May 22nd, 2007
How Innovation-Infrastructure Design Is Used in Turnarounds
When architects design a highway they do so with the understanding that it must last for generations. Innovation-Infrastructure designers should be held to the same high standards of forethought. The time has passed for throwaway strategic planning. Like roads, innovation-infrastructures can take years of planning, asset acquisition and influence investments. Well-advised decision makers know the same roads that provide the stimulus for economic growth will become a contributing source of future stagnation, if they are not properly maintained.
Turnaround team members often forget about the value of their company’s internal networks in their zeal to become industry legends. Architects must design innovation-infrastructures that are flexible enough to not only aid in the execution of unforeseen change but serve as platforms for championing the cause. However, it is up to turnaround team members to act as strong mediators and maintain the hard-won trust that the company has been accumulated.
Not every performance problem should be met with a plan to dynamite the onramps and bulldoze the woodsheds. There was a time when limiting access to value producing tools and cutting resources for next generation growth was frowned upon. Now it is common practice and shows a flaw in many corporate governance systems. Decision makers are reminded that innovation-infrastructures can be designed to provide systematic approaches to solving even the most complicated turnaround problems.
The IT Investment Architect®
Concepts: design, governance, influence-investment, Innovation-Infrastructure, turnaround, turnaround-team, woodshed