have assumed is enormous.
And they’ve owned it. J&J is regularly <a href="https://belong.jnj.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">recognized</a> for their outstanding Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) efforts, both within and outside the company. For example, the company has been recognized by U.S. Veterans Magazine as the “Best of the Best” for the impact of their diversity initiatives, and is one of only two companies to be included on the Working Mother 100 Best list for the past 28 years.
The company achieves these results by weaving their DEI vision deeply and broadly into the global organization.
“We embed diversity, equity, and inclusion in our businesses, promote equal access to opportunity for all our employees and hold our leaders accountable for all members of their teams,” <a href="https://www.jnj.com/about-jnj/diversity" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">said</a> Wanda Bryant Hope, J&J’s Chief DEI Officer.
J&J starts with a strong, clearly articulated vision of inclusion, but does not stop there. The company’s DEI efforts are championed by top management (Bryant Hope reports directly to the CEO and Chairman) and backed by tools such as employee resource groups, mentoring programs, and a “Diversity University” website to help employees understand the benefits of inclusion and collaboration. J&J’s detailed, public “<a href="https://belong.jnj.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Diversity and Inclusion Impact Review</a>” squarely emphasizes accountability and results.
The proof is in the pudding. Successful, employee-led initiatives like the <a href="https://www.jnj.com/personal-stories/meet-woman-committed-to-creating-inclusive-skincare-products" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Black Innovators in Skin Health QuickFire Challenge</a> demonstrate that J&J employees feel genuinely empowered to share “diverse perspectives to spark solutions that create a better, healthier world” because it is a vision the company has clearly and concretely expressed.
“Personally, when it comes to makeup, finding foundation that fits my skin tone has always been a challenge,” said Amrika Ganness, Director of Strategy and Management Support for J&J Consumer Health North America, about her motivation to lead the challenge. "When I looked at our product line, there wasn’t a shade for me, so I made it my mission to try and expand the range of the brand.”
“I feel I have a responsibility as a woman of color who works in skin health to contribute to helping resolve racial disparities that exist in my industry in a meaningful way,” said Gannes. “I would like to be known as someone who elevated the voices that are less heard and for being someone who didn’t take good as good enough."
Because she already knew that J&J’s vision aligned with her own, Gannes’ inspiration translated quickly into campaign implementation: “I was so excited that I texted my boss with the idea. She was immediately on board, and then she let me take the reins.”
If you want your company mission to drive innovation and impactful business outcomes, express it clearly, concretely, and consistently. Doing so will streamline the flow of ideas throughout your organization and empower employees to act quickly and decisively in service to your vision – and the customers your organization exists to serve.

If your idea or product isn’t pushing the limits of what’s possible…if it’s not challenging the conventional wisdom about what a product can be, it’s not going to be a gamechanger.

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Orgs enable innovation inline3 t mobile

<h4>3. When real and perceived walls are removed throughout an organization, teams are empowered to learn from one another, from customers, and from the market at large. </h4>
Think about how to break down silos or simply reduce the separation between teams and ideas. Or how to minimize the size of feedback loops between customers and decision-makers.
Case in point: When John Legere became CEO of T-Mobile in 2012, he defined his mission as finding and solving customer pain points as a means of fixing a broken industry.
T-Mobile already had tons of data that could have been used to shape the company’s new strategy. But, Legere <a href="https://www.investors.com/news/management/leaders-and-success/john-legere-of-t-mobile-ripped-up-your-wireless-contract/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">decided</a>, “I needed to hear what was wrong firsthand in order to fix it."
He started interacting directly with customers on social media and via email.
He shadowed customer support calls and used the calls to validate (or invalidate) data from internal staff meetings.
He made regular visits to call centers and retail stores throughout the U.S. to keep lines of communication open between him and the employees who interacted with customers most.
Every public company meeting included live Q&A sessions so Legere could interact directly with any of T-Mobile's 50,000 employees.
During Legere’s tenure, T-Mobile did away with wireless contracts and global roaming charges. They initiated no-surprises pricing, unlimited service, and free music streaming.
Between 2012 and 2020, T-Mobile subscribers almost <a href="https://www.investors.com/news/management/leaders-and-success/john-legere-of-t-mobile-ripped-up-your-wireless-contract/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">quadrupled</a>, from around 30 million to 100 million, a growth rate two times AT&T’s and seven times Verizon’s.
“If you ask your customers what they want, and you give it to them, you shouldn’t be shocked if they love it,” Legere <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/t-mobile-ceo-john-legere-interview-2016-10" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">answered</a> when asked to explain T-Mobile's success. “Listen to your employees, listen to your customers, shut the f*** up, and do what they tell you.”

