Implementing Your Choice

can you actually make it happen?

The process of implementing an innovation is about project management -- making something happen within a budget and to a set timescale. Strategic implementation means thinking about the downstream side of this -- can you actually make it happen?

Do you have the knowledge and skills that you need -- of if not, do you know where to get them? Remember that many innovations involve making strategic alliances, so not having knowledge and skills in-house is not necessarily a barrier here.

Have you thought about change-management issues -- how to ensure that people elsewhere in the organization will buy in to your planned change? And how will you organize your team to make the innovation happen -- who will lead, what balance of skills and experience do you require, and how will you build a high-performing team to deliver the project?

ACTION POINT: All these factors above must be considered in advance to give your innovation the best chance of success.