In my last blog entry, I wrote about an excellent article by Geoffrey Moore titled "Top 10 Innovation Myths". In it, Moore says:

Innovation that leads to sustainable competitive advantage can be initiated and led by any organization in the company.

This brings us to the question: How is it done in your company?

Who Has the Keys to Innovation in Your Company?
In most high-tech companies, innovation is "assigned to" the R&D department. Is this the best way? Let us hear what Moore has to say about this:

In the first half of this decade, HP invested 15% in R&D and Dell invested 5% and cleaned their clock. How? They out-innovated them in process innovations led primarily by their operations folks. Innovation that leads to sustainable competitive advantage can be initiated and led by any organization in the company. R&D represents the engineering department's lead...

I agree with Moore. In every industry, even high-tech, there are several companies that have out-innovated competition in areas other than what would be traditionally considered R&D. Some examples:

• Dell innovated by creating direct-to-customer sales model for PCs
• IBM innovated by offering IT services custom-tailored for customers
• Intuit innovated by making personal finances easy for consumers
• Salesforce.com innovated via the on-demand business model for enterprise software
• And so on...

This means every organization in your company has the opportunity and the ability to innovate and create strong competitive differentiation.

What Role Should Product Management/Marketing Play in Innovation?
In most high-tech companies, the Product Management/Marketing team has the best view of the cross-functional processes of the organization - across Development, Marketing, Distribution, Operations, Sales and Support.

I think it is incumbent upon your Product Management/Marketing team to identify areas for innovation that create strong competitive differentiation and co-ordinate resources to make that innovation happen.

I'd go so far as to say innovation is the most important responsibility of Product Management/Marketing teams.

If your company is not innovating enough in areas that create strong competitive differentiation - take a long, honest look in the mirror. Then go out and make innovation happen in your company. YOU have the power.

P.S. If you think your department doesn't have any "formal authority" in your company to make innovation happen, ask yourself: "How much formal authority did Martin Luther King Jr., Mohandas Gandhi or Nelson Mandela have?" That always helps me!