Barriers To Innovation

What barriers to innovation clutter the path to success? What can get in the way and what can you do about it? 

Here are 10 common pitfalls and corresponding remedies for the major barriers to innovation.  The first 7 are internal -- how we tend to get in our own way.  The last 3 are more external -- about the market, resources, or business dynamics. As you read through this set, consider which of these, if any, have your name on them ... tendencies you personally may have. 

Consider adding your reactions or comments below.  This is a work-in-progress and we'd love to hear from you.

1.   Buying into preconceived limitations due to FUD (fear, uncertainty, doubt) or false maps of reality.  Making needless negative assumptions about what is possible, such as assuming you cannot successfully innovate.  Stinkin’ thinkin’.  Being too much of a “realist” and worshipping outmoded but familiar ideas, limiting beliefs, unsustainable values, ineffective strategies or principles (collectively “myths”).  The mental model or worldview is not the truth. 

This is the tyranny of dead ideas and can be subtle, even invisible, at first.

How do you debunk common myths about sustainability, innovation or even about yourself?  Examples:

a.  The past equals the future (but if we don’t know history, we’re doomed to repeat it, so learn from that)

b.  There’s a tradeoff between profit and sustainability[i]

c.  I can’t innovate … I don’t know how. [see barrier #5, below]

Antidote (how to avoid this pitfall):  bypass and stretch beyond what you think is possible.  Act “as if”.  Expose yourself to new ideas, allow lateral, intuitive, right-brain associations (such as through mind-mapping), dreams, creative expression … anything that takes you out of your habitual ways of thinking (comfort zones). 

To transcend perceived limits, be curious and interested in how your own mind functions.  Create a metaphorical "observation deck" from which you can witness (notice) you own self-talk.  Some use mindfulness meditation for this purpose, where you focus on an object (such as your own breath) and notice what arises.  Gently label the thoughts as they are ("Oh, planning.  I'm thinking about planning.") and return your focus to the object you are contemplating, such as your in/out breathing. 

The brain is extremely pliable, capable of new and surprising flexibility if you simply practice and train for it.  The more plastic and flexible, the better you are at invention, creativity and learning.  Set the intention – and believe in the power of intention – for solutions to arrive.

2.   Letting the inner critic stop you.  Giving critical evaluation more power than it deserves.  Listening to the critical voice, AKA “the spoiler,” at the wrong times.  Accepting critically harsh negative opinions over your calculated sensibilities or true heart’s desires. Letting criticism step on the dream or plan without requesting that such feedback be constructive.

Antidote:  Ask the critic to “wait outside” until you ask for feedback, and then make it constructive.  Within the imaginative loops, please suspend all judgment and criticism.  Then focus on improvement and opportunities for learning.

3.   Lack of focus; inability to follow through.  Too much vision and opportunity to pick out the few top contenders?  Perpetually getting ahead of yourself?  All roads seem about the same – just different scenery? 

The antidote starts here:  What’s the real goal?  What do you really want?  What will that do?  How will you know you’ve been successful?  Write this down.  Do it now.

For some people, the safety of staying in “idea land,” keeping all possibilities open but barely undifferentiated, provides residual comfort.  This intellectual pursuit can be a safety net; for awhile, anyway.  Develop a tighter screen, evaluate, score and rank each innovation according to your real criteria and then pick one or two for action. If that’s not helpful, you probably need to hire a coach so you can get out of “analysis paralysis” and begin to plan out how you’d do the thing.  What’s the first thing you’d do to make innovation happen in the marketplace?  When you take steps toward a plan of action you quickly discover the true potential.   

4.   Lack of vision, imagination or creativity.   Acquire or develop the ability to think in broad terms, to envision a future that has the qualities and ideals that you and others would want to see.  Tell someone else about this vision, however nascent or vague and together you can describe and add in detail to make it more real and believable.  What would you see, hear, feel, sense, be doing (or not doing), look like, sound like, … and how would others perceive it with their own senses?  Draw from subtle cues and examples of future possibilities that you find inspiring. Or simply adopt someone else’s vision as your own.

