Can I say something controversial? I hate “innovation.” Any time someone says. "We need to be innovative about this," or “let’s think outside the box,” I cringe. Too often, the speaker glosses over real concerns and issues, says we need to "fail fast", then displays a superficial understanding of the issue. The innovative idea and proof of concept is only the beginning.
As Admiral Hyman Rickover famously said about academic, i.e. "innovative", nuclear reactors:
"The academic (innovative) reactor designer is a dilettante. He has not had to assume any real responsibility in connection with his projects. He is free to luxuriate in elegant ideas, the practical shortcomings of which can be relegated to the category of “mere technical details.” The practical reactor designer must live with these same technical details. Although recalcitrant and awkward, they must be solved and cannot be put off until tomorrow. Their solutions require manpower, time, and money." (Hyman G. Rickover. "Paper Reactor Memo." https://whatisnuclear.com/rickover.html)
Admiral Rickover sums up my frustration. The "innovation expert" can think grand ideas "outside the box," maybe do a proof of concept that does not consider the challenges and then pass off the hard work to others.
As another example, the iPhone is often mistakenly held up as an innovative idea. It wasn't. Internet enabled smart phones with touch screens were around years before iPhone (remember the Palm Pilot?). What made iPhone special is that it simply worked and was affordable. Steve Jobs and Apple did the hard work to make a high-quality device that did what was advertised and then manufactured it at scale.
The barriers to working nuclear reactors and iPhone were not "culture" or "change management". Culture and change management at times seems to be someone saying the users are too stupid to appreciate the brilliance of the innovative idea. My response: how much change management do you need on a well-designed device, like iPhone? How much cultural adjustment was needed for people to appreciate smart phones?
Scaling and engineering are the key to implementing innovative ideas. Admiral Rickover’s problem was not the basics of nuclear fission and power generation – it was how to do it with sufficient quality at scale. Steve Jobs’ problem was not mobile devices with touchscreens – it was making a quality device at low enough cost. The actual problems are solved only with determination and hard work.
Suppose for example you have a new method to determine the suitability of a machine part using computer vision. Showing this as a proof of concept is simple: you need a webcam, a computer, and someone with training in data science. But if the proof of concept is successful, the work has only begun. For the method to be deployed across dozens of locations in an industrial plant, you have decisions such as:
What kind of webcams are suitable for industrial use?
How will the webcams communicate? Is there sufficient wireless backbone or is new cabling needed? How will the webcams be powered?
Where will the images be stored & analyzed?
Who is responsible for software updates?
Will any of the images have sensitive or confidential information in them? If so, what to do?
A real-world concern: what if the webcam takes pictures of workers? Does that violate privacy? Does it breach a union contract?
How will the AI model’s conclusion on the machine part be incorporated into the process? Will the AI be able to stop the line, or will it inform an engineer or supervisor who will then stop the line?
These are just a few of the many issues that could come up. And they all must be addressed before the proof-of-concept provides ANY value back to the enterprise. Many of them are simple engineering or information technology (IT) tasks, but they all take time, energy and money to address. Some involve compliance and legal concerns. None are "mere technical details." All are potential insurmountable barriers that could change the project from being beneficial to being a massive failure.
Innovative ideas are not the problem. We have LOTS of innovative ideas. What often is lacking is a clear realization of what it takes to implement an innovative idea at scale and low enough cost so it has an impact. I don’t have a magic trick on how to do this. A clear idea on the value if successful can help get the resources to solve the problems. Good project management can keep everyone aligned and mitigate risks before they derail the project. After that, it’s simply leadership, determination and hard work.
I don’t like innovation, but to quote Winston Churchill, in its place “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat.”
(The preceding represents my own opinion, not that of EPRI.)