Reinvigorating innovation’s value through a global standard
At a glance
Innovation has surpassed “buzzword” status and has become integral for organisations. It is a mainstream imperative, critical for strategic and operational growth. The innovation race will be central to global economic growth, strengthening workforces and tackling the emerging challenges facing society. Organisations must embrace holistic innovation in order to drive growth, uncover and commercialise high-value offerings, develop and attract talent, and solve the critical problems challenging the world.
Businesses may challenge the need for organisation-wide innovation, rather than continuing to view it as an isolated operation or nice to have if time and budget allows. Yet as the ISO 56002 Innovation Management Standard highlights; successful innovation requires structure, organisational infusion, and a best practice foundation.
Recently, a number of GHD Digital’s D-Lab (innovation) team analysed this ISO standard to explore how it can be embedded into the innovation advisory services they provide. Together they share insights into how this specific standard can translate into client value.
The inherent contradiction
Applying a standardised framework to innovation sounds like a contradiction or oxymoron to say the least. Formalising innovation could be seen as diminishing the perceived creativity and free-thinking that innovation demands. Without the freedom of creativity – the agency to think boldly, take risks and challenge beyond corporate barriers, one might think that the tension between the framework’s structure and innovation impairs creativity and the new value that can be created.
Recent studies support this thinking and have found that those organisations formalising innovation have benefitted from significant and positive financial impacts. Despite this, the fundamental tension of innovation between cutting-edge investment and the inherent risk of innovation remains a barrier.
I think it’s fair to say that innovation is not a foreign concept for many of us today,” shared Ricky Dong, Digital Strategy and Transformation Lead – D-Lab, GHD Digital. “However, we will probably get different perspectives of what innovation means and how to make it happen, as we draw on our knowledge, experience, and reflect on our own past learnings. For example, as we embrace a new way of thinking about innovation and improve across the areas of how we work, how clients experience us and the solutions we take to market, innovators may think about tools and techniques such as business transformation, design thinking and continuous improvement.
The Innovation Services delivered for the Level Crossing Removal Project (LXRP), typifies how embedded innovation can result in substantial client value. The team supported a range of innovation-centric solutions, including an innovation strategy, innovation delivery, and innovation culture, within the LXRP Hive innovation program. Recognised as an ABA100 winner for Business Innovation in The Australian Business Awards 2021, The Hive has helped to revitalise how LXRP creates transformative initiatives and positive advancements across projects and the infrastructure sector.
One of the critical components to making innovation successful at LXRP has been the adoption of a common language,” explained Sylvain Emeric, Practice Director - D-Lab, Southern Hemisphere, GHD Digital. “Continuous improvements, research and development or value engineering. These are all areas our team is working with our client on, to make things better and build innovative solutions. Being able to bring people together, working on innovation around a unified and standardised language was a game changer to amplify our innovation efforts and impact.
The path towards assurance and undisputable value
The broader ‘family’ of ISO standards maintains an overarching focus on innovation and offers a best practice – collating the many existing frameworks under the umbrella of innovation. By combining multiple sources into the one framework, the ISO standards go as far as consolidating the views of 43 participating countries, along with 15 observing countries, in order to define what good looks like for innovation management delivery.
ISO 56002 standard has the specific focus on creating a system to manage innovation, however supporting standards in this broader 5600 family include 56006 on Tools and Methods for Strategic Intelligence Management – Guidance, 56005 on Tools and Methods for Intellectual Property Management – Guidance, and 56003 on Tools and Methods for Innovation Partnership – Guidance.
Rather than mandating innovation delivery, the ISO 56002 standards look to best practice and outline the aspects that should be considered when delivering innovation. Empowering through assurance, these standards provide the guiding principals at a base-level and provide rigor and focus around strategic innovation.
When businesses want innovation but are fearful of the process and lack follow through, the real value of the standards can be realised.
Defining a standardised innovation approach means assurance of how we embed innovation for clients,” shared Emma Jones, Innovation Manager, D-Lab, GHD Digital. “Aligning different tools, methodologies, resources, expertise and processes – the framework unlocks talent within organisations and supports our clients to become more efficient in delivering innovation opportunities across the value chain.
Innovation as a standard management system is more and more being adopted by organisations,” explained Rabih Ibrahim, Senior Innovation Lead - D-Lab, GHD Digital. “Innovation is moving from a buzzword used by many and utilised by few, to being incorporated into the core processes and strategies by organisations. The perception has shifted from it being a stand-alone product or service that can survive on its own, to the need to have an enabling environment and ecosystem where innovation can be thriving and will be sustained.