Seven Triggers To Breakthrough Companies

introduction Trigger the full potential of your company • Companies that innovate consistent breakthroughs have a strategy, a process and a culture to achieve them. The Seven Triggers to Breakthrough Companies is our playbook for innovating consistent breakthroughs. Any company can think like a startup • Startups think big and move fast. Startups don't need to be new companies. They can be the way you launch new services, new products or new approaches to your existing business that make it more remarkable. Group Trigger launches a startup culture inside your company • Consistent innovation is a destination. The Group Trigger team is passionate about implementing the Seven Triggers to establish the culture of innovation at companies. We have worked in Fortune 500 companies and launched dozens of startups. We bridge the gap to help your organization think and act like a startup to unlock your full potential. Contact Group Trigger today to get more "innovation" from your business. © Group Trigger, LLC. All Rights Reserved

the seven triggers 1. create a place for innovation 2. define a process for vetting ideas 3. take viable ideas to market 4. move profitable ideas to operational teams 5. channel resources to the breakthrough ideas 6. cultivate non-breakthrough results 7. transform the culture to embrace breakthroughs © Group Trigger, LLC. All Rights Reserved

there is a reason for the state of decline Innovation is in your genes All companies that find success start with innovation. At the point of creation, many critical decisions and innovations are generated daily. For this reason, many people are drawn to early stage companies where creativity is peaking and contributions are highly visible. Your organization suffers in two ways. The talented Then there is a need to define your service or product people become disenfranchised. Your remarkable with boundaries to allow your team to focus. Your product or service starts to dim in the eyes of the organization benefits from this focus and grows into a market. remarkable company. You somehow find your organization in a state of Along the way, the boundaries that created focus and decline. It can happen to any size organization at any channeled energy become the stumbling blocks to time. innovation. © Group Trigger, LLC. All Rights Reserved

the place for innovation Innovation is physical and cultural Take a look around your organization and see if there is a physical environment to foster innovation. Chances are, the utilitarian needs of your organization overrun the fundamental enablers of innovation. Is there an endless sea of high cubicles and is management’s office door closed? The space to engender spontaneous interaction among all Your people and their innovation is your greatest asset. employees is an important physical requirement to Re-creating the physical and cultural place for foster innovation. innovation is the critical first step. What is management’s perception of the innovative culture of its organization? More importantly, is it in line with the employees’ perception? © Group Trigger, LLC. All Rights Reserved

innovation rules What are the unwritten rules? Sixty days later the install targets were met, but that All companies have rules regarding contribution and same employee was gone and it was the worst period innovation, regardless if they are written or not. for customer support ever. For example, at my first company meeting at a midsize The unwritten rule here was employee contributions company, the CEO asked if we should push during the were not respected. In time, I observed employees month of December to meet our install targets or exchanging good ideas, but they did not risk taking decrease the targets so employees could be with their them to the top. families during the holidays? In most other examples, it is the people, not the One employee answered that he wanted to have some management that stifle innovation. Consistently recruit family time during the holiday. I sensed it was what and introduce new people to your organization who many wanted to say, but did not. The CEO immediately have no allegiance to “the way we do things around reprimanded the employee in front of everyone for not here.” pushing to meet the targets. © Group Trigger, LLC. All Rights Reserved

making the process real Making rules to break the rules Google made corporate sponsored innovation famous with its 20% rule for their engineering staff. The rule states engineers should spend 20% of their time (one day per week) working on projects that personally interest them. The 20% projects led to such innovative products as The important concept is that there was a rule and a Gmail, Google News, Orkut and AdSense. In 2006, a subsequent process created that made innovation a Google analysis reported that 50% of the new product clear strategy. Find a rule that will work for your launches originated from its 20% rule. organization and then go out of your way to support it. While you may initially think that only companies like Your best way to provide support is to create a process Google can afford to have a rule like that, do not for vetting ideas. This is where some rules will benefit dismiss the potential a similar type of rule may have on to help keep the process safe and neutral for the your organization. contributors. © Group Trigger, LLC. All Rights Reserved

it is easy and inexpensive to test ideas target. The number 30 helps you get statistically Let the market decide significant results. Once the ideas start taking shape you can implement the next trigger to test the ideas. Your vetting process It is also important to give the same pitch to all 30 is your internal evaluation. Ideas that pass the internal people so you have a clear picture of your results. I process should then be taken to market for their remember pitching prospects at my start-up company ultimate test. and adapting the message each time based on what I learned from the last person. We pitched 30 people, Remember that not all breakthrough ideas will be new but in the end had no clear takeaways on what was products or services. It could be a better way to good or bad about our proposal. generate leads. It could be a way to reduce supplier dependency or a long list of other innovations that will With the same pitch, you will start to consistently hear make your company more remarkable. what aspects are good or bad. If there is enough good, re-create your pitch and then present it to 30 more There is a successful process to test the innovations members. It will be clear when your results indicate that are commercially viable. It is to create a pitch and you have a winning idea. present it to 30 members of your target market. It may be current customers or new prospects you want to © Group Trigger, LLC. All Rights Reserved

you know who to put in when you need a homerun Expect great from the great Anyone who has been on a baseball team knows some hitters are better than others. And everyone on the team knows who they are. When you are at a critical point in the game, the whole team will rally around to support those hitters in getting the job done to get the win. I have seen good ideas fail because they are given to The same is true for your organization. If you have the people who are below average performers. If they successfully implemented the first three triggers, your cannot succeed in something tried and proven, they organization will begin to have confidence that this generally will not succeed in something new. process is for real. And they will want a win. The argument against this is that you cannot afford to The principle here is to give every opportunity the best take your best hitters off your core business. If you are chance it has to succeed. Sure everyone on the team in decline, you cannot afford not to. can hit, but we need the best hitters on the team swinging for the homeruns when we need them most. © Group Trigger, LLC. All Rights Reserved

