1. Innovation for the Masses
Brian Romansky
Director, New Business Opportunities
Pitney Bowes, Inc.
November 1, 2011
Brian.Romansky@pb.com
Product Development and Management Association
35th Product Innovation Management Annual Global Conference
October 29 – November 2, 2011 | Arizona Biltmore | Phoenix, Arizona
2. Pitney Bowes Overview
• $5.6B Revenue
• 33,000 Employees in over 100 countries
• 5 Lines of Business
• Customer Communications Management:
– Document prep, print, and mailing
– Location intelligence
– Mail Processing
– On-Site Services (print, scan, copy, mail, records)
• 90 Year Anniversary in 2010
Product Development and Management Association
35th Product Innovation Management Annual Global Conference
35th 2011 | Arizona Biltmore | Phoenix, Arizona
October 29 – November 2, Product Innovation Management Annual Global Conference
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3. Employee Innovation Program
Launched in 2009
Goals
– Engage employees in innovation
– Foster a culture of innovation
– Drive ideas to action to create organic growth
Formation
– CEO mandate
– Web-based idea management system
– Spun-out of R&D and strategy organizations
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35th 2011 | Arizona Biltmore | Phoenix, Arizona
October 29 – November 2, Product Innovation Management Annual Global Conference
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4. Organizational Structure
Director – New Business
Opportunities
Challenge Architect
(Sr. Principle Engineer)
Functional
Innovation Innovation Innovation Innovation Innovation
Champion Champion Champion Champion Champion
Finance HR IT Strategy Legal
Operational
Innovation Innovation Innovation Innovation Innovation
Champion Champion Champion Champion Champion
Software Mgmt Services Mailing Sys. Prod. Mail Mail Services
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35th Product Innovation Management Annual Global Conference
35th 2011 | Arizona Biltmore | Phoenix, Arizona
October 29 – November 2, Product Innovation Management Annual Global Conference
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5. Challenge Process
– Challenge architect facilitates the process
– Innovation champion is responsible for results
– Actions and metrics continue to be tracked after
the challenge has concluded
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6. Challenge Results
> $50M
• 4000+ ideas and 6000 comments • 6600+ active participants
• 800+ actions 40% of wired population
World-wide participation
• Survived platform change
Functional and Operational Units
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35th Product Innovation Management Annual Global Conference
35th 2011 | Arizona Biltmore | Phoenix, Arizona
October 29 – November 2, Product Innovation Management Annual Global Conference
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7. Defining the Task
Employee Innovation is not
about building a digital
suggestion box
– Focus on results and metrics
– Two-way dialog,
not anonymous
– Apply to real business
problems
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35th Product Innovation Management Annual Global Conference
35th 2011 | Arizona Biltmore | Phoenix, Arizona
October 29 – November 2, Product Innovation Management Annual Global Conference
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8. Setting Expectations
Operating Functional
Units Units
“Big”
Ideas
Incremental
Ideas
Relative Activity Relative Value
"Big" Ideas Incremental "Big" Ideas Incremental
Innovation
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35th Product Innovation Management Annual Global Conference
35th 2011 | Arizona Biltmore | Phoenix, Arizona
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9. Incremental Innovation Pedigree
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10. Make it Meaningful
• Connect innovation to unit objectives
• Target the right audience
• Make the process transparent
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35th 2011 | Arizona Biltmore | Phoenix, Arizona
October 29 – November 2, Product Innovation Management Annual Global Conference
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11. Managed Progression Over Time
• 2009: % of employees engaged
• 2010: All units doing challenges
• 2011: Challenges linked to unit objectives
• 2012: Transparent process to manage actions
Product Development and Management Association
35th Product Innovation Management Annual Global Conference
35th 2011 | Arizona Biltmore | Phoenix, Arizona
October 29 – November 2, Product Innovation Management Annual Global Conference
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12. Connecting to Unit Objectives
1 – Far Exceeds 2 – Exceeds 3 – Meets 4 – Threshold
• Identify and publish
Innovation Relevant
Objectives (IRO)1
• Run one IdeaNet
challenge that addresses
an IRO
• Run one IdeaNet
challenge that
addresses an IRO and
meets best practices2
• Demonstrate progress4 based
on one or more actions arising
from IdeaNet
• Retain an Innovation Demonstrate action on ideas
Champion3 to facilitate employee
engagement
for organic growth and/or
• Publish an innovation process improvements and
dashboard5
behaviors that foster a culture
• Document measurable
results6 based on one of innovation.
