Digital innovation cannot be driven by a committed management team alone. The basic element of digital innovation is people, and according to NNIT's Expectation Barometer, 56 % of respondents also believe that employees are the key players in innovation.
– In general, there is an awareness that innovation cannot be separated from the vital role that employees play. In some cases, it is the employees themselves who identify areas that can be optimized digitally, and they often need to take innovative action to preserve their own value within the company, explains Brian Troelsen, Business Development Director of NNIT.
Digital innovation kan ikke drives af en dedikeret ledelse alene. Grundstoffet i digital innovation er mennesker, og ifølge NNIT’s Forventningsbarometer mener 56 procent af respondenterne da også, at medarbejderne er de primære aktører i innovation.
– Der er generelt en bevidsthed om, at innovation ikke kan skilles fra medarbejderne, som spiller en afgørende rolle. I nogle tilfælde er det dem, der identificerer områder, der kan optimeres digitalt, og ofte er det medarbejderne, der skal tage nye, innovative løsninger til sig og sikre deres forankring, forklarer Brian Troelsen, der er Business Development Director i NNIT.
For this reason, it is worth noting that 20% of the participants in the NNIT Expected Barometer believe that their company's biggest cultural challenge is that there is no digital mindset. The culture is simply not geared to digital innovation.
– If the company is not characterized by an innovative culture, work on digital innovation can meet major challenges: Even if digital strategy, IT competencies, and top management support for innovation are all in place, the employees themselves will often have to bring the solutions into the workplace. If they do not feel part of an innovative culture, many companies will miss out on the huge potential in digital innovation, Brian Troelsen emphasizes.
Og netop derfor er det bemærkelsesværdigt, at en femtedel af deltagerne i NNIT’s Forventningsbarometer vurderer, at deres virksomheds største kulturudfordring er, at der ikke er digitalt mindset. Kulturen er simpelthen ikke gearet til digital innovation.
– Hvis virksomheden ikke er karakteriseret ved en innovativ kultur, kan arbejdet med digital innovation møde store udfordringer. For selvom den digitale strategi er på plads, it-kompetencerne er hentet ind, og topledelsen bakker op om innovative satsninger, er det ofte medarbejderne, der skal bære løsningerne frem. Hvis de ikke oplever at være en del af en innovationskultur, vil mange virksomheder gå glip af store potentialer for digital innovation, understreger Brian Troelsen.
There are a number of things that get in the way of an innovative culture, he points out:
– Rules and regulation are absolutely not good for digital innovation. It's not easy to think "out of the box" if you are working in an error-free culture. So, how are you supposed to implement "fail fast" when failure is not an option? This is a contradiction that can be acutely felt.
One of the basic premises for digital innovation is an experimental approach to work, but experiments can only take place if there is room for failure – and the chance to learn from failure.
Rigid frameworks are especially an issue in highly-regulated industries such as Life Science, but the error-free culture is found in all types of businesses – perhaps mainly in traditional companies with clear command-lines and established processes.
Der er flere ting, der spænder ben for en innovativ kultur, pointerer han:
– Regulativer er bestemt ikke fordrende for digital innovation. Det er ikke nemt at tænke ”ud af boksen”, hvis du bevæger dig i en nulfejls-kultur. For hvordan implementerer man fail fast, når failure is not an option? Det er en kontrast, der er til at føle på.
En grundlæggende præmis for digital innovation er nemlig en eksperimenterede tilgang til arbejdet, men eksperimenter kan kun foregå, hvis det er tilladt at fejle – og blive klogere af det.
Faste rammer er især en udfordring i stærkt regulerede industrier som for eksempel Life Science, men nulfejls-kultur findes i alle typer virksomheder – måske hovedsageligt i traditionsrige virksomheder med tydelige kommandoveje og fastlagte processer.
Brian Troelsen recommends that more companies create an incentive-based structure that puts an end to classical hierarchies and silos, and that they also promote cooperation between different departmental and managerial teams. It must also be clearly communicated to employees that innovation is a priority:
– Build up, for example, an innovation lab, appoint ongoing innovation champions, reward innovation with incentive models (both financial and other types of rewards), and above all make it all hard to say no! – Even at management level. This does not mean that you should say yes to everything, but it does mean replacing the classic short answer of "no" – either by asking for further elaboration to open up for and maybe take on the idea, or setting out the good arguments for the "no". If a company works in this way, it will lay the foundations for a culture where there is no need to discuss why you want to innovate, but why you do not want to innovate.