clear the path No new wine in old bottles This is what you worked for, an innovation breakthrough. Putting a breakthrough innovation into a process that has been bureaucratized over time may be a sure way to stifle its potential. If you are already in a state of decline, there are multiple reasons for it. Remember, during the creation process innovations Be clear with your team that your processes may need are a daily occurrence. Use the breakthrough as an to change for your innovation to succeed. excuse and an opportunity to rethink many parts of your business. Clear the path to let your breakthrough Your team will rally with you when processes are the succeed. problem. Your team will resent you if people are the problem. So properly prescribe where you want their The breakthrough and the entire process of getting renewed creative energy applied. there will trigger life and creativity throughout your organization. Your people will be the greatest resource to help your innovation succeed. © Group Trigger, LLC. All Rights Reserved

start cheering Get the most out of your win It is critical to properly celebrate the win to perpetuate the innovation triggers. As a leader, generously give credit to everyone who contributes to the success. Changing the culture in your organization is no small task. There may not always be an abundance of great opportunities to seal up these cultural changes in the eyes of your people. These breakthrough moments are those times. As the organization reaps the rewards of a breakthrough, be sure to not just reward your people You are polishing your people; gems that may have with praise. Try to find a way for them to financially become tarnished or grown dingy over time. They are benefit as well. It does not have to be big, but doing still gems waiting to shine again. Be gracious. Breathe something will go a long way to leverage your win. life back into them and reap the full benefits of an entire organization that is fully engaged and innovative. © Group Trigger, LLC. All Rights Reserved

how do you treat perceived failure? The only true failure is no innovation Treating your failures properly is more critical than anything you will ever do with your successes. This is the time naysayers appear from the background. It is important to be critical with the results, but never allow anyone to undermine the innovation process. Innovative people will be innovative as long as it is safe. If there are major consequences from a perceived failure, make sure the culture to innovate can remain healthy. “Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” Chances are you are close. Take what is good and try - Thomas Edison to recycle it. If it is a dead end, take what was learned and celebrate the lesson. Then get back in the ring. © Group Trigger, LLC. All Rights Reserved

build balance into the framework Innovation needs execution As you continue to cultivate your non-breakthrough ideas find a balance in innovation and execution. Remarkable companies are not just filled with good ideas. They have discipline and execution. The framework you create to cultivate breakthroughs is important. The measurement will not be the quantity of innovations or breakthroughs, but how well they perform. The framework needs to nurture, integrate and execute. As you execute on your breakthrough make sure you do not eclipse your innovation process. The key is to not let innovation or execution eclipse each other. A culture that has success with both is remarkable. © Group Trigger, LLC. All Rights Reserved

not everyone likes innovation Expect change Most people like innovation, but some people will resist the changes it brings. This is true for your employees, and your customers and partners as well. You will likely lose some employees, customers and partners along the way. If these types filter out in the process, it is better in the long run. There are plenty of non-innovative companies out there to give them shelter. You are likely to gain much more than was ever lost in new customers and new partners. These new additions your organizational transformation. Your best people will be more abundant contributors to helping your team will have more satisfaction in what they do. They will succeed. create a renewed energy that will attract new people, © Group Trigger, LLC. All Rights Reserved

time seals your transformation There are no shortcuts Three words describe the commitment needed to re- create a remarkable business in decline: 1. Diligence – constant and earnest in effort and application. Work hard at the process. Work hard at the breakthroughs. The seven triggers are the guideposts, but time is the 2. Perseverance – Steady persistence in a course of element that seals the transformation and makes it action, a purpose, a state, etc. You can overcome complete. There is no formula for how long it will take the difficulties, obstacles or discouragement that will to get from each trigger to the next. surely come. Your business is worth re-creating. Your people are 3. Continuance – To go on or keep on without worth the investment of time and energy it will take to interruption. Stand firm in the place that allows restore remarkable to your business. innovation to work. It will give back. © Group Trigger, LLC. All Rights Reserved

about the author Sweet Spot was successfully acquired in 2007 by Justin Beck, CEO CEO DirectPointe, Inc. Justin then worked for DirectPointe as the Justin is a true entrepreneur with a rich Vice President of Marketing and Products. Justin helped background. Through all of his experiences he gained a love DirectPointe launch an online marketing strategy with a for business strategy. He founded Group Trigger to help 1,000% return and earn the ranking as the #1 Managed remarkable companies innovate consistent breakthroughs. Service Provider in the world in 2008. In its first year, Group Trigger helped launch seven startups and now Group Trigger helps launch startups inside larger Prior to his entrepreneurial career, Justin gained Fortune companies. 100 experience at Sprint and signed a $30 million contract with a top 10 client. He also worked at Eclipse Marketing Justin founded two companies prior to Group Trigger. He where he helped Eclipse grow rapidly and earn a spot on the was CEO at Home Market Inc., his first venture. Home Inc. 500 list of fastest growing companies in both 1997 and Market was a Web 2.0 portal for community contributed and 1998. mashed-up localized content. He then co-founded and served as CEO at Sweet Spot Solutions, Inc., which was a When Justin isn't working he loves spending time with his software application pioneer for flash memory platforms. family creating a little "innovation" at home. Justin was an inventor on two patents and brought Sweet Spot from startup to acquisition in less than 5 years. Find Justin at www.grouptrigger.com © Group Trigger, LLC. All Rights Reserved