Tony Morgan
Executive Architect and Industry Technical Leader at IBM and RAEng Visiting Professor in Innovation at the University of Leeds. https://engineering.leeds.ac.uk/staff/885/Tony_Morgan
Location Yorkshire, UK.
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Tony Morgan made a comment
Some great comments on Design Thinking - the approach can be used in many contexts and I'd encourage people to try it out.
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Tony Morgan replied to Ana N
Thanks Ana - we firmly believe that driving and managing innovation "by design" is key for organisations in all industries.
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Funding can be a critical blocker to innovation, particularly in the early stages before a business case is clear. This is sometimes true in both the public and private sectors.
One tip is to look to see if there may wider innovation investment funds which can be tapped into, Often these are not well advertised but the search can be worthwhile.
I...
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It's great to see the range of views being expressed below and how course attendees are relating the content to the challenges in their own company, industry or country context. Let's keep the conversations going.
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This is a very interesting view.
Here's an interesting articles focused on using a series of patterns focused around data to create transformational innovation. I hope you find it interesting - https://hbr.org/2014/01/the-new-patterns-of-innovation -
And more on design thinking in the coming sessions too.
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Hi Mike - That's an interesting view. In my experience though design thinking can be used in many contexts.
For example, many of the design thinking workshops and activities I work on are not directly linked to software development.
I work a lot with retailers and I've run design thinking workshops to better understand and generate improvements with... -
Tony Morgan made a comment
A great discussion so far. I like the range of views, experience and thinking from across a range of industries. Making innovation work is relevant for all organisations from start-ups to established multi-nationals.
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Tony Morgan made a comment
Hello everybody and welcome to the course. It will be great to read your introductions and expectations here and interact with you over the next two weeks.
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Tony Morgan replied to Craig N
Hi Craig - Great question - but as the MOOC is intended to be relatively short and sharp it doesn't go into this level of detail. Depending on the organisation, context and challenge obviously the recommendations could vary greatly.
I believe the University team is happy to follow up and discuss mechanisms for supporting organisations move forward outside...
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Tony Morgan replied to Craig N
@JAIMEHERRERAFARIA I totally agree with this thread - stories are very powerful and make the message real and memorable.
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One tip is to drive one or two small quick win innovations into delivery quickly and then very positively communicate the benefits and impact. This can greatly help gain momentum and create a buzz about innovation in the organisation.
Another tip is to find out what is important to the execs funding innovation activities - and focus some of the innovation... -
Tony Morgan replied to Craig N
Interesting - many thanks for sharing these with us Craig.
In terms of thinking like someone else, De Bono's "Six Thinking Hats" approach can be useful to assist with taking a positive, critical, analytical and so on view of a potential innovation. There are lots of books and online articles if people are interested in trying this out. -
Some excellent points. I think having all the enablers in place is very important.
The point on having an innovation "space" is also an interesting one. In my view the innovation culture is primarily about the people. Having a funky area can be fun but to drive maximum benefits ideas and innovation need to come from across the organisation and workplaces,... -
Sounds like the organisation is learning and heading in a positive direction. From experience positive communications of initial success stories can also be very powerful as a means of developing momentum.
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Unfortunately this does happen in some organisations. You can generate lots of great ideas but if none are taken forward because not all the enablers are in place this can soon create the opposite of an innovation culture. On the flip side even a small number of scale innovations where people can see that their ideas are making a difference can have a very...
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From my experience these five key enablers are critical to drive innovation on a repeatable and systematic basis.
One common challenge is the lack of funding models for the early stages of innovation development before the business case is clear. If this is the case it will be difficult to develop anything new - as generally some work is needed to verify the... -
The link works for me. Here is a direct link to the PDF. https://public.dhe.ibm.com/common/ssi/ecm/gb/en/gbe03625usen/global-business-services-global-business-services-gb-executive-brief-gbe03625usen-20180502.pdf
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Some great points. We cover more on design thinking, open innovation and IP during the module, so will be interested in your thoughts later in the course.
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A great discussion!
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We have a focus on design thinking in week 2. It is a fascinating area and I personally believe that design thinking provides a great set of tools and techniques to add to the innovation manager's kit bag.
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We have a focus on design thinking in week 2. It is a fascinating area and I personally believe that design thinking provides a great set of tools and techniques to add to the innovation manager's kit bag.
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@PaulKent Hi Paul - This is an interesting challenge and definitely fits well with the enablers we'll discuss in one of the following sections of the course.
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Tony Morgan made a comment
Hi everyone - welcome to the course. It's great to see the introductions and that we once again have attendees with a diverse set of backgrounds and interests. We're looking forward to interacting with you in the coming days.
