Terri Lonier

The Craft of Innovation

Articles

By Terri Lonier

Zombie Innovation Projects

If you’re running an active innovation program, chances are high that you have some zombie projects haunting you. These projects rarely contribute any positive outcomes and have long seemed lifeless, yet they remain “undead.”

I’ve seen quite a few zombie projects while advising innovation efforts at both large corporations and smaller startups. Telltale signs include project leads who have lost interest and are now distracted by newer, shinier initiatives. Often, funding was neither increased nor cut, which keeps the project limping along. If an initiative was the brainchild of a powerful figure or had important stakeholders involved, it might linger for months or years.

Zombies Are Threats

While zombies may provide a delicious surge of adrenaline while watching a late-night movie, in a business setting these projects can be darkly threatening, particularly in three areas.

  1. They create doubt and distraction. Zombie projects are always in the wings, detracting from the focused efforts needed for new projects. They cast doubt on fresh initiatives, as participants wonder if this project also will end up as a zombie. If it’s an external activity, the project’s lifelessness and abandonment can also damage your brand.
  2. They claim time and mental energy. While zombie projects may not be fully active, they aren’t completely dead. They require at least a minimum amount of tending — attention that could be better deployed elsewhere.
  3. They tie up resources. Zombie projects likely receive some sort of staffing and financial support, even if modest. Freeing up these resources can fuel other, more valuable efforts.

Ending Zombies in a Positive Light

What’s the best way to deal with zombie projects? First, acknowledge them. Pull them out of the shadows and determine what elements, if any, are worth continuing. If there are none — as is often the case — be prepared to eliminate them permanently.

Then, take this important step to end your zombie projects with grace, so they don’t linger or return: Make a full review of what the project has contributed, and document this value. While not a roaring success, a zombie project may have taught you important lessons about focus, planning, or market needs. It could have connected you to new partners or resources. You may have increased capabilities or gained new perspectives. And at least you now know what doesn’t work, which is important and valuable information on its own.

The documentation of value also provides the basis for a positive response to future questions. When someone inevitably asks about the project, you can reply: “That project is closed. We gained a lot of information about __________ and are putting it to use.”

My challenge to you is to review the zombie projects you have hanging around the shadows of your company. Drag them into the light, assess their value, and be grateful for what they have contributed. Then end them, fully and permanently, knowing they’ve served their purpose.

By Terri Lonier

The Allure of More, More, More

For more than 12 years, my husband got up every morning to take our yellow Labrador Retriever, Nilla, to the local park. Starbucks in hand, he would sling sticks high in the air, sending Nilla bounding across fields to retrieve them.

Returning (with stick), Nilla invariably got distracted by additional stuff to pick up. You could almost see the thought bubble: Oh, what’s that? Another stick, yippee! Oh, and there’s a plastic bottle, they make a great crunchy sound. I’ll take that, too. And wait, there’s a tennis ball — I know I can bring that, too. She would come back proud, mouth bulging with her finds — frustrated when she stopped to pick up one more and unable to stretch her mouth quite enough. At times the choices became so numbered that she’d open her mouth and all her treasures would come spilling to the ground. She scrambled to stuff them all in again, and it was not uncommon for the first to be left behind in the shuffle.

One item of focus was never enough for Nilla. Have you discovered that it’s often never enough for innovation projects as well? The allure of “more, more, more” is strong. Let’s start this project to demonstrate ‘x,’ the innovation lead says. “And while we’re at it, we can also throw in ‘y,’ says a marketing manager. “And maybe ‘z’ as well,” someone else chimes in from operations. As things keep piling on, the objectives become muddled, the focus drifts and diffuses, and the metrics end up weakened by too many variables. Captured by the allure of more, a primary objective can be left behind — just like Nilla’s stick.

As any Labrador Retriever owner knows, the eternal puppyhood of this breed brings years of joy and laughter. However, such exuberance translates to a mass of frustration when found in an overburdened and unfocused innovation initiative.

Here’s a challenge for your week: Make a review list of your current innovation initiatives. Have too many things been piled on to your original focus? Has your original “stick” been left behind? It’s rarely too late to reclaim your focus.

By Terri Lonier

Considering an Innovation Lab? Here’s the Most Important Question to Ask.


Innovation Labs are proliferating and as Forbes has noted, that’s not all good news. Some are doing great things, adding to the operational and financial strength of their organizations. Others are floundering, having survived the initial enthusiasm of newness but struggling to remain sustainable and relevant.

As an advisor on creative projects and innovation initiatives at leading corporations over the past 20 years, I’ve seen projects soar, others crash and burn, and many launch with a flash only to quickly sputter into obscurity. Based on these experiences, I recognize that there is one question that, when answered, can make all the difference between success and failure to an Innovation Lab. Why is it so powerful? Because it brings an essential ingredient: Clarity. It distills the project’s purpose and aligns the many stakeholders.

There’s one key question, and it is not: “Should we do this?” Rather, it is essential to ask:

“What do we want this Innovation Lab to do for us?”

This question, while seemingly straightforward and simple at first, can be like a loose thread on your favorite sweater — pull on it and all of a sudden you’re in territory you didn’t know was so fraught. Yet unlike the often disastrous final result of tugging on that sweater sleeve, posing this one question can bring big benefits. It’s a question that often prompts conversations you never anticipated and unravels tangled thinking — which ultimately makes your project stronger.

I’ve often been in rooms where everyone assumed a united focus, only to discover radically different goals and objectives once this question was raised. Lively discussions follow about target constituencies, key activities, resources, metrics, and ongoing viability — which cascade into other discussions and decisions.

Most successful innovation labs are clear on this from the start. So if you’re getting ready to launch, ask this question. And if your lab is floundering or your focus is a bit muddled, return to this question. Clarity is powerful.

In the weeks ahead I’ll be writing more about crafting innovative ideas into business reality. Thanks for joining me on the journey.