Markko Karu: Today, large companies do not compete with small ones, but fast ones with slow ones

In cooperation with the Innovation Leaders Club, Markko Karu has created a model for the innovation phases for a company that takes into account the local context.

With the help of this model, it is possible to look at innovation as a continuous activity of a company in order to stay competitive, where each step is a separate set of topics that must be approached based on the situation of a particular company.

The three-phase model outlines six successive steps for companies to innovate.

The model begins with the setup phase when the company is still thinking about changing something. It requires a sense of need for change and some kind of trigger, a decision to start. Karu explains that today large companies do not compete with small ones, but fast companies compete with slow ones, which is why the lasting question of an innovative company is “has our company perceived the need to change?”. The search phase follows when you have to formulate a challenge for yourself and set a clear focus. The challenge, as the word itself betrays, requires the next step to develop and experiment with problem-solving – without, of course, financial destruction.

For the third or implementation phase, Karu has described the creation and implementation of the solution as steps. “Creating a solution is the phase where the innovation team grows and is actually built. When working with innovations, it is almost impossible to anticipate all the nuances at the beginning of a project, so innovations and unique solutions require different planning. ” There must be a solid knowledge of big goals and short-term goals. In a situation where there are differences between plans and reality, you must also be prepared to adjust future plans.

The last or implementation phase is where the money actually goes. This is an activity that requires active and purposeful action. “Nobody takes into account your local origin or immaturity, you compete on the same basis globally. There are quite a few success stories in Estonia about decent, refined products and services that have been made great with proper marketing. ”

Read more about the Innovation Leaders Club here.