{"id":18465,"date":"2023-03-14T13:10:55","date_gmt":"2023-03-14T13:10:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.frost.com\/events\/innovation\/?p=18465"},"modified":"2023-03-15T04:47:07","modified_gmt":"2023-03-15T04:47:07","slug":"innovation-agility-in-a-sustainability","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.frost.com\/events\/innovation\/innovation-agility-in-a-sustainability\/","title":{"rendered":"Innovation Agility in a Sustainability-driven Context: Starting a Journey While Map-Making is Still in Progress"},"content":{"rendered":"

The world is changing at a faster and faster pace (at least it feels like it). There are always endless problems to solve, and innovations to offer solutions. How do we manage innovation that solves the targeted problem? As diverse as the problems, there are many paths to innovations, as well. The required capabilities for each problem (matching the innovation tool being chosen) will cover a spectrum of early\/basic\/fundamental research to applied\/sustaining research, or from front-end to back-end innovation. Add a sustainability theme to this, and it adds complexities to the challenges. The field is still growing rapidly, and the playbook\/definitions\/rules are still being aligned, while progress has to be made in the real world.<\/p>\n

I am sharing my experience through my work in the material discovery realm, at the early\/basic research stage. Some of the questions related to sustainability-driven innovation that I get typically touch on one or more of these themes:<\/p>\n

– What are the good ways to manage innovation in the sustainable materials space? <\/em><\/p>\n

– What would be a good way to measure agility for innovation management? <\/em><\/p>\n

My approach will be to understand the context. First, let\u2019s look at the space. We\u2019ll look at the pace after the space is clear. Last, we\u2019ll zoom into sustainability-driven innovation to tie everything together in a defined context.<\/p>\n

Space-wise, typically, the problem to solve falls in one of the quadrants described below.<\/p>\n

NOTE: The problem definition can be viewed as product\/technology\/capability in different contexts. The domain definition can be viewed as market\/application\/category in different companies.<\/p>\n

It will basically progress from less challenging \u2013 from the upper, right quadrant (Q4: sustaining innovation) – to higher degrees of complexities in the upper, left quadrant (Q2: breakthrough innovation) or lower, right quadrant (Q3: disruptive innovation) \u2013 while the basic research (Q1: lower, left quadrant) is not glamorous, it is the toughest one to manage, due to the absence of clarity (hard to setup clear targets or timeline).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Innovation

Source: https:\/\/hbr.org\/2017\/06\/the-4-types-of-innovation-and-the-problems-they-solve<\/p><\/div>\n

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Now, let\u2019s look at the pace. The demand for agility is becoming a buzzword for virtually everything. Innovation is no different seen as a whole. Yet, one proven way to achieve agility in Q2, Q3, and Q4, is to do the due diligence and be patient building the toolbox in Q1! Surprise, surprise, not a shortcut for Innovation!<\/p>\n

Combining space and pace views, basic research (or front-end research) is tough, it\u2019s always having to battle a fuzzy, grey area. The milestones and timeline might be fuzzy, as well \u2013 otherwise it\u2019d be closer to \u2018Development\u2019 rather than \u2018Research.\u2019 Yet, this capabilities and platform building is key in delivering agility in Q2, Q3, and Q4 of the innovation quadrants. The stronger the toolbox is, the faster problems can be matched with the right tool(s) to solve them. The key is finding the tools that are relevant for future forecasted needs and finding the patience to overcome the \u2018valley of disappointment.\u2019<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"The

From \u2018Atomic Habits\u2019 by James Clear<\/p><\/div>\n

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Agility manifests from latent potential once the progress is made past the \u2018minimum required effort\u2019 point, where the actual learning results outpace the expected (linear) learning pace. This is how agility emerges in innovation, by the efforts and resources invested throughout the valley of disappointment. It\u2019s the leaders\u2019 inspiration that keeps the team together, engaged, and moving forward in making progress (although appearing \u2018latent\u2019) \u2013 only to \u2018burst out\u2019 in an agile way once the team clears the valley of disappointment.<\/p>\n

Last, adding sustainability theme to the early\/basic research. Sustainability is a rapidly growing topic. The definition, understanding, and regulation are all catching up with the technology itself. How can we manage sustainability-driven innovation?<\/p>\n

Sustainable materials, as an example, covers a wide range of disciplines, as shown below:<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Sustainable

Sustainable materials categorization from Web of Science Molecules 2021, 26(5), 1407; https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/molecules26051407<\/p><\/div>\n

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The 2030 agenda for sustainable development was designed to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals<\/a> (SDGs) balancing three dimensions of sustainable development: economic growth, environmental protection, and social inclusion. There are multiple touchpoints showcasing the opportunities that sustainable materials offer to achieve the SDGs\u2019 fulfillment. There are also barriers to reach these SDGs.<\/p>\n

The solutions to big problems require fierce collaborations. Open innovation and establishment of partnerships on sustainable materials may be a winning strategy to achieve the mutual interacting objectives of different SDGs. A partnership, made by an international multi-trans-disciplinary network of experts, is proposed as a vehicle for more suitable resource management.<\/p>\n

Opportunities and improvements that sustainable materials can offer for our society include:<\/strong><\/p>\n