Radical vs. Incremental Innovation
Most times when we hear about innovation, the implied meaning is big changes brought on by radical new tools or technologies. This “radical innovation” concept gets all the attention, yet radical innovation is almost impossible to actually implement. Do you think ditching 2D CAD for BIM 10 years ago was easy? Was being the first company to implement 3D printing easy? No way! Radical innovation is hard because of the following factors:
Big costs. Radical innovation often means new tools, new hardware, involved IT integration, and extensive research to achieve upper management approvals and funding.
Immature software. Radical new software tools are invariably full of functional gaps and bugs, and often require learning new customization tools. As an example, Autodesk purchased Revit in 2002, yet substantial adoption of BIM tools didn’t make any real progress for another 10 years. In fact, we’re still reading about barriers to BIM adoption today — nearly 20 years later.
Extensive workflow changes. Radical changes in tools cause changes in workflows which in turn requires lots of training and staff adaptation. Why? Because radical innovation makes you discard what you already know to implement something new that you don’t know — and that can be a very disruptive process.
Unknown disruptions. Radical innovation is an unknown, so the problems you’ll find are unknown as well. These problems can delay project execution and drive-up costs as you wade through the unknowns to find solutions.
What’s the conclusion on radical innovation? Simply that no CAD manager can drive radical innovation on their own because the risk of disrupting production and financial resources required can only be approved by those above us.
What CAD managers can execute is a more modest process that I like to call Gradual Incremental Innovation, which is cheaper, less risky, and within a CAD manager’s span of control. Let’s explore.
Applying Incremental Innovation
As a CAD manager, I know that my management team expects me to accomplish the following key objectives:
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Keep the CAD tools and systems running
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Keep the users efficient
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Keep projects on track
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Keep labor costs down
So, my question now becomes: “What new tools, techniques, training sessions, and workflows do I have the authority to implement that can help me meet these objectives?” Please note my emphasis on having the authority to implement your innovations — otherwise you’ll be stuck waiting for upper management’s approval.
The answer to the questions I posed above will form the basis of your incremental innovation plan. The plan will use innovative solutions to known problems that will be incrementally applied, as time permits.
Read more for Robert Green's three-step process for mapping out an incremental innovation plan, plus how to get users excited about the plan and follow it.Read more »
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