#115 - Teresa Jurgens Kowal - On the misconceptions of innovation

This podcast interview focuses on the art of product innovation, and my guest is Dr. Teresa Jurgens Kowal, author of The Innovation Anwer Book and president of Global NP Solutions.

Teresa is a strategic innovation provider. She is an accomplished visionary and results-oriented professional with extensive industry experience from creative research to effective portfolio management through streamlined new product development processes.

Prior to founding Global NP Solutions, Dr. Jurgens-Kowal acquired over 12 years of experience in leadership and management positions with ExxonMobil Chemical Company and a total of 16 years as a practicing Chemical Engineer. She has extensive experience leading successful teams, managing the product development life cycle, and defining the portfolio strategy.

Our joint passion for innovation and new product development led me to invite Teresa to my podcast. We explore the misconceptions about innovation, why many organizations are challenged to deliver innovation worth making a remark about, and what to do to remove the roadblocks.

Here are some of her quotes:

The word innovation is largely overused. And my personal definition of innovation is bringing something new to customers that deliver value to them. And that might be new technology. It might be an old technology introduced to a new market, or it might be a different combination of things.

All of that starts with having a strategy. And there are several levels to strategy. Most organizations, companies, firms have a corporate strategy, which is tied around growth goals, geographical expansion, those kind of things.

60 to 70% of CEOs put innovation as a top five priority. On the flip side, 60 to 70% of CEOs do not think that their organizations are innovative

During this interview, you will learn three things:

1. That innovation is not defined by what you think, but by what your customers experience
2. Why our obsession with our direct competition is causing the biggest conflict in the potential success of innovation.
3. How one can avoid being disrupted by paying close attention to what’s going on in tangential industries as much as your own industry.