The Future of Internal Innovation, Tendayi Viki, Associate Partner, Strategyzer

Aug 16, 2021

Tendayi Viki likes to say that innovation is just about management, but it’s a different kind of management than business leaders are probably used to, which is why many of them need help with the process. That’s why they call Tendayi, an Associate Partner at Strategyzer and the author of the book Pirates In The Navy, The Corporate Startup and The Lean Product Lifecycle and his specialty is helping large companies innovate for the future. 

On this episode of Future of Tech, Tendayi breaks down what the future of innovation looks like and he explains why innovation starts at the top with a leader who is willing to do things a little differently. Tendayi says that leaders who want to bring innovation into their organization need to be comfortable not knowing which bets will be the winners and instead find a way to create an environment where winning ideas can emerge on their own and prove themselves as worthy of investment. Tendayi also gives a warning about intrapreneurship and explains why the No. 1 thing you have to look for in an intrapreneur is not how creative or brilliant they are, but how well they can form relationships. And,  he reveals the four key questions that innovation needs to be asking if they want to have any chance of success. Enjoy this episode!

Main Takeaways:

• It Starts At The Top: More often than not, the biggest problem with driving innovation comes from a lack of leadership. When leaders lean on the same tools, behaviors and metrics they use to run their business in order to drive innovation, they will fail because innovation takes a different kind of approach to get right. Leaders have to set forth an innovation strategy that fosters creativity and encourages employees to think and work differently.
• Small Bets: When you are looking to foster innovation, you have to make a lot of small bets not knowing which ones will pay off. Give a lot of people a lot of runway to experiment and prove their ideas, and then when one or two emerge as real contenders with measurable impact and ROI, invest big in those and cut your losses on the others. Then start the process again.
• The Core Four: Innovation teams need to focus on four key areas: desirability, feasibility, viability, and adaptability. They need to constantly ask, does anyone want this? Do we have the capability of making this? Can we make this in a profitable way? Can this idea scale?

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