ASK THE EXPERT
SCOTT ANTHONY
AS A WORD, “INNOVATION” is often too commonly thrown
around in today’s business world. Everyone seems to understand what it means, but the challenge for many
entrepreneurs is not in defining it, but in finding concrete
ways to translate the word into meaningful business practices
that could help generate creative ideas, better processes and
improved bottom line.
SCOTT ANTHONY, managing partner of Innosight, a
consulting firm that helps senior leaders focus on growth and
innovation, talks about the first mile of innovation and offers ways to help you take the
important first steps in getting great ideas in front of your spa guests and clients.
Pulse: You define innovation as “something different that
has impact.” Can you expound on that definition?
Scott Anthony: The word “something” in that definition
reminds us that innovation goes well beyond new technologies.
You can innovate how you market, support
customers, earn revenues, organize internally, and
more. We use “different” versus “breakthrough”
to remind us that, sometimes, the things that
have the most impact make the complicated
simple or the expensive affordable. The last two
words—“has impact”—are the most important
because they separate innovation from its
precursors, invention or creativity. Those
sparks are no doubt important, but until you
earn revenues, create cash flow, or tangibly
improve a process, you have not innovated.
Innovation isn’t an academic activity—it is
an active one.
P: You’ve written several books on the topic of innovation,
most recently being The First Mile: A Launch Manual for
Getting Great Ideas into the Market (Harvard Business
Review Press, May 2014). What is the most important
insight readers can take away from your latest book?
A: Over the past 15 years I’ve probably seen more than 500
different business plans, ranging from billion-dollar bets from
massive multinationals to small start-ups by individual entrepre64
PULSE
■
May 2016
neur ˈ]