Our approach to innovation - in business and beyond

Disruptive innovations—if they’re not seen as opportunities, they’ll most certainly become threats to the way we do business. Deloitte takes a comprehensive and systematic approach to innovation, asking the right questions in order to help clients stay future-focused and growing strong. We strive to deliver impact that matters by transforming complexity and disruption into lasting value.
 

Why would you innovate as a company? Easy, to survive.

The lifespan of companies is decreasing at a rapid rate. When you compare the Fortune 500 from 1955 with that of 2017, you see that only sixty companies have managed to keep their place in this list – or 12%. In the meantime, the other 88 per cent have since gone bankrupt, been taken over or fallen off the list.

While the need to innovate has gotten through to the business world, there is still major ¬uncertainty about how to do this. Because saying you think innovation is important is one thing; releasing money and resources for ¬innovation goes a lot further. The real art is to actually develop new products and services that succeed in the market and secure the future of the company.

Five key areas for driving innovation

With our depth, breadth, and relentless passion for innovation, we have the ability to create powerful, attainable opportunities to stay ahead of the curve.

We approach innovation by constantly asking questions and evaluating five key areas of an organization:

1. People. How will people react to this change? Are we organized for innovation? What changes are needed?

2. Process. How will we need to change the way we work? Have we thought through all the other processes and workflows that may be impacted by this change? Do we embrace experimentation?

3. Technology. Will the new technology work? What risks need to be managed and which are most likely to yield the biggest returns?

4. Governance. Do we have the organizational discipline to execute on this innovation? What are our quality controls and mechanisms of accountability?

5. Policy. How do shifting regulatory policy and legal requirements impact our need to change and the likelihood of our innovation initiative’s success?