ISO 56002 Launched in 2019, the model defines pillars and concepts for innovation management

In the 90s, companies from various segments, mainly industry suppliers, set out in search of ISO 9001, which establishes minimum quality standards. Now, in the 21st century, the demand is different. Companies around the world are looking for a governance model for innovation, established by ISO 56002.

ISO – International Organization for Standardization, is a non-profit institution, founded in 1947, with the aim of helping in the reconstruction of companies devastated by the Second World War. Anchored on the principles of isonomy (which in Greek means equality), the organization currently has more than 22 thousand technical standards, 180 of which are management system standards.

With 164 member countries, ISO has established itself as one of the most important international references in terms of standardization and management models. And, since 2019, when it published ISO 56002, on innovation management, opinions have been divided.

After all, is standardizing innovation good or bad?

The fact is that, if in the 90s the competitive advantage of companies was quality, today, without a shadow of a doubt, it is their ability to innovate, whether reinventing current markets or even creating new ones. In a world of profound and complex transformations resulting from exponential technologies, innovating has become an act of survival.

While we see startups gaining magazine covers and becoming unicorns in the first years – or even months – of operation, large companies watch everything, almost always astonished, without understanding, much less being able to react. It is obvious that a small motor boat is much more agile than an ocean liner.

Faced with the panic of being left behind, the giants create innovation departments, calling them laboratories. Its goal is to anticipate trends, listen to the customer and create the future. However, a minority are actually able to take the post-its off the wall.

Others use open innovation programs, creating strategies to approach startups, with the aim of learning from them. However, in many cases, they give in to the temptation to buy them. By internalizing the little boats on the transatlantic, most of them are forgotten in some corner and end up being contaminated by the bureaucracies of the corporate world.

Yes, every rule has its exception

Obviously, every rule has its exception. Innovation labs, as well as open innovation programs, are extremely important in enabling companies to innovate. The problem is that good seed in bad soil does not generate a harvest. To reap the rewards of innovation, you must first prepare the ground.

And that is exactly where the proposal of ISO 56002 lives. Unlike other standards, this is intended to be a guide to good practices, a model of guidelines, not requirements. The result of 11 years of studies by an international committee that brought together more than 60 countries, this standard offers a governance model for innovation, creating the foundations for a good management system.

Based on eight pillars – process approach, leadership with a focus on the future, management of insights, strategic direction, resilience and adaptability, value realization, adaptive culture and uncertainty management – ISO argues that an innovation can be a product, service, process, model, method or a combination of any of them. However, the concept of innovation is characterized by novelty and value. In short, this means that ideas without the manifestation of value are not innovations, but inventions.

Therefore, companies need to work on developing their governance structure. It is necessary to define the foundations of the innovation system, establishing where it is intended to go, which tools will be used and closely measuring each step taken. At any sign of deviation, you can quickly adjust the route.

Implementation

When implementing ISO 56002, it is necessary to define the objectives, purpose, strategy, performance indicators and resources that will be used in innovation – and not only financial ones, but also people resources, knowledge, infrastructure and even of time. The company needs to establish where it intends to go and what efforts it is willing to employ to achieve its goals.

Furthermore, the standard works heavily on risk management, understanding that many of them, instead of threats, can represent opportunities for innovation. When a threat is identified, a contentious action plan is prepared. When an opportunity is identified, it is automatically directed to the innovation funnel, where ideas are classified and prioritized according to the company's interests. Those who make decisions are not people, but indicators.

And what does ISO 56002 look like in practice?

In practice, there is no one-size-fits-all recipe. Each one, in a co-creation process, needs to reflect on their desires and their appetite to achieve them. There is no victory without sacrifices. We need to demystify the idea that innovation is for a few, or only for those with a technological bias. There are countless examples of analogue companies that create wonders from an innovative perspective. But, without governance, it is impossible to transform ideas into results.

Therefore, standardization does not mean boxing everything into single models, which could bureaucratize or even stifle innovation. Standardizing means establishing minimum requirements, creating the foundations to leverage the innovative power not only of large companies, but of all those who have already understood that today's success does not guarantee tomorrow's results.

We need to leave behind the empirical way in which innovation has been approached by many companies, where a few ideas are taken forward and, almost by chance, some are very successful, while others almost lead the entire business to ruin. doom. Innovating based on an international framework, which has been tested and approved by more than 200 companies around the world – including five in Brazil alone – is the most promising way to take our society to another level.

By Alexandre Pierro @ Administrators