Disclaimer: I am not suggesting top-down innovation is useless but bottom-up is better. Now let me clear the mist first and explain what is bottom-up and top-down innovation. Bottom-up and Top-down are just the pathway for the innovation. In Bottom-up innovation, ideas are picked from bottom of the food chain, i.e. customer, employees etc. Whereas, in top-down innovation, senior leadership/sine qua non contributes to innovation by thought leadership. Now, if things are a bit clear, let’s move forward, else you could try to google for both strategies and enjoy reading the gems that come out.
Let alone strategy around innovation, there has been a long and painful tussle between top-down or bottom-up strategies. Which one works, which doesn’t? Both present boat load of excuses in favor of their existence. In fact, both the sides are right. Like everything else, both have merits and demerits.
As a data nerd, I support data, whichever side has more data and less gutt, I am inclined to that. During my engagements with enterprises, I am fortunate to have seen both sides of the coin. I should say, that I am impressed with the way bottom-up outperforms top-down innovation strategy in many situations.
Following are its benefits:
1. Data sets you free: What is one of scariest nightmare of any business? “A bad business decision” – A decision that is risky and uncalculated; a decision whose impact and risk is not easily measurable. Why live that nightmare when we all have the option for a beauty sleep. Data delivers in that arena well. Data cuts through the bureaucratic layers and gives everything a rational explanation. Data backed decisions are often less risky and more calculated. Lesser risk, more calculated makes them sustainable and easy to cruise through. Making life easier for everyone involved. So, data in its true sense will set you free. Bottom-up strategy requires data driven decision process, making all those innovations worthy, less risky and sustainable.
2. Customer driven innovation helps shaping core competencies, establishing trust in customer landscape: Who is most passionate about your product besides you? Your customers. Customers give their time, money and passion to use your product and integrate it in their life. So, who best would you pick to endorse your product, but your customers? Similarly, there is no better place to learn about what changes or products are required from you to help your customers to succeed? Bottom-up innovations takes customers into consideration and derive innovation directly from them. So, bottom-up innovation gives you that edge to stay close to your customers and play an ever increasing role in their success.
3. Innovation is just a perk, customer centric positioning is the real kick: So, let me pause for a second on my rant for how it will benefit customers. If you hear about a company who does all that magic to embrace bottom-up innovation, what would you call that? That is exactly would your corporate culture will transform into a customer centric business. Bottom-up innovation requires a setup that will transform the entire corporate culture to embrace innovation coming from bottom. i.e. become a great listener and use data for business justification. This will not only transform your business to run effectively and optimally but also make customer love you more.
4. Democracy always brings out the best ideas forward: Now you have decided to adopt bottom-up innovation, how would you filter best idea from the rest? Yes, democracy at play here. So, every innovative idea is backed by data that will help with defining its priority. We all know what happens to countries embracing democracy? They flourish from all areas and show sustainable growth. System that is built for bottom-up innovation will ultimately help your business with data, and filter out the best.
5. Solving top-down through bottom-up: Ok, so you must ask, what will happen to my hunch? What if I have the next biggest idea. Yes, that idea could now get better attention as well. Using bottom-up innovation framework, you have created a judicial system in your company to justify any idea, process with its impact to satisfaction, bottom-line etc. You could use that same framework to measure success for your hunch. It will give your idea some extra boost of data that makes you happy executing it forward. And if there is any flaw in the idea that needs to be iterated, the same very system could help you identify it optimally.
So, whatever be the strategy, bottom-up innovation framework must always be a part of the execution strategy for any business. It can payoff itself in so many ways only a genius could list.
In real life situation, a mix of top down and bottom up could be employed to create the best platform for innovation. This would bring the best of both worlds where innovation ideas are sourced from the bottom and are developed and filtered at the top using insights/ data. So, top determines the details around execution by keeping the customers/ employees in a closed feedback loop. This is the perfect recipe for success.
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