Succeed at Innovation
Succeed at corporate innovation. Create growth. Every year. Without fail.
Problem we solve
Corporate innovation fails more than it succeeds. Fails to create growth. Fails to turn a profit.
Innovation is hard. Yet venture capitalists know how to reliably create growth, and turn a profit.
The problem is, corporate innovation violates the rules that VCs use to succeed.
We need a new approach. A reliable way for companies to play the innovation game like a VC, and win.
Our solution
Corporate innovation program that reliably creates growth, and always turns a profit.
We go in and launch a new type of skunkworks program that lets companies play the innovation game like a VC, and win.
About us
StrategySwift is a global innovation firm. We help companies succeed at corporate innovation. Create growth. Every year. Without fail.
Corporate Innovation.
cor·po·rate in·no·va·tion /ˈˌkôrp(ə)rət ˈˌ inəˈvāSH(ə)n/noun
strategic method of sourcing and nurturing new ideas that companies use to remain competitive in existing markets and create new growth.
"No business plan survives first contact with a customer." —Steve Blank
How VCs win at innovation
Venture capitalists never invest in ideas. They invest in teams that already have traction in a promising new market.
The team has quit their jobs. Created a new vision for the future. Gone out and proven that a market exists by getting customers. And demonstrated a repeatable and scalable business model with strong, early growth.
Only 1 in 100 startups get far enough along to pitch VCs. And only 5 in 100 startups that pitch VCs receive funding. So only 1 in 2,000 startups go from promising startup idea to VC funded startup.
Even then, VCs fail 80% of the time. They only make money on 20% of their investments. Most returns come from a mere 7.5% of investments. Yet this model lets VCs reliably create growth, and turn a profit.
The contrast with corporate innovation is striking.
Established companies make big bets on select people and ideas. Because innovation is expensive, most companies can only fund a handful of projects each year. All based on nothing more than ideas.
Play the game like a VC, and win
Each year 4,000 startups try to raise venture capital. All have already achieved traction in a promising new market.
Yet VCs haven't funded any of this. The entrepreneurs have done most of the work for free. They may have raised some angel funding along the way. But the early work was all "sweat equity."
To play the innovation game like a VC, companies need to source 100s of internal innovation projects, for free.
It turns out, there's a proven way to do this.
"There are more innovators inside large companies than there are in startups." —Steve Blank
Skunkworks Project.
skunk·works proj·ect /ˈˌskəNGkˌwərks ˈˌ präˌjekt/noun
innovative undertaking, involving a small group of people, that is outside the normal research and development channels within an organization.
Managers think they need to carve out time for skunkworks projects. Assign resources. Limit projects to a manageable few. It's not true.
There’s something special about solving problems we weren’t hired to solve.
Introducing whitespace projects
Whitespace projects are "unofficial skunkworks" projects that employees work on in the whitespace of their jobs.
Employees still do their regular job. But they also work on their whitespace project, whenever they can free up some time. They receive no project funding, no allocated innovation time. The ground rules are simple: never create risk, and never let it interfere with assigned duties.
See a new market opportunity? Great, go unlock it. Think someone is fumbling product design? Great, go try a new approach. See a problem in operations? Great, go fix it.
At 3M it's called "bootlegging". At BMW it's called "U-boat projects". These projects have a long history of success.
Whitespace in a nutshell
It turns out, about 20% of time at work is whitespace. It’s an unescapable reality wherever you have schedules and deadlines. Plenty of time for innovation in the whitespace of work.
Inspired by mavericks
Whitespace projects aren't new. There has always been the occasional "maverick" employee who tackles problems they weren't hired to solve. They don't ask permission. They just do it. Under the radar, where it won't cause any harm. In the whitespace of work.
Whitespace projects have created more billion dollar breakthroughs than Bell Labs and Xerox PARC combined.
But most people aren’t mavericks. Whitespace projects are unauthorized. That’s usually the only way forward. It’s hard to sell ideas. Projects with traction sell themselves. Mavericks are the 1 in 1,000 employees willing to venture out alone like this, regardless of the obstacles.
Why make it so hard? Whitespace projects create big wins from unexpected places. They protect companies from blind spots and bad decisions. And they energize employees. It makes no sense to kill this off. Yet that's what managers usually try to do.
Mavericks may be willing to risk their careers to do what they believe is right for their companies. But most people aren’t. And they shouldn’t have to.
Now there's a model to bring whitespace projects into any company, at scale. The model is the result of a 3 year project. It builds on earlier models pioneered at 3M, Google and HubSpot.
- No change to management model.