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Tony Morgan made a comment
Design thinking is a very powerful approach. As described in the video IBM has widely deployed design thinking skills across the organisation. Many other organisations are also using design thinking to ensure their solutions, products, services, processes, etc are focused on the end user.
I'm looking forward to reading everyone's thoughts on the topic.
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Tony Morgan replied to Nancy Meier
Hi Nancy - We did discuss this area in the Q&A discussion. An innovation agenda has to be developed in the context of the organisation. If you can have a listen to the playback and let us know if you have specific questions.
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An interesting discussion. Kodak was definitely one of the early developers of digital photography technology as Nancy says - and as Daniel says perhaps the real challenge was the speed of evolving the business model and being able to monetise what in effect became a disruptive technology in their industry.
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Hi Jane / Roger - Blockchain is definitely a technology which has real potential to create disruptive (and non-disruptive) innovations in multiple industries. It has a platform element which an ecosystem can be built around and this is common with a number of other disruptive technology led innovations. It's certainly an area which IBM is focusing on heavily,...
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Hi Jahangir - Thanks for the feedback. I understand the challenge you raise.
In terms of funding it is always best to have even a relatively small "innovation fund" for the early stages of the innovation process which can be used to develop ideas to verify if there is likely to be a business case for further investment. In the public sector there may be...
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Tony Morgan made a comment
Thanks everyone for the comments so far. They are a great mix of observations, reflections and questions. Please keep them coming!
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Hi Paulo - Great points. There are definitely advantages for both large and small companies. The other point I'd make is that they can also learn from each other. For example IBM has developed an internal venture capital like programme which enables very fast decisions and provides funding for innovation projects with clients for projects which meet a set of...
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Tony Morgan replied to Sarah Nash
Hi Sarah - Sorry about that but don't worry we're very happy to take additional questions - you can still post these onto the Live Q&A page and also there will be a collaboration chat option during the live session for everyone to post questions and comments. I hope this helps?
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Hi Rachel - This is a great point. Funding for the early stages of innovation, prior to the business being clear is a key enabler. It's also important to make fast decisions on whether the innovation once funded and looked into is likely to have a benefit and needs further investment because the business case is becoming clear. Or equally whether it should be...
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This sounds a very promising approach. It will be great to see how these ideas progress through to delivery and value. Many thanks for sharing.
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I agree. Leadership commitment and support for innovation is vital. The leaders are also vital as they establish the environment for the other enablers - people, process, funding and culture.
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Very valid comments. Each of the enablers is critical and without a process or processes to move ideas to value, innovation success is likely to be limited. Also a great point on evaluation - ensuring the benefits are realised and critically positively communicating the value as part of driving an ongoing innovation culture.
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Hi Gareth - I totally agree - this is a great point.
Organisations need to consciously drive the process or processes of generating and finding the best ideas and driving them through to implementation and benefits - and also positively communicate the impact.
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Hi Laurence - I don't think it needs to be complex - but needs to be implemented "by design" rather than by accident - and focus on the context of the organisation, whether big or small. I'm also a fan of taking multiple approaches as innovation as shown during the course is a multi-faceted thing.
A positive example of a small company doing this was a...
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Interesting comments. Here's a few thoughts to add to the discussion...
Often people don't hear about IBM as they hear about other tech companies because IBM's markets and customers are enterprises rather than end consumers.As discussed in some of the other sessions on the course IBM is a disruptor and also being disrupted at the same time. Now is a...
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Hi Lynsey - Interesting comments. I hope the Design Thinking section of the course will be interesting - all about designing and delivering fast innovation with the end user at the centre of the process.
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Hi Laurence - The "culture" enabler is a wide ranging item with many aspects and interlocks with the other enablers. It could almost be a course on its own but I'll add a few thoughts here.
To be successful the innovation culture within an organisation needs to be thoroughly supported by the organisation's leadership and empower everyone to think about how...
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Hi Diana - I'm also a big fan of design thinking. We cover this in detail a little later in the course too.
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Hi Pippa - Excellent points. The context of each organisation is different and needs to be taking into account when developing the organisation's approach to innovation.
The point on failure is a common challenge. From experience one approach is to be systematic in investigating a number of things but failing fast (without having spent very much) on the...
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There is a session on Intellectual Property during Week 2, which covers a lot of your points and concerns.
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Tony Morgan replied to james rowell
Hi James - if you are referring to the IBM diagrams. The triangle is showing IBM has three major focus areas - Cloud, Cognitive/AI and Industry focused solutions.
There is a cross over between these - for example a solution focused on addressing challenges in a specific industry (e.g. retail or banking or central government) may use AI and run on the Cloud...
