"It pleases my innovation heart that so many managers and decision-makers have great ambitions. But it does not help much when they do not have the funds to implement new innovation initiatives. Digital innovation cannot be a competitive advantage if it is not invested in," says Huseklepp.
In the Forte Pulse 2024 survey, Forte Digital, in collaboration with Radar Group, has mapped digital maturity among Norwegian and Scandinavian companies.
Over the past ten years, several large companies have developed a culture for establishing their own internal innovation departments. Several Norwegian companies have also established so-called "Corporate Innovation Labs", clearly inspired by Silicon Valley.
Huseklepp believes that these initiatives are now suffering as a result of tighter economic times.
"My impression is that many companies today are discontinuing their innovation initiatives. By focusing only on operations, you lose the ability to ensure future competitiveness, explore new products, services and revenue streams. In tighter times, those who dare to invest will have a big advantage over the competitors who only focus on operations.
Hans Huseklepp believes that those who dare to invest in tighter times will have a big advantage over the competitors who only focus on operations.
Spre The risk of several initiatives
Huseklepp also emphasizes that the responsibility for innovation should not be placed on one person or a small team.
"Innovation in large companies is not just the responsibility of one person or a small team. Different types of expertise and commitment are necessary, depending on whether the innovation takes place within the core business, in related markets, or in the development of completely new products and services.
He believes that many companies have a wrong view of how much resources and money are needed to engage in innovation.
"It is clear that you have to invest in innovation, But that does not mean that you have to set aside tens of millions. Innovation can start far cheaper. It is about spreading the risk across several initiatives early, while it is still reasonable to fail, before it starts to require large investments.
He believes that more people need to rethink innovation:
"Companies should think in the following way when working with innovation: If they invest a certain amount across ten projects, six will fail, three will have moderate success, and one will become a new growth engine for revenue streams.
From left: Hans Huseklepp and Marc Stickdorn
For me, innovation is about controlled experimentation.
Innovation is not a magic box
According to Huseklepp, innovation is about controlled experimentation and risk diversification.
"I'm not really that fond of the word innovation, because it's often misunderstood and means different things to different people. For me, innovation is about controlled experimentation. It involves spreading the risk by investing in many different initiatives in parallel, quickly scrapping what doesn't work, and through such a process ending up with one truly stellar project.
The survey also shows that 81 percent of respondents believe customer value is a high priority. At the same time, only 33 percent say that they involve customers early and continuously in product and service development.
"It is worrying that so few involve customers early enough, as it increases the risk of developing products or services that no one wants. Everyone likes to talk about their customers, but far too few talk to them," he says.
Huseklepp points out that more people must dare to "kill" ideas that do not produce results before they become too expensive.
"You have to involve customers early enough to avoid large, expensive innovation projects for products or services that no one needs or wants. "Innovation is not a magic box. It's craftsmanship and a process," he concludes.
