Footwear Insight

THE FOOTWEAR EYE framework. Have a definition that you share with your team and your company, and you will have a context around which to evaluate the innovations you see. I believe the innovation leader must report to the CEO, because if he or she reports to the CFO, the budget is always going to be cut. And if you try to budget innovation on a one-year cycle, forget it. What innovation lines up perfectly over the next 12 months? It's impossible to think that way. "Establish a way to measure. It doesn't have to be complicated. If you have a defi- nition, you'll know when you have it. For instance, "Innovation is going to drive 10 percent of revenues in three years, 20 per- cent of revenues in three years. It's going to cut costs by X percent." If you don't measure innovation, you're always going to cut your innovation budget because you're never going to know what the return is. "You must define who can green light innovation, and who cannot. I took an idea to Reebok, EnergAire. The executive secretary to Paul Fireman threw it in the trashcan under her desk and rejected it. That concept turned into $250 million in sales when Fireman pulled it out of the trash- can. Can you imagine an organization that allows an execu- tive assistant, or anyone like that, to throw away inno- vative ideas? "I am believer in open innovation. There is a funda- mental principle behind it. That is, no matter how big your organiza- tion is, no matter how many smart, w e l l - e d u c a t e d and experienced people there are in your organization, there are more people outside your organization. If you think the power of the intellect inside your corporation is smarter than the power of everyone outside your corporation, you're absolutely disillusioned. "Do you return calls of the innovators? Do you set up a time on Friday, maybe the third Friday of every month, to tell vendors who have innovative ideas, 'you're invited to present to us between 3 and 5 pm, and you've got 15 to 30 minutes.' We'll have the team in place that can decide. And we're going to evaluate these items. Or are you going to miss the next BASF Boost? Or are you going to leave it up to whoever answers the phone when the vendor calls? "As we say on the ranch, 'any jackass can the kick the barn down, but it takes a carpenter to build it.' Innovation is truly that carpentry process. You've got to build things up. How do you innovate? I don't really think it's that hard. Find a pain. I have a rock in my shoe. You sit down and take it out. Solve the problem at hand. How long will it take? How much will it cost? Someone has to be responsible for solv- ing that problem. These simple questions will really form an innovation process." — By Bob McGee footwearinsight.com September/October 2019 ~ Footwear Insight • 17 "If you can't define innovation in your company, how will you find it? You can say, 'I'm going to innovate.' But, if you don't know where you're going, how the hell will you know when you get there?" TwistedX_FootwearInsights_9.18.indd 1 9/18/19 11:50 AM

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