Not normally open to change, new ideas or possibilities?  Kind of realist, rationalist or skeptic?  Open up the right-brain, associative and intuitive aspect of your mind … think laterally not so linearly.  Put yourself into a creative and imaginative state such as when deeply relaxed, just before falling asleep at night, through meditation, etc.  Use a mind map to bring out hidden connections.  Use metaphor, analogy, adventure, poetry, the arts (including storytelling) to spark new insight and awareness.  Hang out with creative/artist types to model and discover their sources of creative inspiration. 

5.   No idea how you’d implement an innovation.  Once you have an viable innovation in mind, imagine the thing fully realized, the problem(s) solved, and the innovation flourishing in the world. Step into that moment in the future when this has happened.  What was the last thing you did right before that happened?  Now you’ve got the beginning of a pathway to success.  What skills are needed to make this innovation real?  What skills do you have, and which ones would you need to acquire?

6.   Lack of self-confidence.  Though you are good at some aspects of this, and few innovations of value are ever brought to fruition by just one person, how can you gain the confidence in your own abilities to pursue your best and most intriguing ideas?  Not every idea deserves further exploration, but at least some definitely do.  How would you know if you had an idea with potential?  Believe in yourself.  Find people you want to work with that also support and believe in your vision.

7.   Being disconnected from practical reality, an overly positive or biased assessment of what’s possible, unable or unwilling to question one’s own assumptions, disinterested in feedback or learning.  This is the same but opposite of “buying into preconceived limitations” above, the opposite of #6, and relatively uncommon.  Not enough “reality” mixed with passionate idealism, worshipping false beliefs, unsustainable values, or unnatural principles can be remarkably destructive.  If moral or emotional development are lacking, this can lead to arrogance, self-aggrandizement, self-serving goals and ultimately unsustainable results.  Lack of social and technical development can yield bold, dangerous and even powerful (if not short lived) tools and weapons. 

External barriers:

8.   No business case – no demonstrable way to make money at it.  Whether near-term or longer-term value, there must be a way for the business innovation to flourish over the life of the plan.  Do the math.  Make worst, best and most likely scenarios and test assumptions. Get feedback from would-be customers.  If you can, get it writing. If this isn't fun for you, involve someone with analytical abilities beyond your own; ask them to coach you.

9.   Marketability, timing, or cultural barriers.  An innovation might be too far ahead of its time or too late to catch on, or if the intended market has inherent cultural barriers, an innovation might not become commercially viable.  Consider the experience and world view of the intended market.  Understand the market drivers, the sources of "pain" (sometimes called "pain points"), and the forces enabling and inhibiting adoption of your proposed solution?  Why would the target customers buy or not buy your innovation?

In what ways do you resemble the target market?  What are the key differences?  If you were part of that market, would you adopt the innovation?  If not, why not, and what can be done about it?

If the timing of your innovation risks being seen as too late to gain adequate market share (your solution will be perceived as quite similar to what has already been commercially accepted), what the "difference that will make all the difference"?  New features and benefits, such as more environmentally preferable or responsible that the dominant approach(es)?  Different target audience, for whom access to or awareness of alternatives have limited adoption?  New delivery method?  What's the "new thing" and why will it succeed in the marketplace?  How do you define "success" anyway?  Come up with at least three measures -- the "how you will know you've succeeded?"

If the timing is too early, as is commonly the case with innovations for sustainability (technology leads market readiness), what news, events, or perceived value must arrive before sufficiently widespread adoption of this new approach can and will flourish?

10. Lack of time, money, or other resources.  That’s what partners or teams are for.  A bit of leadership and effective communication can compensate for a lack of funding or other resources.  Pitch your innovation to potential partners and see who is willing to participate.  Attract others through clearly articulating what the innovation can do (triple bottom line benefits), the compelling problems or “market pain” that it resolves, and what is necessary to make it real.  No time? Wait until you do or practice the art of deal-making to get someone else to run with the innovation.

Across all of these barriers, the antidote is to focus on 360 degree feedback and learning.

[i]  Debunking this myth:  “It is not about trade-offs, and recent corporate experience proves time and again that sustainability-based investments can have paybacks of a year or less…. Sustainability can profitably advance key business priorities.”  Page 189, Sustainable Value:  How the World’s Leading Companies are Doing Well by Doing Good, Chris Laszlo, 2008, Stanford University Press.