2023: The Year of Innovation as a Team Sport

As 2023 begins to unfold, one thing is very clearly changing about innovation inside big organizations.

This work cannot be a solo sport.

It's not marathoning, or singles tennis, or figure skating — though lots of people, given a mandate from the CEO, imagine themselves as the lone gold medal winner on the stand, wearing a laurel wreath. (Most of them fail.)

As we enter 2023, with a lingering pandemic, an uncertain economy, and innovation budgets being scrutinized, the key message for innovators is: there is no successful innovation without a team. A big team. This game is soccer, not ski racing.

Throughout 2022, when we brought together members of the corporate innovation community in Boston, New York, San Francisco, San Jose, and on Zoom, one message we heard over and over again was: "We've realized that we need to get our business unit leaders and our functional leaders more involved in what we're doing — at all stages."

Some "sneak preview" data from a forthcoming research report we're working on...

When we ask people about the factors that have the biggest impact on getting additional people and money dedicated to innovation, Factor #1 is that "senior leadership is excited by our vision." But #4 on our Top 10 list is "strong relationships throughout the organization." And when we surveyed InnoLead's members about topics and themes they most want to explore in 2023, the one that floated to the top was "constructive relationships with business units and teams."

If building those relationships were easy, everyone would do it. But these are busy colleagues, with their own goals and agendas. It can be incredibly difficult to get their attention, or time on their calendars.

If building those relationships were easy, everyone would do it. But these are busy colleagues, with their own goals and agendas. It can be incredibly difficult to get their attention, or time on their calendars. Many of them feel they're doing "enough innovation" or the "right kind" of innovation already, within their department or business unit. There's always competition for resources, debates about risk appetite, and differing visions about how best to invest to drive future growth.

But increasingly, we're seeing that making innovation an enduring capability requires creating an expansive team. (It doesn't need to include everyone in the entire company, of course.) It entails creating clear goals and shared definitions. It requires an understanding of what kind of innovation work already happens inside business units and functions, and how your R&D/innovation/design/emerging tech group can augment that work — and pursue projects of its own, across Horizons 1, 2, and 3. In soccer (a/k/a football) parlance, who's playing defense, who's in the midfield, who's on attack?

What does it take to get business units and key functional colleagues (HR, legal, IT, marketing, etc.) productively involved in innovation work across the three horizons? This is a topic we'll be exploring at InnoLead's in-person events in 2023, including Impact in Boston; at our first members' meeting of the year, on Zoom; and in our research and editorial coverage. We are also looking for creative ways (and your input!) about how to get more business unit and functional colleagues using InnoLead, participating in our members-only Slack channel, and coming to our gatherings.

I'd love to hear your thoughts below. What have you seen work in transforming innovation from a lonely marathon into a high-energy team sport?