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It is important for an organisation to understand what innovation means in the context of themselves and which types of innovation they wish to focus on. In some organisations innovation is more of a buzzword than something meaningful. Hopefully as the course progresses the real difference will become clearer. If you still see the same challenge nearer the end...
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The point about an "innovation group" is a very good one. Often the best innovation teams are the people who focus on being catalysts for making innovation happen across and beyond an organisation, rather than thinking they are the only ones who drive innovation.
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The culture of an organisation is very important in terms of innovation, as we shall see in future parts of the course.
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Tony Morgan made a comment
Some great points being raised. It is interesting seeing the diverse situation of many different organisations in terms of their maturity and approach to innovation.
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Tony Morgan made a comment
Welcome all to the course - some great introductions and backgrounds. We look forward to interacting with you over the coming sessions.
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Hi Margaret - In response to your questions, in my view the enablers for innovation of leadership, people, process, funding and culture are equally important to making innovation happen in healthcare as in any other industry. Some of the business imperatives for a public body may be different than for a profit driven business but innovation can be targeted in...
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Hi Debbie - Great question. For me the most important aspect of getting it "right" in this case is that the idea is taken forward, delivered and brings value. For that to happen you also need the other enablers around funding, people and process, etc. I hope this helps?
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Thanks Peter - All the feedback from people such as Francisco and yourself will be taken account of as we move forward.
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Tony Morgan replied to Melissa I-B
Hi Melissa - Many thanks for the feedback and yes innovation can be driven at many levels. Best of luck moving forward.
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Tony Morgan replied to David Clark-Wheeler
Hi David - Many thanks for the feedback. On your last point, the best innovation is often in response to a business challenge. Cost saving has been a key innovation focus area for many of the clients I've worked with. Perhaps this would be a great business priority to focus innovation on for your own organisation.
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Tony Morgan replied to Melissa I-B
Hi Melissa - Many thanks for the feedback. We've tried to create a relatively simple mechanism for organisations to consider where they should focus improvements around innovation management "by design". We hope you can use the results to help your own current and/or future organisation(s).
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Hi Francisco - Many thanks for your feedback. We've tried to create a relatively simple mechanism for organisations to consider where they should focus improvements around innovation management "by design". There is more detailed thinking behind this but there is only so much we can pack into a relatively short free online course without overwhelming the...
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Hi Rebecca - You may consider yourself junior at the moment but I'm sure you can see areas where your organisation can improve. It will be very interesting to know in future if the course has helped you to encourage your own organisation to improve moving forward. The educators on this course wish yourself and all the other students the very best for the future.
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Hi Kieth - Many thanks for the feedback. We've tried to create a relatively simple mechanism for organisations to consider where they should focus improvements around innovation management "by design".
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Hi Kieth - Many thanks for the feedback. We've tried to create a relatively simple mechanism for organisations to consider where they should focus improvements around innovation management "by design".
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Tony Morgan made a comment
Some great thoughts and points on IP below. Often the invention and application of it (i.e. the innovation) are core to the success of an organisation, so ensuring you both protect it and gain the greatest value from it is very important. Again it comes back to doing this "by design" rather than by accident.
Of course IBM is a large company and has...
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Tony Morgan replied to Melissa I-B
Often we have users / customers as key members of the team, so the feedback loop is constant. Also DT is often closely associated with agile techniques and processes with users actively engaging and feeding back as part of an iterative process.
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Tony Morgan replied to John Sheehan
Afew additional points to add to the debate. Design Thinking at a component level is really a set of techniques. These can be applied individually or in groups to address specific challenges. Often we use the techniques without saying we're using DT. Having said that many clients I work with are really pleased to see and understand the over-arching approach....
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Tony Morgan replied to Melissa I-B
Hi Melissa - Perhaps you expected this answer but the truth is it depends. The dependency will be on many factors - size, complexity, IP considerations etc. One of the real positives for me though is the hugely increased focus in IBM on agility and speed when working with clients.
This is such a key part of having an innovation culture and design thinking...
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Tony Morgan replied to Melissa I-B
Hi Melissa - From my experience for collaborative innovation between two parties, such a client and service provider, to really work there must something in terms of value in it for both parties. And the more both parties work on how they will achieve innovation together "by design" the greater success they'll likely get. Many organisations fail at this. It's...
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Tony Morgan replied to Rob Swarbrick
It's great to see some of the students using the course content to help with their thinking in this way. We'd be very interested in hearing about the results in the coming months.
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Tony Morgan replied to Marcus Thornton
Hi Marcus - a great point. There is definitely a continuum as you describe, although in my experience not all larger (or smaller) organisations really think this through to drive as much value as they could.
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Tony Morgan replied to Cruz Castillo
Hi Cruz - I agree that context is key. Open innovation targeting key partners will often be hugely beneficial but for some things for the same organisation perhaps it will not always be the right answer. The key as you infer is to select the most appropriate model and approach against the specific need "by design".
