I want to add some nuance to the now common bashing of Innovation Labs, claiming that 'Innovation Labs just don’t work'. Indeed, it appears some innovation labs are being closed down, but is that ratio significantly higher than the shutdown of departments or other corporate (sub-) structures? Or is it that the closure of an innovation lab tends to come with higher media coverage and exposure?
Beyond that bias, I’d like to offer potential explanations of why innovation labs are actually failing.
Innovation hubs – the buzzword of buzzwords. Every organization wants one, all the big names have one. The promise sounds great – a space that fosters innovation. But do they deliver? And what differentiates successful from underperforming innovation hubs? I helped organizations in New Zealand, the US, and Europe build, manage, and operate innovation hubs and my answer is: yes, some innovation hubs do really well. Learn from my #10 lessons learned and increase the productivity of your innovation hub.
In 2017 I published 10 lessons learned when building or managing innovation hubs and the article was read by more than 10.000 people from all over the world. Requests came from the US Airforce, startups from Kenya and Nigeria, medical corporations from Switzerland, New Zealand Universities, public sector organizations in the UK, and banks in the Middle East. Some innovation hubs are doing extremely well, but many are still falling short of expectations. In this follow-up post, I want to share 5 more pitfalls to avoid.
