Corporate Explorer: How Corporations Beat Startups at the Innovation Game

Corporate Explorers Transform Disruption Into Opportunity With This Proven Framework Innovation used to be seen as a game best left to entrepreneurs, but now a new breed of corporate managers is flipping this logic on its head. These Corporate Explorers have the insight, resilience, and discipline to overcome the obstacles and build new ventures from inside even the largest organizations. Corporate Explorers are part entrepreneurs, using innovation disciplines to jump start cutting-edge ideas, and part change leaders, capable of creating support for investment. They see that corporations already own the ideas, resources, and—critically—the talent to build new ventures. Companies like Amazon, Microsoft, Bosch, LexisNexis, and Analog Devices enable managers to put these assets to use and gain an upper hand over startups that threaten to disrupt them. Corporate Explorer is a guidebook to the practices that enable these managers to go from idea into action. It demonstrates how success is not only possible but may offer entrenched companies better odds than venture-capital backed startups. This actionable and proven framework explains how managers can become successful corporate innovators; it includes tools to: Learn how to apply innovation practices with greater discipline Turn great ideas into a full-time job as an innovation leader Experiment with and scale original business models Transform innovation programs into a thriving source of new business Attract, retain, and motivate entrepreneurial talent Energize employees by creating a realistic way to innovate These lessons come from the trailblazers of corporate innovation—Andrew Binns (Change Logic), Charles O'Reilly (Stanford Graduate School of Business), and Michael Tushman (Harvard Business School)—who have decades of experience helping entrepreneurial-minded executives activate employees to become Corporate Explorers. Entrepreneurs take notice—it's time for Corporate Explorers to set the pace and chart the course for disruption.

Table of Contents:
Preface and Acknowledgments ix Section I Explore Aspiration 1 Chapter 1 Innovation Advantage 3 Beating the Odds 5 Strategic Ambition 7 Innovation Disciplines 10 Ambidextrous Organization 14 Explore Leadership 15 Explorer, Not Entrepreneur 17 Chapter Summary 19 Chapter 2 Corporate Explorers in Action 21 Explorer’s Insight 22 Purpose Driven 23 Investor Support 27 Manage Uncertainty 30 Chapter Summary 34 Chapter 3 Strategic Ambition 35 Emotion, Logic, Aspiration 36 License to Explore 39 Social Movement 42 Hunting Zones 44 Manifesto 48 Chapter Summary 50 Section II Innovation Disciplines 51 Chapter 4 Ideation: Generating Ideas for New Ventures 53 Idea Addiction 56 Solution Trap 58 Customer Discovery 60 High-Value Customer Problems 64 Idea Generation 67 Chapter Summary 69 Chapter 5 Incubate: How Corporate Explorers Learn Through Experimentation 71 Business Experiments 73 What Needs to Be True? (Hypothesis) 75 Run Experiments (Test) 78 Make Sense of Your Results (Learn) 81 Run a New Experiment (Iterate) 84 Follow the Evidence (Decide) 85 Chapter Summary 86 Chapter 6 Scale: Assembling the Assets to Build a New Venture 89 Combining Assets 92 Customers, Capabilities, Capacity 95 Scaling Paths 98 Trigger Points 102 Chapter Summary 104 Section III Ambidextrous Organization 107 Chapter 7 Explore Organization 109 Structure Options 111 Focused 113 Bottom Up 115 Top Down 118 Structure Decision 121 Chapter Summary 124 Chapter 8 Explore Business System 127 Team Design 129 Sales Team Integration 132 Corporate Functions 133 Resource Allocation 135 Feedforward Management System 137 Executive Attention 140 Chapter Summary 143 Chapter 9 Risk and Reward for the Corporate Explorer 145 Motivation Puzzle 145 Venture Model 147 Shadow Stock 148 Long- Term Incentives 150 Personal Risk 151 Corporate Explorers Motivation 153 Chapter Summary 154 Section IV Explore Leadership 155 Chapter 10 Silent Killers of Exploration 157 Core Business System 159 Preserve Professional Identity 161 Avoid Risk 163 Optimize for Short Term 166 Maximize Comfort 169 Change Leader 171 Chapter Summary 172 Chapter 11 The Double Helix: How Corporate Explorers Lead Innovation and Change 175 Future Organization 177 Storytellers 180 Social Network Leader 183 Insider or Outsider 188 Reputation Manager 191 Chapter Summary 193 Chapter 12 Readiness to Act: Leadership and Scaling a New Venture 195 Competing Commitments 197 Both/And Leadership 199 Productive Tension 202 The Mirror 204 Courage 207 Passion 209 Chapter Summary 210 Appendix: Corporate Explorer Framework 213 List of Figures and Tables 215 Notes 217 About the Authors 225 Index 231