Recognising the need for rapid innovation within life sciences, Tangent, Trinity’s Ideas Workspace, are putting in place a series of initiatives to help. We believe the key to digital transformation success is in recognising that people are central to shifting the gears into overdrive. Here we take a look at 3 critical tenets to a sustainable & high-yield approach.
In recent months, sectors such as Life Sciences have been forced to truly become digitally mature organisations at an even more accelerated pace in order to meet rising market demands, changing work environments and shifting supply chains. For many of these companies, it's not so much the digital technology itself but the way in which digital is embraced that makes their transformation a success or a failure. It’s about innovating from within and in the most efficient and healthiest way.
Innovation works: new products, efficient processes, unique delivery models, novel concepts in customer service can deliver profits, new revenue streams, reduce overheads and improve quality. The pressure to deliver new ideas runs right through the organisation so now is the time that organizations need to ask themselves: are we ‘doing’ innovation right? Ultimately, this rests with the people and the organization's culture.
- Organisational Strategy & Leadership : Adopt an Open Mindset
Utilising technologies to improve internal performance remains one key driver for digital transformation. But to do so in a way that captures maximum value requires a sometimes different approach to traditional change programmes or R&D within an organisation. Often this requires leaders to abandon assumptions about risk, look beyond long-established models, take a user-led approach and a more open mindset.
Traditionally, innovation within the enterprise happened behind sealed doors, masterminded by R&D teams who were themselves siloed within the organisation. Thankfully, this is less the case today. Real innovation in organisations sees valuable new ideas emerge through open interactions, partnerships, and conversation — with other divisions, with customers, with suppliers & partners.
It requires a more agile approach that embraces failure - failing small and fast. Distinguish the areas where risk should be and where it is not. Risks in discovery, in developing new solutions to unwieldy data handling processes, for example, are risks worth taking and should be regarded as a safe zone for innovation unlike those that have a significant & immediate financial impact.
- Empower People : Embrace Collaborative Innovation
Organisations that truly embrace innovation operate in a more creative, empowering way, acknowledging that great ideas can come from anywhere. This open culture is about mindset as much as anything, and the signal sent from leadership is one of encouragement, collaboration and support. Google famously empowers its developers to devote 20% of their time to projects they’re curious about, which led to Gmail, Google Maps and more – but Twitter, Groupon and countless other game-changing concepts also sprang from side projects that some developer, somewhere, was simply curious about.
Organisations need ideas coming from the ground up and not just top down. But how do you nurture these skills across the company and across teams? Enter design thinking.
One reason innovation often fails is that people don’t have enough ideas or they don’t select the right ideas from the start. Somewhere along the way, this is recognised and the project fails - hopefully before too much investment is sunk.
Design Thinking plays a key part, having an obsession with the customer needs — the customer could be another department, a partner in the supply chain or an end-user. Design Thinking helps in the process of questioning - assumptions, risks, outcomes - and in tackling problems that lack clarity. With a collaborative approach to defining the problem and taking on a human-centric experiential approach to testing, experimenting and prototyping, the innovation process can not only be more successful but also more productive.
When Design Thinking is operating at a systemic, cultural level right across the organisation, that means everyone is fixated on doing what’s best for the customer and feels that it’s up to them to think of new ways to achieve that mission. Design thinking is not just for product development and can - should - be applied to all disciplines within the organisation.
- Recognise & Address the Soft Skills Deficit
According to the World Economic Forum, complex problem solving, critical thinking and creativity are the top 3 skills needed today. And the demand for such skills will only continue to grow as technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution continue to emerge and evolve. Rather than focusing solely on developing highly technological or scientific skills to succeed, there is a growing need for developing specialised skills in creativity, collaboration and interpersonal dynamics across organisations. Such skills will help ensure that new technologies are designed, embraced and made work to the benefit of the organisation. In order for organisations to truly reach digital maturity, these skills should be considered essential across all stakeholders.
It’s important to note that upskilling people within an organisation does impact the bottom line. In IBM’s report, The Value of Training, 84 percent of employees in the highest performing organisations feels they are receiving the training they need, compared to only 16 per cent in poorly performing companies. As a return on investment, analysis by IBM has suggested that for every $1 invested in upskilling, the return is $2 in revenue or savings. And while digital skills remain vital, soft skills have surpassed them in importance.
Any business who has equipped themselves with the right digital mindset to test business continuity procedures and contingency plans are ahead of the curve. Other businesses are forced to upskill on the go, make immediate investments in technology and rely on the adaptability of their workforce to rise to a hugely unexpected series of challenges brought about by a global pandemic.
You can find out more about Tangent’s initiatives for leaders in Life Sciences Manufacturing here including an online Executive Programme commencing 1st October. This programme runs over 12 evenings into December and is designed to enable Life Sciences leaders to address digital challenges.