- No risk or disruption to operations.
- No project funding. No allocated time.
- Opt-in model.
"The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do." —Steve Jobs
Succeed at Innovation
We go in and launch a new type of skunkworks program that lets companies play the innovation game like a VC, and win.
Catalyst
We bring in a full-time catalyst to launch the program. We start with a 30 day pilot. Everything happens under the radar, in the whitespace of work.
Employees
Skunkworks projects are exhilarating. Like launching a startup. Small team. No bureaucracy. Radical innovation. Against the odds spirit of adventure.
Executives
Instead of betting on ideas, executives get to wait to see which projects gain traction before deciding which projects to support.
Results
The skunkworks program creates 100s of innovation projects, with zero negative impact to departmental plans, schedules, budgets.
"It is wonderful to create." —Akira Kurosawa
Everyone has whitespace
How much time could you free up at work if you really wanted to, and still complete everything you had to do? This is your whitespace.
Every employee has whitespace in their job. Maybe not every day, or even every week. But anyone can free up time at work if they want to. Whitespace is what allows us to balance the uncertainties of work, and still complete everything on schedule. If we didn’t have whitespace, we’d continually miss our deadlines.
Think about your commute. Suppose work starts at 9am, and you can’t be late. If your commute normally takes 20 minutes, you might give yourself 25 minutes to get there. This extra time is whitespace. Most days you’ll arrive early, which you might use to grab an espresso from the coffee shop next door. Other days, you’ll need the full 25 minutes.
Whitespace isn’t free time. It’s being used for something. It’s also protected, personal space. If managers try to eliminate whitespace, they hurt productivity and kill morale. But employees can free it up any time they want.
The problem is, whitespace isn’t supposed to exist. Everyone pretends it doesn’t exist. Good management means the team is always operating at 110%. It’s nonsense. But that’s the myth. And everyone pretends it’s true.
Why not stop pretending? This simple shift opens the way for whitespace projects. Not everyone will use their whitespace to explore new ideas. But at least they have the option.
Picking winners does not work
Most breakthroughs come from people and places the "experts" least expect.
No one would have picked Einstein to revolutionize the laws of physics. No one would have picked the Wright Brothers to figure out powered flight. Everyone hated Chester Carlson's idea for xerography, until it worked.
Venture capitalists never make big bets on select people and ideas. They invest in teams that already have traction in a promising new market.
Now companies can do the same.
Dispel the myths
Managers misunderstand whitespace projects. Let’s dispel the myths.
Myth: There’s no time for this.
Reality: There’s plenty of time in the whitespace of work. Whitespace projects cost the company nothing.
Myth: Employees off on their own won't accomplish much.
Reality: Whitespace projects have created more billion dollar breakthroughs than Bell Labs and Xerox PARC combined.
Myth: It will distract from our priorities.
Reality: Employees still do their assigned duties, just like before. Far from being distracted, employees are more diligent and do higher quality work. It’s risky enough to work on a project without permission. Employees don’t compound that risk by being distracted or doing poor quality work.
Myth: It’s a recipe for chaos.
Reality: Whitespace projects operate under the radar and are largely invisible. Because projects are unauthorized, employees don't take risks that could get them into trouble. And managers still control all funding and resource decisions. They alone decide which projects receive "official" support. Managers get 100s of innovation projects. No chaos.
"If at first the idea is not absurd, then there is no hope for it." — Albert Einstein
Innovator.
in·no·va·tor /ˈinəvādər/noun
a person who defies convention to bring unorthodox ideas to life, and succeeds against the odds.
"One person with passion is better than forty people merely interested." —E.M. Forster
Volunteer "army" of innovators
Whitespace projects let you create a volunteer "army" of innovators right within the hierarchy. They still do their regular jobs. But they also voluntarily take on the extra work of exploring new ideas. This happens under the radar, where it won't cause any harm.
John Kotter calls this a "dual operating system." ("Accelerate!" Harvard Business Review, Nov 2012)
This gives you the best of both worlds. The hierarchy delivers reliable, efficient execution of the proven business model. Meanwhile, the volunteer army of innovators delivers endless options for corporate innovation.
You can get 2.5%-4% of employees to "opt in" to whitespace projects in just 30 days. You can get 10%-20% participation within a year.
That's a lot of exploratory project work, for free. The rule of thumb is 20% of time at work is whitespace. Suppose a company has 2,000 employees, with 12% participation. That's 1,920 hours each week. 100s of innovation projects. Managers sponsor the projects they like, and ignore the rest.
This lets you play the innovation game like a VC, and win.