Innovation is generally seen as a pursuit of a new 'idea', but the real challenge of innovation is not merely getting the elusive idea, but in actually making it work for the company - or in another words 'executing the idea'. That's the focus of the new book The Other Side of Innovation by Vijay Govindarajan and Chris Trimble, published by Harvard Business Press.

"When companies launch innovation initiatives, they typically allot most of their time and energy to that initial 1 percent- the thrilling hunt for the breakthrough idea. They draw guidance from countless books and articles that treat innovation as though it were synonymous with creativity. It's not. That much-ballyhooed burst of inspiration is merely a starting point. The real innovation challenge lies beyond the idea. It lies in a long, hard journey-from imagination to impact," notes the book.

Drawing on ten years of research and examples from innovators as diverse as Allstate, BMW, Harley-Davidson, IBM, Nucor, and Timberland, the book gives a step by step guide on how to execute an innovation initiative.

The authors show you how to build the right team for your innovation initiative and how to run a disciplined experiment that tests assumptions, translate results into new knowledge, and measure progress.

Talking about the book, in the Foreword, N.R. Narayana Murthy, founder of Infosys writes: "At the risk of oversimplifying their work, I believe that this book is about taking a very detailed and systematic look at the challenge of creating such a culture (defined by leadership, people, incentives, and people processes). It is a thoughtful work, full of many case examples, questionnaires, and techniques for the business manager to consider."

"For the past ten years, we have been deeply immersed in the study of innovation within established organizations. We cannot think of a better topic to which we could have dedicated our energies. Through innovation, business organizations can change the world. There is just one little problem. Business organizations are not built for innovation; they are built for efficiency. The day-to-day pressures are enormous, and combining a discipline of efficiency with a discipline of innovation is just damned hard."

"The work that led to this book began in 2000, when we set our research mission: to learn by studying a variety of innovation endeavors in a variety of contexts, to generalize, and to prescribe. Five years ago, at roughly the midpoint of our effort, we wrote Ten Rules for Strategic Innovators-From Idea to Execution. This first book was, in essence, a midterm report. That said, the most common feedback we received after publishing Ten Rules was, "How do I apply these principles to the initiative that I am involved with, which is not quite as dramatic as the case studies in Ten Rules?" At the time, we could make some conjectures. Now, we have answers. Our research is complete. We have collected case studies across the full spectrum of innovation initiatives-from small process improvements to high-risk new ventures. The principles and recommendations in this book span the full territory."

The book draws on detailed case histories of innovations from well- known and well-respected corporations such as Analog Devices, Cisco Systems, Corning Incorporated, Deere & Company, Dow Jones, Hasbro, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Infosys, the New York Times Company, Stora Enso, the Thomson Corporation (now Thomson Reuters), and Unilever.

Practical, insightful and packed with hands-on tools, this book is a must read if you are serious about the innovation execution process and bring you closer to ensuring that your Big Idea achieves its full potential.

About Vijay Govindarajan

Vijay Govindarajan, well known global innovation guru, is an eminent faculty at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. He was the first Professor-in-Residence and Chief Innovation Consultant for General Electric.

Vijay Govindarajan, popularly called V.G., has worked with Jeff Immelt, Chairman and CEO of General Electric, to write "How GE Is Disrupting Itself". This Harvard Business Review article introduced the notion of reverse innovation- any innovation that is adopted first in the developing world.

V. G. has been named as: Outstanding Faculty (Business Week, in its "Guide to the Best B-Schools"); Top Ten Business School Professor in Corporate Executive Education (Business Week); "Superstar" Management Thinker from India (Business Week); Top Five Most Respected Executive Coach on Strategy (Forbes); Top 25 Management Thinker (The London Times), and Outstanding Teacher of the Year (MBA students).

V. G. has worked directly with 25 percent of the Fortune 500 corporations including Boeing, Coca-Cola, Colgate, Deere, FedEx, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, J.P. Morgan Chase, Johnson & Johnson, New York Times, Procter & Gamble, Sony, and Walmart. V. G. received his doctorate and his MBA, with distinction, from the Harvard Business School.

About Chris Trimble

Chris Trimble is a well-known innovation speaker and consultant, and is also on the faculty at Tuck.

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