Innovation Metrics: What You Measure is What You Get Webcast

Innovation Metrics: What You Measure is What You Get Webcast

In this webcast, Wazoku’s CEO, Simon Hill, joined forces with Stuart Laws, Assistant Head of the Defence Innovation Unit at the UK’s Ministry of Defence, and Scott Kirsner, CEO of InnoLead. Together, they delved into the world of innovation metrics, exploring common misconceptions, the importance of addressing the ROI question, and why trustworthy innovation data is vital in today’s dynamic business landscape.

Here’s an overview of what was discussed: 

Challenging Misconceptions: 

Stuart Laws’ Perspective: Stuart Laws kicked off the discussion by tackling a prevalent misconception: the belief that one must measure everything to understand everything. He astutely noted that such an approach can lead to drowning in data while remaining impoverished in actionable insights.

Simon Hill’s Insights: Simon Hill emphasized that focusing on softer “innovation theater type metrics” can be distracting and may not ultimately matter to senior executives. He stressed the need to align innovation activities with core business goals such as revenue growth, profit increase, and market share expansion. While acknowledging the importance of not measuring too prematurely, Hill emphasized the necessity of measuring progress in some way, shape, or form.

Structural Visibility and Consistency:

Simon Hill stressed the significance of establishing structural visibility and consistency while advocating for comprehensive benchmarking. He suggested that, in a year’s time, the success of these efforts could be measured by revisiting the same poll question, hoping to see more than 7 percent of individuals with some level of optimization and structure in their metrics. Ideally, more than 7 percent should also be using the same metrics this year as they did in the previous year.

The Significance of Financial Metrics:

Scott Kirsner added a word of caution, emphasizing the importance of capturing financial metrics like growing market share and revenue—metrics that the C-Suite deeply cares about. This becomes especially critical when new leaders enter the C-Suite and seek insights into the innovation program’s contributions and outcomes.

In summary, our webcast provided valuable insights into redefining innovation metrics, debunking misconceptions, and emphasizing the need for data that matters in the ever-evolving business landscape. It underscored the importance of aligning innovation efforts with core business objectives and maintaining a keen focus on metrics that drive tangible results.

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