And, therein lies the terror for big companies that innovation seems to work best outside them,” says the Economist.[i] Behemoth companies try to institutionalize new thinking and doing through ‘knowledge centers’ and ‘idea factories’ as 3M, Procter & Gamble, and Rubbermaid have tried. Only one problem! These ideas sound great but don’t seem to work so well. Why? Brand U’s with ideas can venture out on their own to secure venture capital and resources.
And, innovation and invention are linked to the Brand U’s risk profile. We can be risk averse, risk sensitive, or risk taking. And, organizations know this. Some people like the stability of the corporate mothership while others want to build their Brand U mothership. The Internet highlights the differences between risk takers and the risk averse. To become more competitive and more innovative companies are cannibalizing their operations to set up standalone Web operations. They set up a business that will compete with their existing ones. For example, Web commerce divisions in many companies compete directly with those that offer products through their normal channels. GE calls its Internet initiative ‘DestroyYourBusiness.com.’
[i] “Fear of the Unknown,” The Economist, December 4, 1999, p. 61.