By Alex Roldan
Today’s business is pressured by the need to use modern technologies, particularly information, in order to effectively compete or survive. Well, business success in today’s world seems equated with how adaptive the business is to the fast changing environment using technological advancement as the key.
There was no time in recent history that the need for technology was as profound in most business paradigms than it is today, and most often overlooked is the role of people in the total business operation. I was shocked to hear from some entrepreneurs that though they admit that innovation is the key, innovation is clearly centered on the use of technology, particularly ready-made technologies to get ahead of the competition.
It is astonishing to realize how little most firms understand innovation. Many seem to forget that this is the last but most important area in the entire business realm that still and will always be the business process for the people and by the people!
I am saying that this is the last but most important because most firms don’t have a well-defined innovation process. Businesses have organized business-processes such as in procurement, payments, process to acquire products or raw materials or services, payment collection, recording of transactions, even providing on-time update of the business operation. People simply follow the workflow and prevent the disruption of the process as the software solution takes over. It becomes the lifeblood of companies as they document and record everything that passes through the flow.
What I am saying is that, people are reduced to following what the process or software requirements starving innovation efforts of people. Why hire the best people for a job whose task is simply to follow a defined process? I bet that many resources in the company has been wasted – best people or employees who want to innovate, or even participate, but have very little or no opportunity to do so.
I am not blaming those who fail to see innovation as a critical part of the business process simply because innovation is perceived as not a defined process! Though it is a very important activity in the business, it will never be a part of a planned process, thus it will always remain the realm of people. If you notice, though product development has stages in development, you cannot simply organize idea generation, methodologies and processes. This makes innovation a process uniquely fitted only for people.
We have to understand that people generate ideas. People are much better generating ideas and spotting opportunities than machines. I often tell my students that “software program developers are not really the real developers of business systems. They simply make bright and innovative ideas about operational computer software. The brightest and the most intelligent ones are the people who know the importance of innovation to make business more efficient, people who organize and make their ideas work.
Firms should not forget that no machine, no automated process can contextualize ideas, understand the future needs of the market and the unarticulated needs of customers. We have to accept the fact that only people, well-trained and highly engaged, can make a good synthesis of the observations.
For example, it amazes me to learn that there are companies which are using the automated system in short listing of job applicants. The system simply scans for the critical words in the submitted digitized CVs as the basis of producing the list of those who would be in the shortlist – making the opportunity limited only for those who know how to play with words. While we seek to develop a set of criteria and have a system to evaluate and select the best employees for example, there are too many subtle factors and too many unknowns for a system of process that cannot be done without the intervention of people who exercise their judgment and “gut-feel.” A systematic, computerized method for idea ranking, evaluation and selection may be best, but I am still convinced that innovation is far more complex.
This brings us to the question, that if people play an important role in innovation, why do we limit the opportunity of our best people in the organization to participate in the innovation process? Why is it that providing the necessary tools, training and leadership skills is at the bottom or priorities or can hardly be found in many annual budgets?
Let us forget being pretentious. Innovation is important. Firms should accept the fact that innovation is people-centered, thus making them effective only on an unstructured process though with somewhat like systematic outputs. We have to remember that people cost so much, but without innovation, even with the best technology, your business is damned.
For comments, e-mail to: roldanalex@yahoo.com
