According to a Broadridge report, 50% of C-suite executives admitted that they struggled to find the right balance between innovation and day to day operations. Another study conducted by Lenovo shows that 83% of IT leaders face budget constraints. They don’t have enough funds to spend on innovation which is why their digital transformation and innovation journey comes to a standstill and eventually fails.
Another reason for failure is lack of an innovation strategy. According to a report, 54% of businesses have an innovation strategy while 56% don’t. Out of these 56%, 41% are currently developing an innovation strategy. There are many more mistakes businesses make that can negatively impact their innovation.
Table of Contents
10 Common Mistakes That Can Hamper Your IT Innovation
1. Poor Innovation-Business Objective Alignment
2. Not Aligning Innovation With Business Value
3. Not Looking At The Big Picture
4. Developing a Wrong Culture
5. Ignoring The Basics
6. Downplaying Required Skills
7. Neglecting Low Hanging Fruits
8. Non Serious Attitude Towards Risks
9. No Course Correction Despite Stumbles
10. Being Complacent
10 Common Mistakes That Can Hamper Your IT Innovation
Here are ten common mistakes that can halt your IT innovation.
1. Poor Innovation-Business Objective Alignment
Business objectives and innovation goals move in different directions. This creates problems. Your goal as an IT leader is to map innovation objectives with business objectives so that your innovation efforts can support business strategy instead of opposing it.
Who does not want to work on the next big thing but C-suite executives want you to provide them with a roadmap that helps them visualize what the journey would look like? Not only that, you will also have to align it with business objectives to get their buy-in.
2. Not Aligning Innovation With Business Value
Probably the biggest reason why innovation fails is because innovation advocates don’t tie innovation with some form of business value. You will easily see leaders present their innovative ideas in a controlled environment or in a scientific lab but when it comes to real business value, they don’t have an answer. Yes, they might have a proof of concept but it won’t be enough to convince board members. They want to see it in action in the production environment and want to know what business value it can deliver to business.
3. Not Looking At The Big Picture
Before adopting any new technology, it is important to know the upsides and downsides of that technology. Look at your specific business use case before deciding whether to adopt it or not. Most businesses tend to follow the crowd and adopt a technology that is not the right fit for them. You must look at the big picture and future prospects of the technology before diving in.
4. Developing a Wrong Culture
Almost one-third of organizations believe that culture is one of the barriers to innovation. It is important to have a conclusive environment that can fully support your innovation initiatives. As a business leader, your job is to sow the seeds of an organizational culture that is conclusive to innovation. Encourage employees to try new and innovative ideas and challenge traditional beliefs. It is much easier to innovate if you have an organizational culture that supports it as compared to an organizational culture that opposes it.
5. Ignoring The Basics
In the quest to innovate and chase the next big technology, most businesses tend to sway away from the basics. Irrespective of which technology you are adopting and the innovation you are making, it is important that it is easy to use and cross-compatible with your existing technology architecture. You don’t want to jump into something that is totally new to your employees or have a steep learning curve attached to it.
6. Downplaying Required Skills
When it comes to innovation, most businesses make decisions quickly in order to gain a first-mover advantage. As a result, they tend to overlook things that are pivotal such as resources and skills required for the innovation initiative to succeed.
Miscalculating the skills required to accomplish success with your innovation initiative can have detrimental effects on the outcome. You can’t just expect them to instantly adjust in your organization. They will take their time to settle in. You need to show patience.
7. Neglecting Low Hanging Fruits
Whenever you are embarking on a new challenge, it is imperative that you break down the project into smaller steps. Most businesses make the mistake of trying to do too many things at once. They ignore quick and easy wins and small steps that can take them to ultimate success. Due to this, they find it much more difficult to complete a project.
8. Non Serious Attitude Towards Risks
Some businesses are too circumspect while others are too reckless when it comes to innovation and risks. You should be somewhere in between the two in order to succeed. Some technologies might seem innovative to implement but can expose you to security risks. That is why it is imperative that you invest in Anti DDoS solutions to protect your business from such attacks. Make sure that you get the buy-in from the business executives and accurately estimate the risks associated with innovation. Take concrete measures to minimize the risk so that your project can achieve its objectives successfully.
9. No Course Correction Despite Stumbles
Knowing when to pivot is crucial as most businesses struggle with it. They stick to approaches that do not deliver the desired outcomes. This results in a waste of time and precious resources. It is better to change course when things are not working out instead of applying the same formula again and again.
10. Being Complacent
One of the biggest enemies of innovation is complacency. Unfortunately, many successful businesses are guilty of that. Innovation is mostly disruptive and you should understand this. It might force you to walk an unexplored path and you should be ready to do that.
What factors are negatively impacting your innovation initiatives? What are you doing to address them? Share it with us in the comments section below.