or more actions arising
Product IdeaNet
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13. Mapping Challenges to Populations
– Target a population
that has insight to the
challenge problem Business
Unit
– Provide background
information
– Avoid saturation Special Interest Group
– All challenges are
“visible” to all
employees, only the
target group is
“invited” All Employees
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35th Product Innovation Management Annual Global Conference
35th 2011 | Arizona Biltmore | Phoenix, Arizona
October 29 – November 2, Product Innovation Management Annual Global Conference
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14. Mapping Challenges to Populations
Business
Partners
Business
Unit
Customers
External Special Interest Group
Experts
All Employees
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35th 2011 | Arizona Biltmore | Phoenix, Arizona
October 29 – November 2, Product Innovation Management Annual Global Conference
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15. Relentless Pursuit of Results
• Respond to every idea submitted
• Look beyond the ideas for common themes
• Overcome common barriers to
implementation
• Emphasize action over analysis
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35th 2011 | Arizona Biltmore | Phoenix, Arizona
October 29 – November 2, Product Innovation Management Annual Global Conference
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16. Making Sense of Employee Ideas
Idea Ranking and
Selection
• Cluster ideas into themes
• Define actions that are based on multiple “ideas”
• Move from “review meetings” to “project team meetings”
• When possible, include idea submitters in the execution
Product Development and Management Association
35th Product Innovation Management Annual Global Conference
35th 2011 | Arizona Biltmore | Phoenix, Arizona
October 29 – November 2, Product Innovation Management Annual Global Conference
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17. “We are already doing …”
Are we really?
– Often this means “Somebody said something like
this before and maybe even put it on a project
plan”
– Do we have valid metrics and results?
Can we better communicate ongoing actions?
– Well informed employees armed with a clear
strategy are better innovators
– How do you effectively share the current portfolio?
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35th Product Innovation Management Annual Global Conference
35th 2011 | Arizona Biltmore | Phoenix, Arizona
October 29 – November 2, Product Innovation Management Annual Global Conference
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18. Classic Implementation Barriers
Functional units are not designed for change
– Quick-fix is to simply define projects with accountable
leaders – run them as an “exception”
– Rely on innovation champion to follow-through
– Longer-term solution: Create a program office
Operational units resist change
– Classic “innovator’s dilemma” problem
– Most new product concepts get stuck in analysis
– Advise learning through action in the market (lean startup)
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35th Product Innovation Management Annual Global Conference
35th 2011 | Arizona Biltmore | Phoenix, Arizona
October 29 – November 2, Product Innovation Management Annual Global Conference
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19. Emphasis on Action over Analysis
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35th Product Innovation Management Annual Global Conference
35th 2011 | Arizona Biltmore | Phoenix, Arizona
October 29 – November 2, Product Innovation Management Annual Global Conference
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20. Future Plans
• Each unit to implement a transparent process to
follow-through on actions
• Further de-centralization of innovation process
• Corporate function to focus on implementing
breakthrough concepts
Research
• Methods to communicate innovation activity
• Use challenges to identify unmet needs
Product Development and Management Association
35th Product Innovation Management Annual Global Conference
35th 2011 | Arizona Biltmore | Phoenix, Arizona
October 29 – November 2, Product Innovation Management Annual Global Conference
October 29 – November 2, 2011 | Phoenix, Arizona 20