Brian Troelsen anbefaler, at flere virksomheder skaber en incitamentsstruktur, der gør op med klassiske hierarkier og siloer og fremmer samarbejdet på tværs af fagligheder og ledelseslag – og kommuniker tydeligt, at innovation er en prioritet:
– Opbyg for eksempel et innovation lab, udnævn løbende innovation champions, beløn innovation med incitamentsmodeller (både finansielle og andre typer belønninger), og gør det frem alt svært at sige nej! Også på ledelsesniveau. Det betyder ikke, at du bør sige ja til alt, men det betyder, at du erstatter det klassiske korte ”nej” – enten med uddybende spørgsmål, der udfolder og måske kvalificerer den foreslåede idé, eller med gode argumenter for nej’et. Gør en virksomhed dét, lægger den grundlaget for en kultur, hvor der ikke skal argumenteres for, hvorfor man vil skabe innovation, men hvorfor man ikke vil.
A fundamental change in company culture is of course not an easy task, and especially not when the management team itself is part of the innovation-inhibiting culture.
– Often companies will see a great deal of value in influencing their commercial ecosystem by working together with, for example, start-ups or experienced consultants who dare to take a critical look at the ingrained processes and challenge the "business as usual" mindset, Brian Troelsen explains.
En grundlæggende ændring af en virksomhedskultur er naturligvis ikke en nem opgave. Og særligt ikke når ledelsen selv er en del af den innovationsslukkende kultur.
– Ofte vil virksomheder nok have stor værdi af at påvirke sit kommercielle økosystem gennem samarbejder med for eksempel start-ups eller erfarne konsulenthuse, der tør kaste et kritisk blik på de indgroede processer og udfordre ”business as usual”, uddyber Brian Troelsen.
The Expectation Barometer takes the pulse of digital innovation in Danish and international companies. What differences are there – and where? And what does it require – in strategic, technological and organizational terms – to drive digital innovation to even greater heights?
Try the Expectation Barometer and find out what stage your company is at on the road to digital innovation – and get a personal Benchmark Map. You also get access to an article series about the journey of innovation pioneers towards digital transformation success.
Forventningsbarometeret tager pulsen på digital innovation i danske og internationale virksomheder. Hvilke forskelle er der – og hvor? Og hvad kræver det – strategisk, teknologisk og organisatorisk – at drive digital innovation til endnu større højder? Prøv Forventningsbaromeret og find ud af, hvilket niveau din virksomhed befinder sig på inden for digital innovation – og få et personligt Benchmark Map. Du får også adgang til en artikelrække om innovationspionerernes rejse mod digital transformationssucces.
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Dive into best practices of digital innovation – one of the most widely used and coveted terms in business today.
The publication is the result of NNIT’s latest survey on digital innovation and draws on the answers of 250 respondents in the spring of 2018. Also, we have supplemented the report with interviews of 6 innovative CIOs, who contribute with their insightful input and experiences.
In the publication we delve into the best practices and experiences of these businesses to uncover, what makes the difference between the Navigators, who have taken digital innovation to heart, and the Base Campers, who are making the preparations for future digital expeditions – but aren’t quite there yet.
All that remains is the question – is your company geared towards digital innovation?
Dyk ned i best practice inden for digital innovation – en af de mest anvendte og eftertragtede termer i erhvervslivet i dag.
Publikationen er resultatet af NNIT’s seneste barometerundersøgelse om digital innovation, som trækker på besvarelserne fra 250 respondenter i den førte halvdel af 2018. Vi har desuden krydret rapporten med interviews af 6 innovative CIOs, der bidrager med deres skarpe input og erfaringer.
I publikationen dykker vi ned i virksomhedernes best practices og erfaringer for at afdække, hvad der udgør forskellen mellem Navigatørerne, som for alvor har taget den digitale innovation til sig, og Base camperne, som er i gang med at forberede sig til fremtidige digitale ekspeditioner – men som endnu ikke er helt i mål.
Det eneste, der står tilbage, er spørgsmålet – er din virksomheder gearet til digital innovation?
Get relevant sparring and optimal solutions for your Digital Transformation in the fields of transformation, agility, experiences and security.
Få relevante sparring og optimale løsninger til din digitale transformation inden for transformation, agilitet, produktivitet og sikkerhed.
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