Fearless Innovation

Is Innovation just an overused buzzword? A waste of time? A mere marketing ploy?    Author Alex Goryachev has a simple, resounding response to such questions: No! The Fourth Industrial Revolution is driving change at an unprecedented pace, level, and intensity that is impacting businesses across industries, not to mention our everyday lives. We are rapidly blurring the physical and the digital, transforming the way we live and, in some sense, what it even means to be human. Whether we run a startup or multinational, a nonprofit or academic institution, a city or a whole country, we need to embrace this change to not just survive but thrive under these new realities. In Fearless Innovation, Cisco’s Managing Director of Innovation Strategy and Programs explores how, no matter their function, leaders and managers can cut through the noise to understand change and deliver real results. Goryachev’s actionable, consistent, and timeless innovation principles offer a blueprint to driving growth, enacting change, increasing the bottom line, and creating clear measurable value. Featuring diverse case studies of some of today’s most innovative organizations, historical observations, first-hand experience, and a look at where innovation is thriving, and why, this down-to-earth guide provides advice and clear steps on how to: Get teams to embrace innovation beyond empty slogans Focus on execution of innovation through leadership and strategy Measure the real effects of innovation to showcase ROI and attract investment Break down org silos by empowering effective, diverse, and inclusive teams Drive co-innovation through win-win ecosystem-wide partnerships Organize innovation teams and orchestrate outcomes by leveraging organizational DNA Communicate the value of innovation to differentiate ourselves from competition Written for any organization that wants to stay relevant in the 21st Century, and even beyond, Fearless Innovation offers a step-by-step guide for getting past the confusion, overcoming fear, and getting down to business to create an environment of true innovation.

Acknowledgments ix Introduction: From Buzzword to Reality xi Chapter 1 Innovation is Now or Never 1 Don’t Join the Dying Breeds 3 Work with Change, Not Against It 8 Know When to Take Action 14 Summary: Innovation Waits for No One 18 Chapter 2 No Leadership = No Strategy = No Innovation 25 Recognize How Dysfunction and Stagnation Begin 27 Take Responsibility 30 Ask Questions 32 Clarify and Publish Employee Sentiments, Goals, and Strategy 38 Summary: Lead, Strategize, Innovate 41 Chapter 3 If You Can’t Measure It, You Can’t Manage It 45 Get Real About Innovation 47 Find the Metrics 50 Incentivize Innovation through Radical Transparency 54 Time It Right 58 Summary: Metrics Matter 62 Chapter 4 Innovation is Not Disruption 69 Stop Thinking “Disruptively” 71 Start Thinking Pragmatically 77 Get Back to the Basics 78 Summary: The Pen is Mightier than the Program 83 Chapter 5 The Lonely Innovator Myth 89 Treat Innovation Like a Team Sport 92 Foster Diversity and Inclusion 97 Summary: Innovation is a Team Sport 106 Chapter 6 Innovation Wants to Be Free 111 Come Together 114 Take Co-Innovation to the Next Level 119 Summary: The Freedom of the Ecosystem 128 Chapter 7 Outcomes Must Be Orchestrated 135 Don’t Let Innovation Get Lost 137 Hire a Chief Innovation Officer 139 Put Governance Processes into Action 142 Build Innovation Teams 144 Summary: Orchestrating Invisible Innovation 149 Chapter 8 Communicate, Communicate, Communicate 153 Invest in Communications Skills and Capabilities 156 Start Internally 160 Create Dialogue Externally 166 Summary: Discover, Listen, Act 171 Conclusion: Business as Usual 177 About the Author 181 Index 183