Orgs enable innovation inline4 blockbuster netflix

<h4>4. When decision-makers step away from proven, historical success, they are empowered to respond meaningfully to an evolving market.</h4>
Have you been in business for 30 years? Then you’re obviously doing something right.
But it’s likely that many assumptions and systems upon which your success is built may not be true or helpful anymore. What was true about your customer, your market, your product, and your business 30 years ago may not be true today. Have you reassessed lately, to make sure that what you’re doing makes sense here and now? 
The classic Blockbuster vs Netflix story captures this perfectly. When Netflix arrived on the scene in 1997, Blockbuster was the reigning video rental company, “a <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/gregsatell/2014/09/05/a-look-back-at-why-blockbuster-really-failed-and-why-it-didnt-have-to/?sh=50c290b61d64" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">well-oiled operational machine</a> that could execute with extreme efficiency.” But Blockbuster was slow to identify and adapt to new opportunities. As Netflix emerged with a business model based on what was true (or about to be true), Blockbuster’s approach clung to a model based on assumptions about their customers and their market that were becoming less and less true by the day. "I’ve been frankly confused by this fascination everybody has with Netflix,” Blockbuster’s then-CEO Jim Keyes <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/1645870/brash-management-style-behind-blockbusters-654m-quarterly-loss" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">said</a>. “Netflix doesn’t really have or do anything that we can’t or don’t already do ourselves.” Unlike Blockbuster, Netflix had its eye on evolving customer needs and how technology could be leveraged to meet them. And they didn’t hesitate to disrupt their own business when they identified an even better opportunity to serve their customers. First, Netflix rolled out a DVD-by-mail subscription service that eliminated late fees and the need for physical stores. Then, they offered online video streaming, eliminating the need for DVDs. Later, they became a creator of online streaming content. “Most companies that are great at something, like AOL dialup or Borders bookstores, do not become great at new things that people want,” Netflix CEO Reed Hastings <a href="https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/netflix-ceo-i-slid-into-arrogance/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">said</a> in 2011. Why not? “Because they are afraid to hurt their initial business,” he said. “Eventually these companies realize their error of not focusing enough on the new thing, and then the company fights desperately and hopelessly to recover,” Hastings said. “Companies rarely die from moving too fast, and they frequently die from moving too slowly.” Blockbuster filed for bankruptcy in 2010. In 2022, Netflix is worth about $125 billion.

Forecasting and backcasting provide a framework for disruptive innovation by establishing a solid structure to support big, strategic thinking.

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Orgs enable innovation inline5 stanford research

<h4>5. When individuals are empowered to release themselves from overly limiting constraints, as well as the comfort of an immediate answer, they are equipped with a mindset of bold creative possibility that is otherwise inaccessible.</h4>
When we embrace ambiguity and uncertainty, we give ourselves the opportunity to explore—and to eventually discover something transformative.&nbsp;
Instead of jumping to the “obvious” answer to any given challenge, ask: How would a different organization or industry answer this question? Or, if we had unlimited time and resources, how would we approach this project?
Suspending the weight of reality – even temporarily– means we have the freedom to dream boldly, beyond what previously felt possible. Then, with intention and when truly helpful, we can introduce the constraints that drive us toward achievable outcomes.
Research by <a href="https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/faculty-research/faculty/justin-berg" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Justin Berg</a> at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business underscores the importance of exploring a range of possibilities and suspending premature judgment at the beginning of creative endeavors.
Berg wanted to understand how well individuals evaluate the innovative potential of their own ideas during the early part of the creative process when rough ideas are first being generated. 
He conducted five experiments, challenging participants with creative projects like developing an innovative piece of fitness equipment and a way to keep drivers from falling asleep in self-driving cars.
Participants came up with three or four initial ideas, then were asked to rank the ideas before developing them further.
A separate panel of experts and consumers later rated the creativity of the participants’ ideas.
Participants tended to under-rank their own highest-potential idea, Berg <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0749597818308124?via%3Dihub#preview-section-introduction" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">found:</a> “The initial idea that participants thought was their second best tended to actually be their best idea in the end.”
Choosing the “winning idea” or “best solution” too early in the process could be undermining your creativity.
“We’re probably killing a lot of our best ideas early in the creative process without knowing it,” Berg <a href="https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/why-your-best-idea-may-be-your-second-favorite" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">said</a>.
To generate more innovative outcomes, allow more time for ideas to percolate and evolve.
Resist the impulse to dismiss ideas prematurely. Explore more ideas, and explore them more deeply, before deciding which ones to pursue.

Readers with a particularly keen eye might have noticed two threads that permeate the examples shared in this post.
If you look closely, you’ll see that in each case, individuals and/or teams feel (and, importantly, are) empowered to do innovative work, and they are also equipped with the tools, resources, and time they need to do it.
In our next post, we’ll dig into these two elements to understand innovation enablement more deeply, as well as how to approach it with a simple formula.
See you next time. This article was written by Taylor Cone.

Learn more about <a href="https://www.delve.com/services" target="_blank">Product Development & Design Services at Delve.</a>

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What It Looks Like When Organizations Enable Innovation—By Design

What It Looks Like When Organizations Enable Innovation—By Design

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