The intense innovation activity ignited by the global pandemic shows that some elephants can dance when they must. Companies are moving faster and taking bigger risks than could have been imagined a few months ago. A further impetus to rethinking established and cumbersome innovation approaches is the acceleration of many trends that are already underway. The lock-down has brought forward a shift to on-line work practices and team-sharing platforms while creating new opportunities.

These 3 principles were robust in setting organic growth leaders apart from laggards and average performers:

1. Investing in innovation talent. The leadership team signals its commitment to innovation with high-profile investments of resources and time.
2. Adopting an outside-in approach to innovation that starts by scouring widely for trends and searching for deep insights into customers’ emerging needs.
3. Encouraging prudent risk-taking. Innovative organizations foster a tolerance for risk-taking by endorsing fast-to-fail experiments and learning from their innovation disappointments.

Companies applying these innovation drivers faster and better will have an advantage that rivals won’t easily overcome. Growth leaders are already emphasizing them to get further ahead.

Source:https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/06/innovation-rethink-wharton-covid19-coronavirus/