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Hi Gerard - This sounds very positive.
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Hi Trevor - I agree on rewards, although the form of the rewards may vary depending on the populations involved.
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Hi Cindy - I think success for an innovation competition and search will be around ensuring some of the ideas identified are taken forward so they are delivered and drive real value for the organisation. The next step would be then to positively communicate the results and then find and progress the next set and so on. I hope this helps.
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Hi Sam - Although I believe the enablers are the same between big and small organisations, the context of the organisation is important. Sometimes smaller organisations can struggle resourcing innovation but often they can be very agile and flexible too, qualities which larger organisations are often striving to achieve and nowadays sometimes...
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Hi Rob - Excellent question. I'm a big fan of positive communication of innovation as part of the innovation culture and as a great way of driving wider engagement.
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Hi Jaime - It sounds like some of the key enablers have been set up but there is still more to do in some areas. I hope you can use the learning from this course to influence your organisation to improve further.
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Tony Morgan replied to Ivan Kriznik
Hi Ivan - Thanks for the feedback. We will introduce at a high level a simple model for considering "innovation maturity" in week two.
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Yes - I agree innovation can sometimes be driven by necessity. Organisations can also gain huge benefit by driving innovation "by design" when things are already going well - before the issues happen.
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Hi José - I think there are a few things here. One is an overall positive culture to innovation in the organisation - starting with the leadership but empowering all employees. We talk more about this further in the course.
A specific lesson I have also learned is the power of positive communications around successful innovations. Highlighting the positive...
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Tony Morgan made a comment
Hi everyone - Welcome to the course.
It is great to see so much interest in innovation and innovation management from people with so many diverse backgrounds and from a wide range of industries and academia.
We hope you enjoy the course and look forward to interacting with you during the coming days.
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Tony Morgan replied to Thomas L
Hi Thomas - That's great feedback. I'd love to find out how you progress in your mission.
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There are some great discussion points below - please keep them coming. I am glad so many people recognise the importance of an innovation culture. It is not easy to generate and maintain but will give major benefits. We probably need to cover more on this in future courses - or perhaps it warrants a short course all of its own...
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Hi Joe - There are a number of reports which provide views of most innovative companies etc. They have different methodologies and scoring mechanisms and so sometimes different organisations in their rankings. I don't work for BCG so can't comment on why they rank individual companies.
The link to the BCG report is included here as an example because it has...
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Hi Melissa - I hold my hand up for putting in that "answer" as an option. It is surprising how many organisations do highlight innovation as a key priority but don't put the enablers in place to make it happen on a systematic basis.
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Hi Matthew - Good points. If the situation is as you describe, I would say the Leadership is not yet quite right because the Leaders need to put in place the other enablers to make innovation really happen on a systematic basis. For example funding is needed for early stage innovation work BEFORE the business case is clear. This is a key enabler which Leaders...
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Hi John - A great point. From experience a key part of innovation culture is the positive communication of innovation approaches and success stories.
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Tony Morgan replied to John Colyer
Hi John - The ratio will vary with the context of an organisation and also the industry. It sounds like your organisation focuses on all three areas and as you say at this time has a specific focus on the Transformative aspect for sound business reasons, which is very positive.
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Hi Antonio - This is a very interesting point. Many organisations have a low threshold for acceptance of failure.
Perhaps it is the context of a "failure" which is most important. For example if an idea is investigated and discounted at an early stage without significant investment, some people would describe this as "failing fast" and acceptable, assuming...
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Hi Desiree - The point on leadership is that typically the leaders of an organisation set the direction and budget. They are also the ones with the power to put in place the other key enablers for innovation. People (and the other enablers) are equally important but the leaders will have a great influence on making innovation systematic "by design". I hope...
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Great point - I think you will enjoy the section on Design Thinking as this is about innovation centred on the (internal or external) end user.
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Hi Anamika - You raise a great point. Some organisations (large and small) do talk about innovation but don't really deliver it systematically. Hopefully during the course yourself and the other learners will see some practical things which all organisations can do - especially if you have the support of the leadership team in doing this.
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Hi John - I think the culture point is very important. It is something often which larger and more established businesses need to consider and change - with a focus on enhanced collaboration and enabling and encouraging thinking time for ideas - plus having a process, people and funding to take the best identified ideas forward. To make this happen innovation...
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Tony Morgan made a comment
Hi all - Welcome to the course.
It is great to see so much interest in innovation and innovation management from people with so many different backgrounds and from a wide range of industries and academia. One thing I'd add to the course content is my belief there is not one single right answer or approach to improving the way innovation is managed,...
